I had fun at this movie. Watched it with my long-time best friend and I wore a bright pink dress when I watched it. It was fun, but I feel that's more of the marketing. They did a REALLY good job with the marketing. I wish it was maybe a little *more* fun but a lot of the messages I didn't take seriously. They seemed too generalized to be taken seriously. It pokes fun at itself. It's not supposed to be realistic and I think that goes for Barbieland and the Real World (ironically). Both are polar opposites of each other and I could see "okay none of these are really realistic" and that polarization I thought made the movie more campy (in a good way).
You've reflectedy thoughts exactly. I really wanted to love this movie and it was so hyped, but it ended up falling flat for me. Individual elements (acting, music, scenery, etc) was amazing, but the overall picture was kinda average... I had some good laughs but I left the theater feeling dissatisfied and confused and it sucks😭💔. I was also dressed in pink from my hair to my toenails
I felt as a story it had some dips but overall was a fun (albeit somewhat corny) watch. As for the presentation of its ideas, I think that will be a mixed bag for a lot of people, for different reasons. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing overall. For me, some of it was clever but a lot of it was a bit on the nose
I appreciate how you're observing this film as a cultural artifact and taking it apart while still giving it its due. Because the outrage-ranting style I'm getting from other reviewers is wearing out on me. I thought Barbie was cute and fun in some areas but eye-roll-inducing in others. Overall, not the best utilization of a brand for children.
I agree Barbie was too goofy and too sharp edged w its social commentary for me to truly love it. The social commentary- regardless of how much I or anyone agrees w it took me out of the movie and made me feel like was reading a vox article instead of watching a movie. That being said i ultimately appreciate what Barbie was going for w its meta humor and grappling w Barbie as an archetype for femininity. Can you imagine how much Barbie would feel even more like a toy commercial if it was a mere trite adventure story? Maybe that’s my bias showing that a marvel action figure adventure story brought to the big screen is an acceptable premise but a Barbie story in the same vein would be squarely intolerable.
I thought it was really funny in parts, but it was messy and heavy handed. I don't agree with all of its messages, but most were inoffensive, and I liked the jokes that made fun of its own ideology. The fact that it is a Barbie advertisment doesn't bother me at all (due to my own ideology), though I know that people can/will question the artistic integrity here. I think Gerwig wanted to make an funny movie that also reflected a part of her worldview in a clever way by using the heavy handedness as a tool for the comedy, but ultimately there is no really satisfying conclusion, it lacks a core that brings it together. I thought the sets were amazing and the acting worked very well.
Thanks for the video, I genuinely enjoyed the movie, though it felt preachy at some parts. Also, the Mattel executives didn't feel necessary, and I honestly kept forgetting that they were even part of the plot.
@@cheerios-9464I’m sorry, but no woman walks out on the street and gets catcalled by every man they pass. I mean I live in the Midwest so maybe that happens in LA but no where I’ve been lol.
The products in the movie were not currently products to sell to little girls, they were legacy items, it was nostalgia bait. I think matel understands they won't be able to win over the kids... They're trying to make Barbie a collectible for adults.
I really enjoyed the movie, but I also am ideologically aligned with the filmmakers. To me the message of the film through BOTH Barbie and Ken’s character arc’s is to be okay with yourself, and try to filter out everyone’s opinion of you. You don’t have to perform the role assigned to you by society. I’m surprised you totally missed that, it was so obvious. And America Ferrara’s speech was FIRE. I hope she gets a best supporting actress nomination for her role, or at least more recognition for how good she is. I didn’t find it reinforcing capitalism (it was a mild criticism of it), but it does help redeem the image of Barbie for consumers so yeah, it’s a win for Mattel over the long term. There weren’t many children in my packed matinee screening. I think parents have probably clocked the film correctly.
You seem to have a solid insight on the movie so i wanted to ask.... Why didn't Barbie reflect on how and why Ken "brainwashed" Barbie land into a patriarchy. Why was the solution to default back to gender roles where men serve women in barbie matriarchal society rather than creating something more equal? What was the suppose of removing womens choice to be mothers and showing no positive examples of masculinity?
