I love Greta Gerwig and applaud the conversations that this opened up across multiple generations, etc. It just missed the mark for me and that’s ok. Interestingly a lot of young Gen Z girls I’ve spoken to (like my daughter) also didn’t love it as much as one would think based on the online female “consensus.”
You're not wrong, but the critique has a little bit of a feel of "complaining about Zootopia because it isn't a perfect parallel to real world racism". It's not about making a perfect real-world parallel; it's about creating an allegory to explore racism. For example, the Barbies get the upper hand on Kens by using "feminine wiles", which is not empowering. But the in-universe explanation is that the patriarchal mindset is so convinced of male superiority that it becomes a weakness: men believe women to be inferior and so are compelled by their own egos to correct or educate them. Is that what real-world patriarchy is like? No. Real-world patriarchy is way more violent and dominating and is not funny at all. But it pretty funny for a woman to open her eyes real wide and go, "Gee golly, I don't understand The Godfather," because she knows that the comedy patriarchy will need to mansplain it to her.
It isn't a perfect 1:1 representation of the real world. There's nothing funny or light-hearted about that. But Ken having twelve seconds of exposure to a world that caters to men and immediately going full toxic masculinity isn't a flaw -- it's the nature of accessible allegory.
Michael, how you describe the movie's portrayal of the patriarchy of the real world (no place for women, rooms of only men, etc.) - that's how women feel. And it may no longer always be 100% true, but often it is.
The "real world" in the movie is a caricature, just as Barbieland is. The movie is not saying "boys bad, girls good." It's saying "We need to find ways to live in the world together without beating each other up." For me, the most important line in the movie is Ken's when he reminds Barbie what it means to be disregarded: "It's no fun, is it?"
Yeah, love that line. I think you make a great point, and it's possible my own brain struggled with this because I tend to think things more literally than they're intended. When the movie tells me it's going to "The Real World," I expect to see a version of the Real World that I recognize as the real world. I hope that's not me being unnecessarily pedantic; the fault is probably with me and the way I hear things. All of that being said, I DO think there's a version of this movie where The Real World they visit more closely aligns with a world I recognize, which may have helped the satire land more strongly for me.
The more over the top patriarchal aspects of the real world (Mattel excepted, that whole thing was a mess) were all through Ken's eyes. Barbie met a bratty teen and had the park bench moment, which both rang pretty true. Ken, having never seen a world where men largely rule, saw the world in a more amped up way even if that wasn't true (not letting him do surgery for example).
Michael, I love you, but I think you missed the point. Which is OK, because this film wasn't for you, it was for middle-aged women like me. You're picking at little details in a way that's similar to "not all men," which I know you didn't mean to do.
The movie is about how it feels to be a woman living in patriarchy. Sure, hopefully Mattel employs women also, but groups of men have been all our lives--and are still--telling us how to be women and what our dreams should be. You're accidentally doing it a little bit here, asking us to be nicer to the good men, and to acknowledge the little crumbs of progress. But you're on the verge of getting it, and you want to be a good guy. So here's my hint for good men who watch Barbie, and don't like how Ken is portrayed: the way the Kens feel is the way women in the Real World feel all the time. Except the Kens are actually far ahead of us, because the Barbies aren't sexually harassing and assaulting them, and the Kens still have rights to their own bodies!
Try listening to America Ferrera's monologue again and imagine having that pressure and those expectations your whole life, since you were tiny, so much that those pressures are baked into you and hardly anyone can escape them even when you're into old age. That monologue truly is the life of girls and women. And all we get in exchange for living up to those expectations is "You Are Enough" T-shirts and humilitating and awkward trips to the gynecologist. We are defined by our private parts and reduced to being broads our whole lives. We compete and criticize each other our whole lives, as we enforce the patriarchy on ourselves. The movie isn't about how stupid and inept Ken is, it's about how our patriarchal culture treats women like we're stupid and inept.
I hear your argument and understand it, I have lived that speech too in my 54 years, as all women have. I know a lot of people feel as you do about the film, but to be honest, I didn’t love the movie. I had the same reaction in the theater as I was watching it as Michael did. We didn’t discuss it until afterward, but it fell flat for me. I think it’s fair to have a different opinion or see things in a different way. I came home and had a discussion with my 20 year old daughter afterwards . We didn’t agree on some things, but it was a good discussion. And that is what any piece of work should do.
I hope I'm not asking women to be "nicer" to men, nor what anybody's dreams should be. I actually don't have any problem with how Ken is portrayed. I think it's great. And I understand the point that "the way Kens feel is the way women in the Real Women feel all the time." It's also correct to point out that "Kens" don't have to deal with sexual assault or issues of bodily autonomy.
I hear you about America Ferrera's monologue and I don't pretend to know what it's like to be a woman. From a man's perspective, I can tell you that we feel a lot of the same pressures but don't know how to talk about them. In that way, I actually think women are a little bit ahead of us. And yes, you're right to say that the patriarchy ends up hurting women because it pits women against each other.
I agree that the movie isn't how stupid and inept Ken is; I don't think I made that point in my essay. If I did, that wasn't my intention.
And, for what it's worth, my daughter hated my take on the film.
It’s kind of bonkers how aligned your review was to mine... https://okaypokay.substack.com/p/what-was-i-made-for-barbies-complicated. And I’m a Millennial woman so it’s more than just men “missing the point.”
