finally, I watched the movie of the season and I have one (1) thought on my otherwise empty head:
the little dialectic of barbieland becoming invaded by the idea of patriarchy and then barbies collectively organizing to abolish it happens all inside the little make-believe world of barbieland that the movie itself acknowledges is a reality constructed through children playing. in this regard, kens aren't really the patriarchy, they're a pretend version of patriarchy. barbies and kens can be easily interpreted as children imitating concepts they themselves do not understand that thoroughly. gosling's ken himself acknowledges that he wasn't really commited to any ideology in particular. he liked the aesthetics of patriarchy (he liked the horses!). so the movie can be read as brutally cynical, right? because it doesn't really do the same thing the matrix does (even when it's directly alluded): the matrix, a make-believe world becomes an important battlefield because it ties directly into the machines' source of energy (if people aren't convinced by the simulation, which can be read as capitalist ideology, then machines won't be able to keep humans captive in order to drain them). on barbie, the importance of barbieland is never really stressed beyond the implication that it changes mattel's toyline, which the execs do not want because of a vague commitment to, uh, preserving the essence of barbie? what. so by the same token that only allows barbie to be president of barbieland, barbie can only abolish patriarchy in barbieland. by the way, will ferrel sucks. but the ken number rules and is kino. that is all.
I think you're giving it a little too much credit with this interpretation. I saw Barbieland as an allegory for our world, except one in which gender roles are reversed. In Barbieland, men (Kens) are marginalized, while women (Barbies) rule, where it's the opposite in Humanland. Barbie is upset that the human world isn't like Barbieland, and fights really hard to restore Barbieland to the status quo, which is actually fucked, because since Barbieland is an allegory for Humanland, then the moral of the story is that we're not allowed to actually change the world, and the best we can hope for is for the patriarchy to throw a few more crumbs to the oppressed. Even under its corporate advertising surface, it's a deeply liberal movie that can't imagine life outside of a neoliberal democracy.
Also if we're being really ungenerous to the movie, then the ending could be interpreted as transphobic, because Barbie's wish to become a real girl is only granted in the form of having a vagina
In Barbieland, men (Kens) are marginalized, while women (Barbies) rule,
Perhaps I AM giving it too much credit, but it's really hard for me to ignore that the world is as such because Ken, the toy, is meant to be an accessory for Barbie. Thus why the role is reversed, it's the prescribed use of the dolls, thus the rules of barbieland are literally dictated by mattel. But I do think I may be looking too deep into the established rules of the universe.
Also if we're being really ungenerous to the movie, then the ending could be interpreted as transphobic, because Barbie's wish to become a real girl is only granted in the form of having a vagina
I thought so as well, but it's thrown very non-chalantly, I figured they were going for some pinocchio shit and didn't really think it through when deciding that the essence of humaness was genitalia, also I feel to out of my depth to make a good reading here.
Also if we're being really ungenerous to the movie, then the ending could be interpreted as transphobic, because Barbie's wish to become a real girl is only granted in the form of having a vagina
thats a good point, honestly wouldn't be surprised considering margot robbie has mentioned Joanne and Harry Potter multiple times while doing press for barbie. I struggle to believe she is not aware of Joanne's "controversial" statements and actions.
honestly wouldn't be surprised considering margot robbie has mentioned Joanne and Harry Potter multiple times
Oh, that's definitely news for me.
How dare you do marxist analysis on a communist website. Didn't anyone tell you that you have to "be normal" to be a communist and posting marxist analysis to a commie website is very abnormal. (sorry for the sarcasm couldn't resist)
Ok is this movie actually good? I just assumed it was gonna be consumerist trash because it's based off a toy brand, but my sister told me it's legit one of the best movies shes seen this decade and now multiple people on hexbear are giving their hot takes. Should I go see it? I don't want to be memed into seeing a bad cashgrab movie like morbius or whatever.
it was gonna be consumerist trash because it's based off a toy brand
it's literally a two-hour long advertisement
my sister told me it's legit one of the best movies shes seen this decade
my siblings have bad taste in media too. for real though it's not actually a subversive kino whatever, it's just a movie that's meant to sell toys that has a couple of funny bits and was marketed to adults instead of kids
It's fun to watch and it's kinda fun to think about, nothing more nothing less. Maybe wait until it's on streaming to pirate it, like I did for the mario movie, I wouldn't have watched it if I wasn't invited to watch it. The Ken song is too good for the movie though, everything about it, it starts like a parody of the d day scene in saving private ryan and ends as a dancing number in abstract negative space, the choreography is downright excellent, the song is quality, it's pretty good. Don't believe anyone who hypes it as anything more than this.
It's much less that the sum of its parts. There are some really funny scenes and the Ken number does indeed rule. But it's explicitly wrapped in a boring and pretty incoherent liberal feminist message that the movie can't help but dwell on (in what feels like a need to justify its own existence as more than a glorified commercial) to the detriment of the actually enjoyable stuff. Honestly the best things about it are the things that could be outtakes from Zoolander
because it doesn't really do the same thing the matrix does (even when it's directly alluded)
Honestly, the worst thing about this film is the constant reminders that I could've been watching the Matrix instead.
