For some women in China, “Barbie” is more than just a movie — it’s also a litmus test for their partner’s views on feminism and patriarchy.
The movie has prompted intense social media discussion online, media outlets Sixth Tone and the China Project reported this week, prompting women to discuss their own dating experiences.
One user on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu — a photo-sharing site similar to Instagram that’s mostly used by Gen Z women — even shared a guide on Monday for how women can test their boyfriends based on their reaction to the film.
According to the guide, if a man shows hatred for “Barbie” and slams female directors after they leave the theatre, then this man is “stingy” and a “toxic chauvinist,” according to Insider’s translation of the post. Conversely, if a man understands even half of the movie’s themes, “then he is likely a normal guy with normal values and stable emotions,” the user wrote.
Women in the US are doing that too.
I guess it works, to a point. If your man throws a Shapiro-esque fit over this movie he probably isn’t great to be around the rest of the time.
His critique of it is basically that it’s too “woke” but he really has nothing to say about the essential elements of any movie (plot, tone, character development, etc). He’s either unable or unwilling to separate politics from his review. It’s like he doesn’t know a movie can be well made even if you disagree with its themes.
If you ever have (unfortunately) heard of his absolutely dogshit book, then his inability to understand deeper meanings, subtext, themes, and to grapple with a competent plot should not surprise you in the least. Robert Evans, Cody Johnston, and Katy Stoll read it through on Behind The Bastards in a few episodes. Imagine the novelization of a Steven Seagal movie adaption of a Jack Ryan plotline. Combine that with how ol Benny really wanted, and failed, to be a screenplay writer, and it makes sense his absolute hatred for modern Hollywood movies that don’t say all the things he likes.
One pump, one cream my friend. I loved those episodes and so many more.
Take a bullet for ya, babe
Take a bullet for ya
Interesting. Have you listened to the behind the bastards take on Scott Adams? That’s pretty funny too.
Lol yeah it’s always the smaller bastards with the funniest episodes
Pretty sure he decided what he was going to say before he even saw the movie. He can’t admit to liking any part of it becausee of his politics.
I seen a video of another person dismantling his arguments and plot and character development is something he touches on.
Shapiro-esque is such an apt description.
The amount of concern a woman should have about their partner is directly related to the amount of Shapiro that is displayed when complaining about Barbie. I had a few parts I didn’t like, but I still enjoyed the movie as a whole. I thought the car chase scenes were so unnecessary and terrible product placement.
What’s funny is Shapiro, himself, feels Shapiro-esque as if even he were not the genuine article but instead a trick of the light.
Both my wife and i wanted to go equally. I wanted to thirst on Ken and I did…but on the serious note, its a good movie for both genders to see for seperate but equal reasons. Barbie gotta stand up and step out, be herself. and Ken has to learn what it means to be Ken without Barbie. This movie would of helped me not be such an incel in my formative years.
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What do I do if my woman does that though?
Watch Oppenheimer, I guess?
Lol she actually wants to go watch the movie about child trafficking. Personally I want to drive 3 hours to watch Oppenheimer on 70mm because I didn’t know it was even a thing before this movie. Though all imax was created decently equal 😂
a Shapiro-esque fit
🤣🤣🤣
I’m using that line
It can also work both ways, by seeing how she sees the corporate feminism thrown around by power-hungry corpos only for the profit. Luckily, my gf and I were sharing the same “yeah, it’s still divisive and murican corpo trash” mentality about the movie, while both of us saying that it was “almost there”
I have to admit, Barbie becoming a Chinese feminist icon was not on my 2023 bingo card. Anyone taking bets on when we’re gonna get a kpop version of this classic?
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Good bot!
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=3UiZLj_jC-E
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
We really should have clients redirect to Piped by default
good bot
Barbie starting the revolution in China? Hopefully other countries as well. Good timeline.
Little Pink Cookbook!
Little Pink Cookbook!
Little Pink Cookbook?
