Barbie

I took my daughter to see it. It was a great mainstream introduction to misogyny, hit home with some points and over her head with others. I thought it was a good film.
I don’t think it’s solely a feminist film and it’s unfair to paint it that way for both Greta and Feminists however it had some amazing points and anything that shines a light for young girls on the cause I’m all for.

I haven’t seen it advertised as a ‘film for feminists’ in the same way the Matrix was never advertised for conspiracy theorists, but they touch on the subject and it becomes a type film for people to sensationalise but they’re fit all films to be enjoyed and I think you take what you will from it.

You're taking their stupidity too much to heart.

When being told by a man that as a feminist you should go and see it, point out that as a feminist you don't have to do something just because a man tells you to.

If they keep on going on, change the subject, walk away, tell them if they're trying to get you to go with them it's fine for them to go alone, call out their rudeness for telling you what you should do.

Consider the possibility that this is next-level purposeful satire by a smart director whose arms were twisted (and publicly manipulated) to include a transwoman.

I get you OP. I’ve had a couple of “it’s not what you think, you should go and see it, you’d be surprised” comments from friends who know I’m a feminist. But why would I want to put money in the coffers of a company who produced the #1 toy responsible for upholding unrealistic beauty standards, a toy I hated my entire childhood and beyond? Why would I want to see a film that claims to be a feminist take on Barbie which continues to sell us the lie men can be women by casting a transwoman as a female character? It’s just an extended advert with some lip service to feminism thrown in.

I don't think you need to see it if you're a feminist. I don't think you should have to defend that choice.

I do think you need to see it if you want to have an opinion on what it is or isn't.

It's a real catch 22 I think. If you suspect that a Barbie movie may have harmful messages for girls and young women, you can't comment and raise awareness of this if you haven't seen it. But if you do see it you are financially supporting it. Aaarghh

I don't think you need to see it if you're a feminist. I don't think you should have to defend that choice.

I do think you need to see it if you want to have an opinion on what it is or isn't.

I don’t care if “barbie can do anything she wants”, I’m a real woman in the real world and I can barely walk down the street safely

To be fair, that point is made pretty much as soon as Barbie and Ken enter the real world. They're being stared at for how they're dressed and Ken feels "admired", whereas Barbie feels threatened and unsafe - "undertones of violence" is how she describes it. She is immediately made uncomfortable by men from the second she enters the real world.

OP it must be very annoying to be told (just by men, or have any women said it?) that you have to go and see Barbie as some kind of proof of your feminism. But I think you’ve been very unlucky to have this bizarre conversation happen to you more than once! Not people saying they think you would enjoy the film but saying you’re a bad feminist for not going. You have some weird friends/acquaintances. I don’t think anyone else is getting this social pressure to this extent which is why lots of people on this thread are saying ‘meh, just don’t go and see it if it’s not your thing.’

But one of the film's central (younger) characters holds this position very vocally and really goes to town on real life Barbie

Gerwig was clear with Mattel from the outset that she would only be involved if she was allowed to go there on all the problematic stuff. The unrealistic beauty standards, the environmental impact, the controversial/ discontinued dolls - heck the elderly creator's tax evasion issues even get brought up despite otherwise being portrayed as a kindly old lady.

Yes but as a PP said, after that speech from the younger character, nothing happens. She just drops it.

Gerwig was clear with Mattel from the outset that she would only be involved if she was allowed to go there on all the problematic stuff

I think Gerwig is marketing herself very cleverly. Sure, she mentioned stuff, but she didn't really go there.

I don’t care if “barbie can do anything she wants”, I’m a real woman in the real world and I can barely walk down the street safely

This is a point made in the movie.

about a symbol of female oppression and body dysmorphia

This is a point made in the movie.

I think you are missing the point. It’s not really for you but anything that promotes the feminist message to millions of young women and those that aren’t really aware of the issues is surely a good thing?

