Really thoughtful piece and your insights resonated. I liked the vibrancy of the Barbie movie but was feeling left out that I found it a wee bit too preachy. More important, I love the new focus of your blog Catherine. Write on!
I'll be the first to admit that I have not seen the movie nor do I foresee myself doing so. Unless it comes out on Netflix.
Everything I've read others post about it is pretty rah-rah-great-life-lessons. You're the first who has dissected it in a way I can actually believe.
I've never been a girly girl and never placed much weight into "the patriarchy" and all the things it supposedly holds women back from. I was raised as a strong woman by a strong woman.
I'll probably watch the movie when it's no longer in the spotlight. It just doesn't interest me enough lol.
I fully expected not to like this movie but I did find redeeming things about it. First, it’s not another fucking super hero movie. Secondly, I think it opened discussion for people to look at the way we’ve maybe not noticed how limited the views are that we see in movies, which are usually men with women as sexy side pieces, or characters that only exist to further the male-driven plot. They are often portrayed as you described Ken, one-dimensional.
I think the feminism we want to promote is more humanism, where everyone gets to be respected for who they are, even if we don’t understand them (I’m talking to you, Ron DeSantis)
But what we often see is woman acting as horrible as men and claiming that’s equality. We see it in music all the time (love to Cardi B and Megan The Stallion but sexually exploiting yourself
and treating men like sex dolls is not equality, it’s just stopping to their level).
But I think this movie is trying, and that’s the beginning of change- we usually go to far the other way (anyone that’s tried to diet knows what I mean, you go from all of the cookies to just carrots) but what we hope to do is eventually get to a balance (cookies once and a while with the carrots).
We are trying to figure out how to see each other and have empathy for each other. Pretty, perfect looking people need empathy too, so do men, ugh....and maybe even super hero movies.
I think all the criticisms of the movie are fair. Barbie is super problematic in a million levels. I also think the movie is kind of subversive because there are so many teenagers and young women who are going to see it bc it’s fun and light and get exposed to anti-patriarchy messages that you would never see in another movie that teenagers flock to. I’m generation X, and this movie could not (and would not) have been made when I was a teenager.
Really thoughtful piece and your insights resonated. I liked the vibrancy of the Barbie movie but was feeling left out that I found it a wee bit too preachy. More important, I love the new focus of your blog Catherine. Write on!
I'll be the first to admit that I have not seen the movie nor do I foresee myself doing so. Unless it comes out on Netflix.
Everything I've read others post about it is pretty rah-rah-great-life-lessons. You're the first who has dissected it in a way I can actually believe.
I've never been a girly girl and never placed much weight into "the patriarchy" and all the things it supposedly holds women back from. I was raised as a strong woman by a strong woman.
I'll probably watch the movie when it's no longer in the spotlight. It just doesn't interest me enough lol.
I fully expected not to like this movie but I did find redeeming things about it. First, it’s not another fucking super hero movie. Secondly, I think it opened discussion for people to look at the way we’ve maybe not noticed how limited the views are that we see in movies, which are usually men with women as sexy side pieces, or characters that only exist to further the male-driven plot. They are often portrayed as you described Ken, one-dimensional.
I think the feminism we want to promote is more humanism, where everyone gets to be respected for who they are, even if we don’t understand them (I’m talking to you, Ron DeSantis)
But what we often see is woman acting as horrible as men and claiming that’s equality. We see it in music all the time (love to Cardi B and Megan The Stallion but sexually exploiting yourself
and treating men like sex dolls is not equality, it’s just stopping to their level).
But I think this movie is trying, and that’s the beginning of change- we usually go to far the other way (anyone that’s tried to diet knows what I mean, you go from all of the cookies to just carrots) but what we hope to do is eventually get to a balance (cookies once and a while with the carrots).
We are trying to figure out how to see each other and have empathy for each other. Pretty, perfect looking people need empathy too, so do men, ugh....and maybe even super hero movies.
I think all the criticisms of the movie are fair. Barbie is super problematic in a million levels. I also think the movie is kind of subversive because there are so many teenagers and young women who are going to see it bc it’s fun and light and get exposed to anti-patriarchy messages that you would never see in another movie that teenagers flock to. I’m generation X, and this movie could not (and would not) have been made when I was a teenager.