You’ve got to do the cooking by the book ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
YEAH!!!
I was supposed to read this with a lil jon voice, right?
I think you meant “YEAH!!!”
China is already communist
No it’s not lol
Their political leaders are billionaires, the workers don’t own any means of production, there’s terrible workers rights, etc.
That’s how communism always ends up. When you hand over majority of the power to the state, it won’t be keen on giving it back.
That’s like saying the US is not capitalist because we don’t have a true free market and better products/services don’t always rise to the top.
These simply aren’t things that can practically happen, just like the workers owning the means of production.
That doesn’t make any sense though. Communism isn’t when you “give power to the state.” It’s a word used to describe a specific economic system that China does not have. The word that best describes what I think you’re getting at is “authoritarian.” Words mean things, and if a thing doesn’t fit the definition of a word, then it isn’t that word.
Tell me you don’t understand any economic system without telling me you don’t understand any economic system
Good news everyone, the Politics Understander has logged on
Yeah and North Korea is a democratic republic.
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I am genuinely amazed this movie wasn’t banned in China
Well they included the nine-dash line in the movies silly map (I believe Vietnam banned the movie because of this) and there’s no zombies or Winnie the Pooh references so all good as far as the CCP goes.
9 dash line?
This is an insult to the free world. Fuck the Barbie movie.
Tbh that map looks nothing like the nine dash map and there are only eight dashes. It’s quite a stretch imo
I think if anyone gets mad at a Barbie movie or some random article on the internet that has nothing to do with them, that’s a good sign they’re emotionally unstable
I’d call it emotionally immature.
A surprising number of the people I grew up or work with act like they’re still in high school when it comes to social/interpersonal skills – these people are all well over 30 years old.
Tomato, tomato. If you’re a grown ass man, emotional immaturity IS instability.
I just treat most people like 16 year Olds and it tends to work out pretty well.
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A matter of opinion. I thought that it was quite poorly written in the second half
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Really funny movie I’m glad with the direction that they went with it
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It’s very obvious here that no one is saying “if you don’t like a Barbie movie then you’re sexist.” The point is if you don’t agree with equality, whether in a movie or irl, then that’s the problem. But I feel like you probably already know this.
But yes, if people from certain religions and political parties would just stop with the racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia, maybe people wouldn’t feel the need to express
cultural valuesthe oppression they’re experiencing. Maybe consumers wouldn’t identify so much with the message of films like this. Yet somehow it’s always positive media like this that gets pushback, and meanwhile, laws keep getting passed in bumfuck states that are stripping human rights from people one by one. But sure, Barbie is the “exhausting” issue here.In other words, maybe there wouldn’t be media “pushing” for equality if we already had it.
And idk, I find Marvel/superhero bullshit to be exhausting and immature and just bad, so I don’t watch any of it, I block everything about it on lemmy and reddit, and I don’t comment on it. Then it’s not exhausting anymore.
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You should add a TL;DR to that which says “I don’t understand feminism and I’m making it everyone else’s problem.”
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People are free to be mad at anything as they please as long as they dont harm to other people.
Or maybe people should not be mad at news article of Russia invading Ukraine for no reason?
You are comparing war to an article on Barbie lmao I can’t take you seriously
It is an article. Both.
Dont worry, I also dont take people on Internet seriously. Most of them are not even my equal.
damn dude. I hate people too, but jeez.
Define “mad”. I’ve watched it (arrr) myself and The Barbie movie is very political, despite them completely hiding it in the trailers and the promotional material.
Fervent political media tends to rile people up, especially when it’s very one-sided. I presume you haven’t seen it and think people are upset over a light hearted comedy.
It’s only political if you think human rights are political. For normal people who care about other people, it’s a light hearted comedy
Human rights are political by definition. Feminism is political by definition. That the average person (or at least the ones worth knowing) is a feminist, whether they know it or not, doesn’t mean the ideas aren’t political in nature.