@@AnneliLMendozaArt thank you for replying but you cherry picked what to respond to in my comment and ignored the rest. Can you give a more complete answer?
@@AnneliLMendozaArt personally... I do think the movie was trying to be satire the more I think about it, and make the statement that modern feminism has failed. And I'll repeat this... The reason for the failure is because instead of creating a new more egalitarian system, it just took the unequal system men created and replaced the people in power with women with no actual structural benefits towards equality. Keep in mind, IRL that women do serve on the supreme court and congress yet Barbieland hasn't even reached that stage in their society.
@@hiz24airness change is a slow process, but yes, in my relatively uninformed view, when a movement can risk not being adamantly strident but actually self-critique itself in a humorous way, that may mean it has the relaxed ability and cultural space to transform things even more, into more objectives and structures
Matriarchs, not just patriarchs, can be illegitimate authorities, which is the message that the “oracle” did not communicate. As Paulo Freire said, “This, then, is the great humanistic and historical task of the oppressed: to liberate themselves and their oppressors as well."
this was a great overview and i was not aware of the meta quality of this movie, but i've had the same confusion regarding if this movie was a critique, a reinvention, an empowerment, or a sham. i like greta gerwig and appreciated an interview with her discussing her cinematic influences that she brought to this movie. overall though, it does seem to be a trojan horse of critique with more capitalism inside. it is interesting however how patriarchy has gone mainstream, as in my youth the word was essentially taboo, as well as the broadcasted empowerment of women, even if sometimes in a way so bombastic to feel ludicrous. i probably will not see this movie for sometime, if at all, as the winsome meta-ness of movies like 'everything, everywhere all at once' leave me plastered with a sense of artificiality. ty
This is a good review! I enjoyed the fun and light-hearted tone of the movie. It is rare nowaways. I liked the dance numbers. Some scenes reminded me of some movies of the 60s... campy and fun. I wish they had embraced that side more instead of going too meta. Ryan Gosling was really good. He made me care about his character even though it was a goofy character. This is not a children movie!! Too meta. The movie had good ideas that were executed poorly. Some parts of the script were very cringey. I think the movie lacks focus and an identity. I am not sure what the message is. Basically, we didnt get the movie we had hoped for. The movie is all over the place ideologically (just like you said) but I think some parts were strong enough as well. I enjoyed the 1st and 3rd act. I think it was a good effort from Greta Gerwig. Barbie is not an easy subject. I am curious to see how the movie will age. EDIT: I really didnt like the war between the sexes. Barbies vs Kens part of the story. It was depressing and mean.
David here from Sebring Florida I been a movie buff for over fifty years and I liked most of the movie. But in years to come you will know it came out in 2023. They really wanted to drive home a message! I felt sad for Ken when Barbie told her friend that she didn’t love Ken. Too heavy of a movie for Kids!
I thought the message was super clear: you don’t have to perform the role society gives you (it was both Barbie and Ken’s arc). I’m surprised that people aren’t getting that.
@@KatharineOsborne Did you watch the review? He explains it clearly. We understood what the INTENTION of the message was: social expectations. But one minute the movie is poking fun at itself, the second it is taking itself too seriously. So when it comes to the message, we are not sure if they mean it. They poke fun at casting Margot Robbie. Barbie is a physical representation of the social expectations for women and girls. So just because they say we dont have to follow them, it doesnt feel genuine coming from this stereotypical woman. So yes, the message is lost.
maybe the movie had to be a bit ambiguous, so as not to alienate one-side or the other. and for a figure so iconic, pretty much any movie about it is going to be controversial. maybe it's about opening space to discuss and ponder the issues, and to possibly reinvent them. i guess as much as we purportedly disdain stereotypes, privately there are always going to be idealized versions of men & women that the majority gravitate towards
I certainly did not expect the last words for your Barbie review to be "Wings of Desire by Wim Wenders!" That was a nice little bit of last-second whiplash (as that German film is easily one of my favorites). Though I've only been watching your videos for the past month or so, it's a very impressive channel. I greatly appreciated your multi-faceted review of this film. Well done!
thank you. One reason I brought that movie up is that letterboxd put out comminques showing Greta Gerwig's favorite films and films that influenced Barbie, and Wings of Desire was one of them.
