I watched this recently w/ my wife and loved it! I’m more of a cinema freak than she is so it was cool for us to pick it apart in different ways and highlight different things. It was very cool to see how certain homages to other movies were used to drive home some of the movie’s key points. The opening scene that references 2001 A Space Odyssey was great, having the Barbie doll in place of the weapon from the original movie, and Barbie in place of the obelisk. Also thought there were a few good Matrix type references: The high-heel show vs the Birkenstock sandal as the blue/red pills, having Barbie realize that the ‘real world’ is a terrible place to exist, and juxtaposing how Ken would rather live in the real world than Barbieland – in the Matrix, Cypher wants to exist in the fake world since it suits him better and he’d rather cast a blind eye towards all the terrible-ness.

Overall I loved the movie, it’s unlike anything I’ve really seen before, and Greta Gerwig should get whatever budget and free reign she wants to make her future films (kind of like how a lot of male directors have now? :) ).

Also it was fun to go directly from watching this movie to watching what was on TV at the same moment, which for me was UFC and college football – alot of the subtle and not so subtle points made in the Barbie movie are so apparent in our male-centric pop culture elements. Heck, I never would have realized how many horse references there are in commercials and shows without watching Barbie! Thanks again Taylor!

But you said it best when you said that everyone took their hits in this movie. It came after everyone and it actually wasn’t doing anything extreme really. Heck the movie self commentated with that regard when it said, really? A voluptuous doll play thing for kids is going to be the arbiter of all things women’s rights? I mean? Really? Probably best to just let the real women speak on their own behalf.

Anyway, thanks for swinging by sir. It is a real hot topic in certain circles right now, and unfairly so. Would love to engage with the anti-voices on the specific merits (or lack there of) of the actual movie – because heck there were a lot of flaws with it. The screen play makes almost zero sense from a logic standpoint. Like you put the Lego movie script in a blender. And yet it still stuck the messy landing that it was. I enjoyed it. Had some important things to say that we should all keep in mind and consider. But it was no Rosa Parks moment or anything. That’s for sure. Not worth getting on YouTube and burning Barbie’s for views. That’s for sure.

Don’t be a stranger sir!

Way to dive into the chaos that is Barbie! By reading these comments I can see it can be a tricky one. I didn’t even try to write about this film because I didn’t feel like I could honestly offer an opinion when it came to the deeper themes of the film.

I thought it was all over the place in the best of ways. It was one of those films where you just had to give into the chaos and lunacy of the world. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling were so dang good in their roles. The Gosling role is the obvious stand out, but I think what Robbie had to do was a bit harder. She had to hold a tone and the moral center of the film, even though all those things varied wildly. Gosling, while great, really was only asked to be absolutely hilarious – mission successful.

I though Barbie was a very fair and centered when it came to the roles of women and men. I think both sides took some poignant hits, with the men definitely taking our deserved majority. I’m not sure I’m capable of explaining it, but Barbie wasn’t the aggressive feminist dogma I was expecting. It was much more balanced and focused on fun and musicals and more than just a message. It succeeded where something like Don’t Worry Darling failed.

Keep up the good work sir!

I am a single mom and I will tell you exactly what the judge said to me when we were in family court briefly in a custody hearing when my son was a baby-

Verbatim “You are the mother and this is NEVER going to be fair towards you.”

So, yeah.

This guy has a lot to say for someone who hasn’t even watched the film because even Ken wakes up to reality in it!

Look,
This is a movie discussion blog. You admit you haven’t watched the movie. I’m fine discussing the topic the movie initiates… but not just discussing the topic sans the movie. If you’d like to watch the movie, and then discuss it? Great. We can do that.

But I will leave you with this singular comic, that expresses the entirety of my argument more eloquently than I can do it with words:

https://d34zrgnx1tq8w.cloudfront.net/488832/uploads/8c439ee0-07bc-11eb-9c26-55486a74a6c5_1200_630.jpeg

Thank you for your reply.

For the record, I’ve said nothing about minorities or people of colour or that men have it worse than women. I’ve said that both sexes have unique challenges and that an impassioned quote could be made for both. My final point also was that women actually set some of the expectations placed on other women, not men.

I’m unsure where you are getting your data on women being expected to work 60-hour weeks. “Men work an average of 40.5 hours per week, while women work 36.6 hours per week”, according to https://www.thebalancemoney.com/what-is-the-average-hours-per-week-worked-in-the-us-2060631#:~:text=Key%20Takeaways,work%20from%20home%20in%202021. Throughout my career I’ve never heard anyone set the expectation that woman should work long hours and data suggests this isn’t widespread. Maybe you’ve experienced this, and that’s fair enough, but the data suggests it’s not as common as your point seems to imply.

You also say I’m wrong? About what exactly? My point, as stated above, is simply that life presents challenges in almost any situation and that each sex has its own set of complexities and hurdles to overcome. That’s hardly a contestable statement.

You also say, “I think it pretty funny how you say that men have it as rough as women. Yes, life, in general, is tough for everyone.” So are you agreeing with me, or not? I thought you said you disagreed 100%.

Finally, your comment about me “even seeing the movie” is irrelevant. I’ve never claimed to have seen the movie, and my comment is solely and explicitly about the “impassioned quote”, which you’ve included in the article in full.

For the most part, your reply seems unhinged, and your combative comment of “let’s go” is entirely inappropriate, especially considering you’re the site owner. I didn’t come here to argue. I’ve simply provided an alternative viewpoint. You can make of it what you will.

America was great in this film. I think she said the quote you are discussing. She played the real everywoman well. I could definitely relate.

And Ryan! He was awesome as Ken. So funny.

This kind of film is not really my cup of tea yet I enjoyed it. Definitely a good one to watch with the family- especially one with daughters.

interestingly, it’s actually feminists that raise the issue of toxic masculinity. we know men are taught to be muscular and fit and to never cry and “you’re only a man if you have a beard” and other gatekeepy shit like that. it’s feminists that speak out against that. and, in fact, this movie supports going against the grain of society that says we have to be X, Y, and Z to be valid. men can embrace that as well without feeling left out that they don’t have a movie specifically about “male empowerment” lol (just go to therapy, john w.)