The problem is that people think political means bad or controversial instead of, you know, relating to concepts of governance and self rule.
The fact that I don’t want to go to the movies to watch propaganda doesn’t mean I’m against that propaganda. I go there to be entertained.
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You didn’t reply to their comment, you just added your own idiotic take. The movie isn’t propaganda unless you think a story about women and men having equal rights and equal opportunity is propaganda.
Is The Matrix propaganda? Is Terminator propaganda? Is Star Trek propaganda? All entertaining movies, all have heavy social commentary.
I haven’t seen the Barbie movie. I have no idea what it’s like. My comment was about “propaganda” movies in general
You’ll get nothing from communists in this discussion friend. People refuse to allow our media to be escapism anymore and demand even already addressed issues drilled into ‘entertainment’. We traded pop culture references for this, and somehow I want the references back
The Barbie movie is still escapism, media in general is still escapism. Media has always contained messages or lessons or political meaning, it’s not a new thing, nobody’s disallowing anything. If you don’t like today’s media, maybe it’s because you don’t like the messages they contain anymore. Sometimes you gotta look inward before blaming things on “society”.
EvErYoNe WhO dIsAgReEs WiTh Me Is A cOmMuNiSt. You’re not even aware at how much of a self-report you’re doing.
It’s not one-sided, though. It argues that both matriarchy and patriarchy are not inclusive ways of operating a society. The movie did not shy away from showing Ken’s dissatisfaction living under a matriarchy, just like it did not shy away from showing Gloria and Sasha’s dissatisfaction with living under a patriarchy
I liked that it at least gave a few nods to the idea that living in a patriarchy isn’t necessarily great for all men either. Not all men have power, and even the ones that do aren’t necessarily happier for it and find themselves competing with other men and restricting their own self-expression. That’s a nuance that’s lost in a lot of pop feminist messaging.
Absolutely! The dolls of both genders that were discontinued or discarded were the first ones to bring down the patriarchy in Barbie land, including Allan and Sugar’s Daddy/Magic Ring Ken
Fucking Good. I’ve really got to watch it.
Exactly the way actual feminism does instead of the conservative boogeyman “feminism” that’s just female chauvinism espoused by an extreme minority.
I love it for being an egalitarian movie. More of that please.
despite them completely hiding it in the trailers and promotional material
…
If it’s talking about equality then it’s not political. People’s lives are not political they are not objects for other people to react to. Touch grass.
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There are only two categories: the status quo (no matter how shitty it might be for some populations) and “political”.
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If you base your relationship on a fucken Hollywood movie then that should be a litmus test in and of itself.
Also, guys, if your girlfriend constantly feels the need to “test” your relationship, then she’s not the right one. Thats a massive red flag.
I mean there’s no harm in using a cultural moment as a starting point to see if two people are compatible?
I think the language in the article and perhaps from the influencers is a bit rigid.
I don’t think anyone is suggesting that if a man has valid reasons for disliking the movie they are automatically exist. The idea is that the film is causing a knee jerk reaction in men who are otherwise prone to hiding their misogyny.
I didn’t get a lot of the inside jokes about the product. And the barbies and Ken’s did not unite to kill Will Ferrell.
It’s not basing the relationship off of the movie. It’s just a way to test if any red flags come up.
I think it’s healthy to observe your partners reaction to things. Especially when it comes to things that are quite important for a long term relationship, like their thoughts about gender roles. If you organically went to see the movie and your partner is clearly displaying red flags from it, then that’s just good (not the red flags but that you now know).
I guess the trickery of going to assess them specifically can be seen as a asshole move. But I think it’s a good move compared to alternatives ^^
Being manipulative is a good alternative compared to just being direct and asking your partner what they think? I’m sure someone who is going to throw a fit about the Barbie movie will be happy to tell you what they think about feminism if you just ask.
I don’t see it as more manipulative then to ask leading questions to assess anybodies stance on subjects ^^ Especially when it’s a way to shield yourself from real harm that might be caused by the party you are probing information from.