I love Greta Gerwig and applaud the conversations that this opened up across multiple generations, etc. It just missed the mark for me and that’s ok. Interestingly a lot of young Gen Z girls I’ve spoken to (like my daughter) also didn’t love it as much as one would think based on the online female “consensus.”
just got to "That being said, I didn’t like it."
LMAO. I'll now finish the essay
You're not wrong, but the critique has a little bit of a feel of "complaining about Zootopia because it isn't a perfect parallel to real world racism". It's not about making a perfect real-world parallel; it's about creating an allegory to explore racism. For example, the Barbies get the upper hand on Kens by using "feminine wiles", which is not empowering. But the in-universe explanation is that the patriarchal mindset is so convinced of male superiority that it becomes a weakness: men believe women to be inferior and so are compelled by their own egos to correct or educate them. Is that what real-world patriarchy is like? No. Real-world patriarchy is way more violent and dominating and is not funny at all. But it pretty funny for a woman to open her eyes real wide and go, "Gee golly, I don't understand The Godfather," because she knows that the comedy patriarchy will need to mansplain it to her.
It isn't a perfect 1:1 representation of the real world. There's nothing funny or light-hearted about that. But Ken having twelve seconds of exposure to a world that caters to men and immediately going full toxic masculinity isn't a flaw -- it's the nature of accessible allegory.
Michael, how you describe the movie's portrayal of the patriarchy of the real world (no place for women, rooms of only men, etc.) - that's how women feel. And it may no longer always be 100% true, but often it is.
The "real world" in the movie is a caricature, just as Barbieland is. The movie is not saying "boys bad, girls good." It's saying "We need to find ways to live in the world together without beating each other up." For me, the most important line in the movie is Ken's when he reminds Barbie what it means to be disregarded: "It's no fun, is it?"
Yeah, love that line. I think you make a great point, and it's possible my own brain struggled with this because I tend to think things more literally than they're intended. When the movie tells me it's going to "The Real World," I expect to see a version of the Real World that I recognize as the real world. I hope that's not me being unnecessarily pedantic; the fault is probably with me and the way I hear things. All of that being said, I DO think there's a version of this movie where The Real World they visit more closely aligns with a world I recognize, which may have helped the satire land more strongly for me.
The more over the top patriarchal aspects of the real world (Mattel excepted, that whole thing was a mess) were all through Ken's eyes. Barbie met a bratty teen and had the park bench moment, which both rang pretty true. Ken, having never seen a world where men largely rule, saw the world in a more amped up way even if that wasn't true (not letting him do surgery for example).
Thanks for the review. I’ll go for Oppenheimer instead of Barbie.
Have you seen Don’t Look Up? That’s my favorite semi-recent movie.
Michael, I love you, but I think you missed the point. Which is OK, because this film wasn't for you, it was for middle-aged women like me. You're picking at little details in a way that's similar to "not all men," which I know you didn't mean to do.
The movie is about how it feels to be a woman living in patriarchy. Sure, hopefully Mattel employs women also, but groups of men have been all our lives--and are still--telling us how to be women and what our dreams should be. You're accidentally doing it a little bit here, asking us to be nicer to the good men, and to acknowledge the little crumbs of progress. But you're on the verge of getting it, and you want to be a good guy. So here's my hint for good men who watch Barbie, and don't like how Ken is portrayed: the way the Kens feel is the way women in the Real World feel all the time. Except the Kens are actually far ahead of us, because the Barbies aren't sexually harassing and assaulting them, and the Kens still have rights to their own bodies!
Try listening to America Ferrera's monologue again and imagine having that pressure and those expectations your whole life, since you were tiny, so much that those pressures are baked into you and hardly anyone can escape them even when you're into old age. That monologue truly is the life of girls and women. And all we get in exchange for living up to those expectations is "You Are Enough" T-shirts and humilitating and awkward trips to the gynecologist. We are defined by our private parts and reduced to being broads our whole lives. We compete and criticize each other our whole lives, as we enforce the patriarchy on ourselves. The movie isn't about how stupid and inept Ken is, it's about how our patriarchal culture treats women like we're stupid and inept.
I hear your argument and understand it, I have lived that speech too in my 54 years, as all women have. I know a lot of people feel as you do about the film, but to be honest, I didn’t love the movie. I had the same reaction in the theater as I was watching it as Michael did. We didn’t discuss it until afterward, but it fell flat for me. I think it’s fair to have a different opinion or see things in a different way. I came home and had a discussion with my 20 year old daughter afterwards . We didn’t agree on some things, but it was a good discussion. And that is what any piece of work should do.
Totally fair points!
I hope I'm not asking women to be "nicer" to men, nor what anybody's dreams should be. I actually don't have any problem with how Ken is portrayed. I think it's great. And I understand the point that "the way Kens feel is the way women in the Real Women feel all the time." It's also correct to point out that "Kens" don't have to deal with sexual assault or issues of bodily autonomy.
I hear you about America Ferrera's monologue and I don't pretend to know what it's like to be a woman. From a man's perspective, I can tell you that we feel a lot of the same pressures but don't know how to talk about them. In that way, I actually think women are a little bit ahead of us. And yes, you're right to say that the patriarchy ends up hurting women because it pits women against each other.
I agree that the movie isn't how stupid and inept Ken is; I don't think I made that point in my essay. If I did, that wasn't my intention.
And, for what it's worth, my daughter hated my take on the film.