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?

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.

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.’

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

The thing is that the whole pink barbie aesthetic is there and it's not going away.

Young girls are REALLY attracted to it (and boys - obviously some are allowed, some not and those who don't bend to peer pressure and are into it as girls may get told they're therefore a girl.)

It's important to embed key feminist messages in the pinkness.

For me the marketing is the issue and kids should be being taught about that alongside enjoying a film.

And the free shit in schools stuff is plain marketing.

I didn’t play with barbies, just her horse 😐😂 but the trailers looked good so I went

I liked the film a lot, it is not groundbreaking in terms of the feminism presented, but it’s a mainstream big budget Hollywood film where the main themes are that the patriarchy is harmful to everyone and women aren’t equal - and it’s funny... I thought it was a good film.

But nobody “needs” to see it.

I think the bigger issue is that you’ve got men telling you how to do feminism tbh.

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

Wow, where do you live to feel so at risk when you walk down the street?

I totally agree with you, OP.

being told by multiple men in my life, that as a feminist, I should go see the new Barbie movie.

I'm sorry for your situation but the irony in that is hilarious.

My pre teen daughters got a lot out of it and it meant that we had a rousing conversation together with their Dad about feminism. That can only be a good thing. And it's definitely got the older one thinking and reading about feminism now, in a way that she wouldn't have if I'd just signposted her to the material. It was also a very funny film, so to my mind going and seeing it was a win for our family.

I was thinking of seeing it with DD, but I then read that the director did 'lady bird' and I found that film unbelievably boring, so think I might give Barbie a miss, although DD is keen to see it, so I might change my mind.

The men telling you to see it are posturing their feminist credentials. That is probably worth digging into. Are they better feminists than you because they watched a film, hmmm.
I went, I enjoyed it, I haven’t told anyone to go / not go.

It appeals to the 'fun feminist' crowd.

"I'M A FEMINIST! I'M A FEMINIST! But I can't tell all the men in my life to piss off when they goad me about seeing a movie about a doll
"

honestly, you can't make sweeping comments about a movie you haven't seen - at least a couple of your irks ARE addressed in the movie, and pretty well

She became a woman rather than a doll, and so now had a vagina and not a plastic bump, and she therefore gleefully went to the gynaecologist - which is a positive message for younger girls, that going to the gynae is important and not something to fear

I saw it and thought it was reasonably enjoyable and reasonably clever. Also saw Oppenheimer which was an amazing film but had only two females in it with very short screen time and one female mostly nude. Ironically whilst Barbie has a female empowerment message Ryan Gosling possibly delivers the best performance and gets more screen time.

So whilst I agree Barbie isn't perfect, there's definitely a place for it and it's generally a positive film from a feminist standpoint. But it's not obligatory to go or indeed talk about it if you don't.

She became a woman rather than a doll, and so now had a vagina and not a plastic bump, and she therefore gleefully went to the gynaecologist - which is a positive message for younger girls, that going to the gynae is important and not something to fear
Thank-you, good point

It's absolutely fine to not want to see it, as you well know there is no one way to be feminist, you do you not sure why you're feeling so aggravated, but it is completely fruitless for anyone to try and debate it if they've not seen it. It's quite an unusual film, if you want to discuss it, you have to see it first (not so much the OP but the posters talking about what they've "heard"). You can't debate a film on hear say, but especially this one whose message has been misunderstood even by many who have seen it.l!

I'm sorry, slight derail, but from the Daily Signal article linked upthread

Today, the “Barbie” movie is focused more on the inclusion of non-women into a brand originally intended specially for women. The casting of a Nef is not the first instance of female erasure in the Barbie brand, as Mattel released its first transgender Barbie just last year and gender-neutral Barbie dolls in 2019.

Is the real? Or is the Daily Signal a spoof site like The Onion? I'm imagining (and I don't want to) a little pink dilator and wee, plastic mastectomy scars.