If you’re worried about real harm this person should not be your partner. It doesn’t matter what they think about a movie.
Movies are not a good basis on someone’s perception of anything. Their interactions with reality are.
Wanting to test if your new boyfriend is a misogynist is hardly a red flag. The article doesn’t say anything about testing dudes constantly.
Sounds like somebody failed the Barbie boyfriend test
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I don’t think that’s fair. The “feminism” shown in the movie is highly reductive and at times completely out of touch. I liked the movie as a whole but the women forming a plan to distract the men while they take over the world behind their back completely eliminated the possibility of this being a movie that could serve as a good model for feminist arguments. Equality isn’t reached by tricking people or politically disenfranchising the other sex on purpose. It’s done by moving forward together. This movie showed the men being terrible and then showed us that women should fight back by being just as terrible? I think you can see how this isn’t really a good feminist argument or one that is so solid that it should receive universal support from every audience member. Especially if you’re gonna argue someone is a misogynist if they didn’t agree with the movies take.
Seeing a movie with someone is part of your experience with them, through which you determine their personality and character, is it not?
I agree that “testing” people is kind of toxic, but the idea that your assessment of a person isn’t cumulative and inclusive feels odd.
I thought the movie criticizes both extreme feminism and male chauvinism, or did I watch a different Barbie movie?
That’s what the article is saying as well.
Any gendered chauvinism sucks and patriarchy causes suffering to anyone.
And if someone comes out of the movie angered by this knowledge, they can be a troublesome person to other people.
Yeah. Barbie Was not the good guy in the Barbie movie, right? Like, even in the end they admit that they will not give the Kens true equality, just enough that they basically won’t revolt again. People here calling Barbie a feminist icon, what movie were you watching?
Obviously she wasn’t the good guy. She developed a nuclear bomb for heaven’s sake. To be fair I did fall asleep for a bit but I’m pretty sure I got the big plot points.
Lmfao what the actual fuck?
I didn’t watch the movie, nor do I know anything about the premise, so seeing that comment and thinking about Barbie the toy is absolutely hilarious…
He’s making a joke about Barbenheimer…
That’s the point. They blatantly say “someday, the Ken’s will have as much rights as women do in the real world”
The entire point is that treating people as second class like thst isn’t good, regardless of which side its coming from and that we should all be equal. The only time I’d see men complaining about that is when they don’t get it.
Like, even in the end they admit that they will not give the Kens true equality, just enough that they basically won’t revolt again.
That example isn’t really accurate, they say the Kens eventually will be given the same representativity as the women in the real world. That line is more of a jab against gender inequality than anything.
Sure but it’s still them making a conscious choice to keep oppressing a group until an unrelated reality fixes their shit. Doesn’t sound like they’re good guys at all tbh.
Sure but it’s still them making a conscious choice to keep oppressing a group until an unrelated reality fixes their shit.
I hope you see the irony in that phrase.
Doesn’t sound like they’re good guys at all tbh.
This isn’t Star Wars my dude, not everything needs to be good vs evil. Sometimes there’s even room for satire.
Yeah the movie doesn’t paint them as good guys though? The narrator comes in and states that they aren’t at that point, and stereotypical Barbie leaves because she can’t see herself as taking part in such a system anymore.
I don’t think they’re supposed to be “good guys”.
I think that was the point, it’s the perfect mirror to the real world. Everyone not okay with how the Barbies treat the Kens in the end should think for a second why that is and why anyone should accept the reverse in the real world.
It’s also kind of a clever subtle call to action. “If you don’t like this ending, you can change it by changing things in the real world.”
“Stereotypical Barbie” (the Margot Robbie one) actually seems to get it by the end. In fact, her main character arc was going from being like the other barbies—watered down stereotypes of feminism—to actually a feminist who has a better grasp of why just equalizing out positions of power, while still good, does not address the root of patriarchy.