@@LearningaboutMovies Very interesting. I hadn't planned on seeing Barbie, especially after enduring Gerwig's overpraised version of Little Women. Wenders is a flawed filmmaker, but everything came together for him on Wings of Desire, a rare film that manages, somehow, to be dolorous and magical. One would hope Gerwig might someday pay more attention to the art and less to the ideology to create something timeless.
It's a Barbie doll movie with 60 years of history behind it. Barbie was a feminist from day 1 in 1959, and Ken was always an accessory for Barbie. Most of the movie takes place in Barbieland which is an artificial world where Barbie owns everything and the world is made for Barbie. I counted about a dozen times the word Patriarchy was said, and half of the time it's Ken saying this world. Ken loves the Patriarchy until he finds out it's not about horses, and he immediately drops it. My show was sold out with about 3/4 of the audience being women between 18 - 50, and they loved the movie. They laughed at almost every joke. ( I laughed at maybe a third of the jokes ) It looks like the Barbie movie is going to make $150 million this weekend. ( $300 million world wide, even China likes the Barbie movie ) And might go on to become a billion dollar movie by the end of the year. I live in Canada, and the Barbie movie has a rating of just PG in Canada, so kids of any age can see Barbie if their parents are ok with it. I've noticed that there are many very defensive male reviewers of the Barbie movie, who think it will destroy society, etc... To me they seem to be hilariously scared of a movie about a doll that wants to become a human. I give the Barbie movie 5 out of 5 stars. I think it's going to be a blockbuster.
Gosh this movie is terrible 🤦 The freaking thing is the internet is Lying about it .. Wtf is good about this movie frr frr? Wtf did google try to get at by making barbie search result page pink 🤨 Whc other freaking movie has that ever been done for
I came here from a Google search. (So you been blessed from the traffic God). Great review, unbiased. I hear good scores or really bad ones. I'm Dad of 2 girls so I was on the fence. Thanks
Hi, depending on how old your daughters are I personally would not take them. Alot of blatant adult humor and dialogue heavy with SAT-type words. I'm also not sure they would relate with the movie's message as it's quite abstract and describes experiences they may not have yet encountered. BUT it's all up to you to decide what they can handle. This is just my personal take
There were scenes alredy played all over the Internet that when you see the movie is just meh! And yes I trully undesrtand it is not a 100% comedy, but something was missied and the story was a circle. Again just meh.
The marketing for that movie was outrageously misleading. I expected to see a goofy, light hearted summer comedy from the trailers. It may have started that way, then it turned into a political essay about feminist studies, the wasn't really a plot to care about, or even characters, only ideologies thrown at you. I agreed with some of them, some less, but in both cases, I wasn't really entertained.
just came back watching Barbie,I think it was very clever and turned their back to the Woke ideology for a change. It is portrayed from a young girls point of view And some history of Barbie woven in the picture, This is the difference between man a woman Barbie is woman oriented and Ken comes second ,and I don't mid at all. You just need to read between the lines .not really my type of movie but A Dad must spend some time with his daughter
Thanks for watching this so I don’t have to (not that I was going to anyway) Edit: I feel like your philosophical/ideological analysis of the movie had more thought put into it than what the people who wrote the movie themselves did
I was beyond disappointed. Wanted to see it so badly. The trailers were hilarious. The movie sucked. America Ferrera's friggin Women's Lib LECTURE put me over the edge. I thought it was so mean spirited. JMO
That was my favourite part of the film. Her speech was incredible! I don’t understand how anyone can hate it. She spoke the truth. It was all about kindness, not meanness at all. I am so confused by your reaction 😢
@@KatharineOsborne omg. She bitched for 5 straight minutes. Kindness....I remember her saying how all women HATE EACH OTHER !!!! I feel like I've landed on another planet. One of us needs to rewatch that part
@@KatharineOsborne He probably hated it because this type of messaging just pushes the divide between Men and Women. It just paints how women is just a victim of everything is toxic. This whole monologue can also be said through a men's perspective if you think about it. No point in trying to create a divide when women and men have their own unique problems and challenges.
