Barbie

[h1d1ng1npla1ns1ght]

I’m so sick of having to say “no I’m not seeing it”, “but you’re a feminist, you know it’s a feminist movie!” “I’m not that kind of feminist.” I don’t care about barbie and I don’t think it’s an appropriate medium for a feminist message, even ironically. I’m sure it’s a good movie, I’m sure it’s very feminist FOR a barbie movie. I have no interest in it. I’ve been called a bad feminist for not seeing a movie about a symbol of female oppression and body dysmorphia. 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. I don’t care if they have a slightly overweight barbie, a disabled barbie, a doctor/lawyer/farmer barbie, it’s not good enough. I have no desire to hear a feminist message from barbie’s mouth, nor defend my feminism against it.
I get that for some people it’s just a movie about a doll and they don’t care, that’s fine. But it means something actively negative to me. Can anyone either commiserate or help me to come around to the idea?

I’m a real woman in the real world

Not....a barbie girl in a barbie world? 😂😂😂

While the point could have been slightly more elegantly made (the word “patriarchy “ was repeated to the point of gibberish) I honestly felt this was the first film I’ve seen deliberately exploring feminist thought since The Love Witch.

I also feel very happy about the fact the biggest movie in the world is not some teenage male robot film but a film directed at 40 year old women. When Barbie realised it was America Ferrera she was looking for and not the little girl, that was for us ladies.

It’s not 100% perfect but to me it comes dangerously close. In fact I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a film in the cinema so much since Gerwig’s previous film, Little Women!

Oh Little Women was amazing 😍
I went on a Monday afternoon to see it by myself. Took lunch and chocolate. It was the biggest screen in the complex, and there were 8 people total there, inc me. It was such a fabulous couple of hours.

I really enjoyed Barbie, it was hilarious and explicitly feminist. I think the marketing has been clever, as I was expecting it to be fun and kitsch but not have central plot points about patriarchy, the male gaze and consciousness raising. I think it’s a positive thing that this satire about patriarchy will make a billion dollars and be seen by so many women (and men). But you know, just don’t go if you don’t want to - it’s not compulsory.

But the issue is not with the film its with the male friends presuming to dictate to you. The film itself is irrelevant to this behaviour.

I've seen the film. I never had Barbies as a child, my DC had some and sometimes played with them but no more than with other toys and like most children - Weird Barbie was a feature. My adult DC persuaded me to join them and I found it funny, pointed and silly. It was better than I expected, but it won't be in my best ever films list.

Doctor Barbie did stand out despite the work. The voice was "wrong" and the adam's apple was a bit of a giveaway. I had a bit of an eye roll but in contemporary Hollywood it wasn't surprising to see a TW in a role based on a 1950s idealised woman.

OTOH Barbie is famously shaped by plastics, not a real woman and devoid of a vagina - a point the film makes quite effectively but would be a spoiler to explain here.

I was interested in the audience for the film. Its been out for a while and I was vaguely assuming the audience would be young girls and teens but it was much more mixed including plenty of boys and young men.

agree with OP. i'm tired being preached to by big corporations pretending to be "good". a fun story and laughs would be fine.

ha, ask your male friends if they are feminists? did they dress in pink and go see the movie?

to be fair, they're not portrayed well. And the Mattel staff are all unlikeable (except for the tanktop guy from Sex Education - he's sweet)

@kikigen

I don't know if it's an age thing. I felt upset and a little bit angry at the struggle we go through as women I'm 37. My nieces definitely felt vindicated and like the movie proved a point they had been trying to make? They haven't stopped talking about it and everytime they talk about it get confident all over again and quite emboldened in their conversations not backing down to their brother and dad etc, arguing back where as normally they would give up.

For me it's so good to see, I'm a lesbian so there isn't many instances in my life where I have to listen to the opinions of men and pretend to care. So when I see my nieces talking back and making sure they are heard I burst with pride.