Okay, I’ll admit I had not the slightest clue what the plot was to Barbie before opening this post but I’m getting a little curious about this movie now.
It didn’t end up in a world that’s ready. More like a mirror of the real world but maybe healthier?
That is indeed what is in Barbie - if you watch it and actually think about the themes. If you’re just there for the experience then the message is (quote moviegoer behind my back discussing with friends): “goddamn, this is a step in right direction, we won’t change this patriarchal world with one film however“ :P
On a basic level the message “Ken was silly, broke Barbieworld because he wanted to emulate men, they had to get Barbie and a feminist back to fix it” - and that’s what most people will get out of Barbie.
On a basic level the message “Ken was silly, broke Barbieworld because he wanted to emulate men, they had to get Barbie and a feminist back to fix it”
How did he break it? He basically just flipped the genders so Kens are the ruling/working class and Barbies are just subservient eye candy. Barbie just flipped it back. It’s a broken and unimaginably unfair world in either case.
When Kens ask just for a bit of equality at the end, they are shut down and given some unimportant appeasement as a joke.
When Kens ask just for a bit of equality at the end, they are shut down and given some unimportant appeasement as a joke.
The movie is calling this out on purpose. It’s how women are currently treated in western society.
criticizes both extreme feminism
Tbh I didn’t see any real critic to extreme feminism, I only saw them holding a mirror to society in general (with the obvious reversed gender dynamics). Is there an example?
Lmfao “extreme feminism”
“tHeY wAnT eXtReMe eQuAlItY!1!1” smdfh[citation needed]
(and no, men being generalised against as shits is not an act of extremism no matter how uncomfortable it made you feel lol get back to me when the levels of harm become even close to being comparable)
My boyfriend and i can’t wait to watch this movie 😊 💕 (but cinema got expensiv dudeee 🥲)
I am sure it won’t take long and then it will be available elsewhere.
For those who saw the movie: do you think this test is valid?
As a man, I would say sort of. The movie does not shy away from a very obvious feminist message combined with an unsubtle (hilarious) spoof of toxic masculinity. On the other hand, it’s still a matter of personal taste. I really liked the movie, but I could see how someone would find it a bit too simplistic and formulaic in its story, completely independent from its themes. Not liking female directors in general just because they’re female is complete bullshit though.
To be fair it doesn’t say the boyfriend has the like the movie, just understand it and not bash it mindlessly.
I haven’t seen it, but the criticism I’ve heard is that the feminist message is a pretty obvious one and not very deep. I guess you don’t go to the Barbie movie to “make you think”, but I’ve also heard that the movie spends a bit too long on that obvious message and it gets boring at parts. I think the majority of criticisms aren’t about the message itself, more about the execution of it.
Buuutt this is the internet and the ridiculous voices are always the loudest lol
I don’t know I one should derive a scientific test out of it, but if a guy gets batshit crazy over the movie, then he might not have the best relation towards independent women.
It’s not a movie for my taste as I prefer to watch sci-fi, action, thriller or historical themed movies. So if I was forced or coerced into seeing it, I would probably hate it too. Then again, I haven’t seen it so don’t really know for sure.
It doesn’t say you have to like the movie, just understand its themes.
That’s actually a very good point that I didn’t even realise. I did say “hate it” but didn’t mean hating the movie, simply disliking and not enjoying the time.
I guess it’s become far too easy to use extreme words in our daily speech nowadays, for which I blame social media.
I tend to prefer similar movies as you and I loved the movie. It is a VERY fantastical, intelligent, existential, and heady movie. It’s one of the most expert navigations of complex social dynamics I’ve ever seen and has an absolute shitload of cinema references and easter eggs to boot.
Don’t let the surface fool you. The franchise is just a vehicle for Greta’s ideas to reach a mass audience.
The franchise is a vehicle to sell barbies.
Mattel decided this was the best way in the current cultural mood.
Vehicles tend to have space for many things. Writers also tend to not be massive corporations even while speaking for said corporations.