Totally agree that there’s pretty much nothing under the surface of this movie, clearly made with a gen x/millennial liberalism that dominates the mainstream today, a centrist position that is too hypocritical to actually stand for anything or help anyone it claims to. That said, i found the movie to be pretty hilarious as just a pure comedy, treating it with the same level of analysis will Ferrell movies would get back in the early 2000s. I was laughing at pretty much every line knowing how meaningless it was
@@LearningaboutMovies it really is amazing. It's. Shame you couldn't see it on the big screen, I'm not sure you will have seen anything like it visually, and I don't say that lightly
no, I don't think so. It's not that severe. It's a strange mix of so many things -- I think the moviemakers aren't sure what they think of Barbie, and it comes out here as a complicated mess of feelings. In the end, though, Barbie remains and is awesomely beautiful.
C'mon, no matter how much you can try to rationalize it, the messaging in this movie is simply toxic.A commercial product promotion targetting young females that got hijacked by men-hating adults also targetting young females.The only redeeming feature is it's bad enough that few people will take their kids to watch it after the much hyped up opening weekend.
The film is absolutely not man-hating. The film was co-written by a man. The film clearly shows the struggle of Ken as his entire worth is predicated on the attention he receives from Barbie. When he enters the real world he is treated well and he decides that a patriarchy in Barbie world is what is needed to give him and the other Kens self-worth. By the end of the film we see that what is needed is not a patriarchy but he must find who he is as an individual. The film shows that gender is merely a tool in finding who you are and he can use masculinity to find out who he is. The film is saying that worshipping and enforcing gender standards only goes to harm people. By the end the Barbie world is changed from a matriarchy into an equal society. People who say the film is man-hating are deliberately misinterpreting the movie so they can cry woke or just don't know how to properly interpret it. Criticising certain elements of masculinity is NOT man-hating.
@@sam6399 Lol - literally every man in the movie is an idiot or an idiot villain while women are clever, good, compassionate etc. You would have a point if the Barbie matriachy was potrayed as badly as the real world of the Kendom but it isnt. The end of the movie barbieland is still a matirachy what are you on about?
There were almost no children in my packed matinee so I think parents correctly clocked this film from the marketing. There were teens, adults, and the elderly in my showing, both men and women, so it still has a pretty broad audience. I don’t know where you are getting the toxicity from. Ken’s arc was handled with a lot of compassion. And did you not understand how the Ken’s ‘war’ ended? With them holding hands in fraternity! It was not destructive but constructive. And Barbie clearly felt guilty for being manipulative, handling Ken’s emotions with sensitivity as she moved towards her own goal. This film deconstructed toxic masculinity in a way that provides instructions for men to do the same. Like, that’s just cool. And the overall message is that you don’t have to perform the role society assigns you, which might fall on deaf ears for those who are fine with that role but for the great many of us who suffer under it terribly (both men and women) it’s something we absolutely need to hear. This film is so good for mental health. I really don’t understand how it can be so badly misinterpreted.
@@poocrayon4588you must have missed the banners in the White House (pink house?) when the women stopped the vote. They tore down only half of the Ken banners. Maybe it could have been more clearly represented but it was definitely and equality not a matriarchy.
Marvel films are based on literature amid traditional controversy about the validity of comics as literature, but still based on literate art. "Barbie" is based on a patented product of a company which is actively selling the product that the film is based on. It is not a film about toys or dolls but a specific line of dolls. It is a given that it will be commercial in that sense. The critique of the film is that of a specific industry, namely film. As a film it seems to deserve the highest rating possible based on the various types of art content of the film. "Barbie" is not a mascot of a company like Colonel Sanders is. That raised the bar and it looks to me like the film makers achieved a great and well-earned artistic success. Mattel can only have great films if it has great artists to create them. This time they achieved that.