Plus it’s good fun - does every trip you make to the cinema have to be a worthy enterprise?!

Sorry, tagged wrong person in my post should be autienotnaughti.

for not seeing a movie about a symbol of female oppression and body dysmorphia.

YANBU of course you're not. But one of the film's central (younger) characters holds this position very vocally and really goes to town on real life Barbie.

Gerwig was clear with Mattel from the outset that she would only be involved if she was allowed to go there on all the problematic stuff. The unrealistic beauty standards, the environmental impact, the controversial/ discontinued dolls - heck the elderly creator's tax evasion issues even get brought up despite otherwise being portrayed as a kindly old lady.

You're welcome to not see it for whatever reason you choose, but it isn't the fist pumping celebration of pink plastic feminism you think it is.

I’ve seen the film and I think it’s harmful. The real life tween character, Sasha, starts off being critical of how Barbie makes people feel about their bodies etc at which point I thought great, interested to see where Greta Gerwig is going to go with this. But…..nothing……it just gets dropped. By the end of the film Sasha is happily wearing pink.

I was also surprised @PaterPower didn’t notice, obviously watched a grainy muffled version as the voice was very telling as was the adam’s apple and other physiological features.

I saw it and thought it was brilliant. I never played with Barbie and wouldn't buy one for my DD (she never wanted one) but I do think this film is feminist. I don't mean the speech, which feels like feminism from years ago, but the juxtaposition of a woman having an idea of a doll that inspires girls to be something other than a mother and what our male dominated world did with that idea. Barbie is really upset when she's told she makes life worse for women rather than being inspirational.

I don't think there should be such a commercial kiddy tie in and it isn't a film appropriate for kids, but these things aren't the film's fault.

The doctor barbie are you imply she was portrayed by a trans person. ? I didn't notice.

I’m a little surprised at that. The actor was jarringly obvious (and not a good actor either, tbh). Possibly the most risible bit was the implication that ‘she’ needed to be deprogrammed alongside the female barbies.

I don't think I'd have an issue with people asking why I'm not seeing it because a simple "it's not my kind of film" would suffice.

I do however have an issue with the mental gymnastics of claiming it a a feminist film - it's really REALLY not!

Rather ironic it's Phillipa Perry commenting

That's my particular bug bear.

https://www.bmj.com/content/382/bmj.p1672

Part of text:

Free dolls were given to 700 UK schools as part of Mattel’s “Barbie School of Friendship” programme, which the company says was based on neuroscience research, but critics are worried about overt marketing. Hristio Boytchev reports
The toy company Mattel has been criticised for “stealth marketing” after giving away free Barbie and Ken dolls to schools as part of a programme to teach empathy to children.
Mattel’s “Barbie School of Friendship” programme, in which free dolls were given to children to carry out role play exercises, has been rolled out to 700 schools across the UK, “with the potential to reach 150 000+ pupils,” said the company.

The Department of Education for England refused to confirm whether it had evaluated the programme and told The BMJ that schools had autonomy to introduce any educational materials they believed were appropriate.
()

“The project makes me suspicious that it may be exploitative,” said Philippa Perry, a psychotherapist and author of books on parenting and education. “I feel faintly repulsed by it.” Mark Petticrew, professor of public health evaluation at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, called the programme “alarming.”
“Commercial entities like Mattel are not experts in children’s health or education, they are experts in selling products to maximise profits,” said May van Schalkwyk, a specialty public health registrar, also at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “The Mattel materials are heavily branded—why should children be exposed to this type of stealth marketing?”
Evidence indicates that, when compared with the use of other toys, exposure to a Barbie doll may have negative effects, such as shaping girls’ perception of their career options or their internalisation of the ideal of thinness,12 while the longer term effects of exposure to Barbies are largely unknown, van Schalkwyk told The BMJ. Given the long history of commercial actors seeking to influence school curriculums, engagement with industry needed to be taken much more seriously, she said.