That’s like saying The Lego Movie and the Lego Batman movie were a vehicle to sell Legos. That’s pretty obviously not all they were, and just because they could sell toys that doesn’t mean they weren’t also good movies.
I second your opinion and I’m a woman. I just never liked the franchise, no matter how good the movie is, I don’t think I’d enjoy watching it either.
You might not like it, but I have huge barbie issues and went with my 11 yo thinking it would be okay and poke a but of fun and have a slightly feminist bent. I truly loved every minute and am surprised how much I did. It is formulaic but done really well.
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Won’t be surprised if dumb. Lots of that going around these days, especially regarding this topic.
Oh so having a taste means being toxic or fragile now?
Clearly it’s Your toxic insecurity that can’t handle others have different taste than you. You’re just insecure fragile female in that regards.
having a taste does not mean to show hatred. You can simply dislike something and you’re done.
But if you show hatred to a movie, a show, a book and the people who worked on that (actors, directors…) I think you have some issues. And that’s what this article is about right?
Yes. And the movie is fun and wholesome for anyone with taste!
I don’t know if it’s defininitive, but I do think it offers good insight into what a person notices when they watch things. There’s a whole lot to notice and think about in the movie
No. The movie is very antagonistic towards men. I don’t think anyone who has seen the movie can dispute that in good faith.
Practically every male character in both the Barbie world and the real world is portrayed negatively. There are a few exceptions that are portrayed neutrally but they are mostly plot or exposition devices.
Conversely, practically every female character is portrayed positively. This creates a stark contrast that’s very difficult to ignore.
To be clear - personally I don’t care, it takes more to rile me up. But hating a movie that is deliberately spiteful towards your demographic is not an abnormal reaction. Neither is “slamming” the people who made it.
Man here. I disagree.
The movie is only “antagonistic towards men” if you think the Kens are somehow supposed to be a 1:1 realistic depiction of real life men which is something not only not textually supported but also actively and explicitly contradicted by the film
The kens aren’t stupid because they’re men, they’re stupid because they’re Ken Dolls. Both Kens and Barbies are highly hyperbolic depictions of how little girls play with Barbies and Kens.
Personally, I found the movie to be very empowering as a man too. I’d recommended rewatching it and trying to think critically about what the movie is doing. It’s a film, not an after school special where every character is supposed to be a direct black-and-white representation of “thing good” or “thing bad”
Do you really not see that’s how women are typically treated in movies? They’re just there to be arm candy to the men, don’t have real personality or depth, and just exist to make the men feel good about themselves.
It’s just funny to watch dudes get so riled up about how kens are treated, especially when at the end the Kens do get their own story arc. Unlike how women are treated in nearly all movies.
It’s antagonistic towards the patriarchy. You completely misunderstood the Ken plot and are the one arguing in bad faith.
In fact, your response is exactly why some people view the movie as a good way to see what an individual pays attention to and whether or not they genuinely understand what the film is critiquing and why.
You failed.
That’s interesting. I read that the film was about radical feminism, but gender switched with Ken as the feminist to overthrow the Barbie-dominating system. Really look forward to seeing the movie.
I think that analogy doesn’t work a 100 %. But I guess you could say that the film explores something like that.
But go ahead and watch the film. I enjoyed it very much.
My understanding is that the film undercuts most of its social commentary and ends up a wash, so watch it for the absurd interpretation of barbie life.
It’s also incredibly ham fisted and decides to tell and not show. The jokes were pretty funny though.
It’s basically about Andrew Tate
Correct. Honestly, if a dude gets offended by a movie that says “hey dude, learn how to love and value yourself without basing all of your sense of self on your romantic relationship to a woman and you’ll be much happier”, they are NOT a catch at all and they need to shed some shit about their lives.
yawn
Have fun getting no pussy anywhere lmao
YAWN
Is it cool if I just don’t watch it? It doesn’t really appeal to me.
