• Magician [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    1 year ago

    America Ferrera's speech in the Barbie movie sums it up nicely:

    spoiler

    "It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don't think you're good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we're always doing it wrong.

    You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can't ask for money because that's crass. You have to be a boss, but you can't be mean. You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas. You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men's bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you're accused of complaining. You're supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you're supposed to be a part of the sisterhood.

    But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. So find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful. You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line.

    It's too hard! It's too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault.

    I'm just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us. And if all of that is also true for a doll just representing women, then I don't even know."

    • UlyssesT
      ·
      edit-2
      17 days ago

      deleted by creator

      • Magician [he/him, they/them]
        ·
        1 year ago

        It's wild that some people have takes like that. It's like yeah, art is made under capitalism and is definitely influenced by it, but it's still worthwhile to engage with the art.

        Cries in Humanities

        • UlyssesT
          ·
          edit-2
          17 days ago

          deleted by creator

          • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
            ·
            1 year ago

            My solution is just to watch it with the babies. Having kids cackle at some dumb jokes makes watching a kids movie fun, their laughter is infectious. I watched Avengers part whatever with my nephews and honestly had a good time even though it's total slop. Or maybe it was one of the Thor movies. I honestly couldn't give a shit. But the kids had fun so that's all I cared about. Plus I got some popcorn and some Mike and Ikes.

            • UlyssesT
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              edit-2
              17 days ago

              deleted by creator

              • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
                ·
                1 year ago

                One of the funniest and depressing things I read in recent years was some dude saying "dune is proof you can make a star wars film for adults" and all I could think was "you are so close to understanding star wars is for children but still so far away."

                • UlyssesT
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                  edit-2
                  17 days ago

                  deleted by creator

                  • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
                    ·
                    1 year ago

                    For sure. I mean it's "all ages" entertainment. Who doesn't like seeing Chewbacca throw around some space nazis. But people take it too far. I feel bad for the kid who played Anakin. The star wars nerds really raked him over the coals and just... that poor boy never deserved that hate.

                    • UlyssesT
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                      edit-2
                      17 days ago

                      deleted by creator

                      • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
                        ·
                        1 year ago

                        That's another example. Poor dude just did a job and they bullied him for it.