The only reason I have any interest in it is all the conservative jimmy-rustling it’s doing.
This. I tried to buy bud light but it’s legitimately awful. Seeing barbie twice is a way better option.
Honestly I was the same way going into it, and after watching it my thoughts were “I don’t regret watching it, but I wouldn’t have regretted missing out either.”
The movie is great, and there were multiple moments where I burst out laughing. It’s also a really bizarre acid trip, and I mean that in a good way! But at the end of the day, it’s a hot pink version of The Lego Movie, down to Will Farrell playing a (less evil and more well-meaning) Lord Business. It’s a movie made by women, for women, about a series of toys designed for women. That’s not a bad thing by any means, and it’s not like men cannot enjoy it, but it also means it may not interest you, and that’s fine too.
Is it really as critical of capital as The Lego Movie was? I haven’t seen it yet, though I intend to.
Fox Business, among other right-wing news outlets, were foaming at the mouth about how The Lego Movie was anti-capitalist. Search up “Lego movie anti capitalist” on your preferred search engine to see what I mean.
Mmmmm, I don’t think I’d go that far, no. Feminist? Very much so. Unable to decide if the Mattel executives are actually antagonistic because Mattel didn’t want to make themselves look too bad? Probably.
Same, I just can’t bring myself to care about a movie that’s about toys I have zero nostalgia for.
I had no prior experiences with any Barbie-related products or media (adult cis white male in the US) and wasn’t sure whether I’d enjoy it at all. After seeing it, i honestly think there’s something for everyone in this movie. It’s exceptionally well-written (very wry) and makes solid points about the current state of patriarchy in our society. It’s really well-done. Feel free to wait for it to come out on streaming, but then I’d definitely recommend checking it out.
“If you love barbie you’ll love the movie!”
“If you hate barbie you’ll love the movie!”
Idgaf about barbie so I didn’t bother watching.
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Of course. I don’t care for Barbie either, and never played with the toys during childhood so there’s no connection for me. I went to watch with my fiance because it was something she was interested in. The movie was okay. Wasn’t great, wasn’t horrible. I think when it becomes telling is when people are somehow offended or pretend like it’s the worst movie created.
Why wouldnt it? It’s also cool if you dislike the movie, it’s not cool if you dislike female directors “because of this movie”
I’m being facetious. But yes, that would be very weird.
That means you are a misogynist through and through. /s
My interest in upbeat movies has never been very high. If it were a thriller or mystery that’d be cool. I’d watch. It’s ok we can pass on this one.
They’re allowed to watch Barbie in China? How censored is it?
The world map clearly isn’t censored
I don’t get why you’d think it would be censored? If anything the movie skewers US capitalism, so the CCP would probably be happy for folks to see it.
Since a while hollywood has been making movies keeping china and its censorship in mind !
… if a man shows hatred for “Barbie” and slams female directors after they leave the theatre, then this man is “stingy” …
Didn’t knew there were that many female directors in China. Let alone having to watch their back to not get sucker-punched for it.
if a man understands even half of the movie’s themes, “then he is likely a normal guy
And when ask about the movie, if he says “she’s hot” and starts masturbating?
he is horny and you should bonk him
According to the guide, if a man shows hatred for “Barbie” and slams female directors after they leave the theatre, then this man is “stingy” and a “toxic chauvinist,” according to Insider’s translation of the post
Nothing against female directors, but the movie went from pretty damn good to pretty damn boring after a while.
You’ve got a fun and quirky beginning that makes light fun of barbie, mattel and patriarchal society. Then you’ve got the bits where
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Barbie and Ken get to the real world, get arrested twice for doing stupid shit.
This part was funny and for a bit there I felt like it was mainly not about driving a message home, but still had SOME things to say. Great! Then you’ve got the parts where
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Ken went on his own journey to discover patriarchy (which he thought had something to do with horses and was disappointed to find out it didn’t), Barbie meets her owner’s daughter, goes to Mattel HQ, then gets chased out and rescued by her owner.
Many hilarious moments here, poking lots of fun at patriarchy again, but it never felt like it was too on the nose. I mean I kinda expected that from the trailers and everything.
Where the movie started changing for me was when
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Barbie, her owner, and the latter’s daughter went back to the Barbie world to help fix the balance, only to find out that the Kens had completely taken over.
While the twist was predictable, it was still interesting because I wanted to know how they would resolve it. But it just kinda… fell off after that? At this point you have the expected low point in the protagonist’s life, and then they figure out how to fix everything, but it was just so… boring and uninspired somehow. By this point, the movie’s quirky and fun nature has worn down its’ course and the
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battle of the Kens
just did nothing for me anymore.
What’s worse, I was expecting
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the Mattel board of directors, particularly Will Ferrell’s characters to be villains and instead they just… arrived by the end of the movie and had a change of heart.
That subverted my expectations for sure, but not in a good way whatsoever. Slightly reminiscent of the last seasons of Game of Thrones.
And lastly, I really expected the resolution of the plot to have something to do with horses and I was sorely disappointed about that too.
TL;DR: Movie starts out great, but foreshadows things it doesn’t follow through on very well, ending is boring and sappy.
About at the part where ::: spoiler spoiler Barbie is comforting Ken on the bed ::: I said to my partner “It feels like this movie has been ending for a while now,” and that was still a good way off from credits. I did appreciate that ::: spoiler spoiler Barbie and Ken didn’t end up together, it was a good message that men and women both need to be okay with themselves before they pursue a relationship. I loved the “I am Kenough” shirt. :::
A few issues I had personally (oops wall of text lol): ::: spoiler spoiler They really hold their punches on toxic masculinity. There are no men who are outright misogynistic and believe women to be subhuman. They’re all just dumb and misguided. They also made a small attempt to point out that patriarchal society is negative for men too with the “sometimes I wish we could all have tickle fights” bit, but I do wish they would have dug a little deeper into how awful it is that men are expected to never have emotions and bottle up. It was also really weird that the kid called Barbie a fascist… It almost felt like they were using that word wrong on purpose to reduce its meaning, or get Republicans in the audience to roll their eyes at the stupid SJW calling everything they don’t like fascist. Also weird that at different points the movie claims Barbie saved women or set them back 50 years…like, it’s just a doll. Yes, a popular doll, but it’s weird to claim women gained or lost power in society solely because of a doll and not through the actions of feminists. :::
I’m general, I’m happy with the film’s lessons, although it feels weird for Hollywood to be the one preaching them to me.
Most of the scenes were pretty enjoyable in isolation. The problem I see is that it feels like they tried to combine two scripts to address the same issue from opposite directions. Either approach could have been good, but each one undercut the other so it just wound up confusedly sabotaging its message.
I can agree with this, the messages got super muddy. They tried to say something about being a woman, being a man, and being a human, but all three were dulled from being stacked on top of each other.
I don’t think this at all. It’s a very dense movie, but I don’t think it suffered for it, and if anything actually enhanced the message that a lot of social expectations are murky and arbitrary.
I’m planning on seeing it again.
Yeah, I overall liked the movie but there were a lot of questionable moments in it. The point where they recognize that using Margot Robbie for some of their points kinda undercuts the points was odd to me. I also didn’t like the child of the movie, I didn’t feel like she was really a character.
I really like the fun energy of the movie, it feels like a giant music video and I love that. But the social commentary moments are just so on the nose it just feels weird that it’s coming from a movie about Barbie. It feels like it can’t decide whether the audience is supposed to be children or nostalgic adults.
I fully agree. It was a fun movie to see but that’s about it… they could have made such a good ending and set up a sequel
Ehhhhh, sequel??
You really wouldn’t want to see a barbie vs he-man movie? Or some other ridiculous set up? I’m not even a big fan of the movie… just seemed like a good financial idea for Mattel