It was preachy, wginy and way too on the nose. It was far too ideological and political forme, my sife, my daughters and every woman I know who has seen it. I guess I just don't know anyone in the target audience. Maybe blue haired activist types? Idk
I saw the movie today and It was so focused on the "feminist" message that it had a resentful tone to it. I think men and women are great and important. I don't want Barbie turned into a non-fun ideological movie. It had some fun to it. The sets were good, Margo is a good actress. But it was taken over by the feminist men are the problem message. The baby doll bashing in the beginning was disturbing. The marketing team should get a raise for this movie bc they knew what to leave out of the trailer so that people would go watch it.
I almost subscribed but then you horrified by presenting Cultural Marxism as a thing. It’s equally disturbing that you’re teacher that presents Cultural Marxism as more than a conspiracy theory.
I had fun at this movie. Watched it with my long-time best friend and I wore a bright pink dress when I watched it. It was fun, but I feel that's more of the marketing. They did a REALLY good job with the marketing. I wish it was maybe a little *more* fun but a lot of the messages I didn't take seriously. They seemed too generalized to be taken seriously. It pokes fun at itself. It's not supposed to be realistic and I think that goes for Barbieland and the Real World (ironically). Both are polar opposites of each other and I could see "okay none of these are really realistic" and that polarization I thought made the movie more campy (in a good way).
You've reflectedy thoughts exactly. I really wanted to love this movie and it was so hyped, but it ended up falling flat for me. Individual elements (acting, music, scenery, etc) was amazing, but the overall picture was kinda average... I had some good laughs but I left the theater feeling dissatisfied and confused and it sucks😭💔. I was also dressed in pink from my hair to my toenails
I felt as a story it had some dips but overall was a fun (albeit somewhat corny) watch. As for the presentation of its ideas, I think that will be a mixed bag for a lot of people, for different reasons. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing overall. For me, some of it was clever but a lot of it was a bit on the nose
I appreciate how you're observing this film as a cultural artifact and taking it apart while still giving it its due. Because the outrage-ranting style I'm getting from other reviewers is wearing out on me. I thought Barbie was cute and fun in some areas but eye-roll-inducing in others. Overall, not the best utilization of a brand for children.
I agree Barbie was too goofy and too sharp edged w its social commentary for me to truly love it. The social commentary- regardless of how much I or anyone agrees w it took me out of the movie and made me feel like was reading a vox article instead of watching a movie. That being said i ultimately appreciate what Barbie was going for w its meta humor and grappling w Barbie as an archetype for femininity. Can you imagine how much Barbie would feel even more like a toy commercial if it was a mere trite adventure story? Maybe that’s my bias showing that a marvel action figure adventure story brought to the big screen is an acceptable premise but a Barbie story in the same vein would be squarely intolerable.
I thought it was really funny in parts, but it was messy and heavy handed. I don't agree with all of its messages, but most were inoffensive, and I liked the jokes that made fun of its own ideology. The fact that it is a Barbie advertisment doesn't bother me at all (due to my own ideology), though I know that people can/will question the artistic integrity here. I think Gerwig wanted to make an funny movie that also reflected a part of her worldview in a clever way by using the heavy handedness as a tool for the comedy, but ultimately there is no really satisfying conclusion, it lacks a core that brings it together. I thought the sets were amazing and the acting worked very well.
Thanks for the video, I genuinely enjoyed the movie, though it felt preachy at some parts. Also, the Mattel executives didn't feel necessary, and I honestly kept forgetting that they were even part of the plot.
@@cheerios-9464I’m sorry, but no woman walks out on the street and gets catcalled by every man they pass. I mean I live in the Midwest so maybe that happens in LA but no where I’ve been lol.
I think this movie was targeted at adults and knowing that it's just a fun movie. I enjoyed it and I'm just an adult man.
I don't think it was meant to be just a fun movie. The message and political statements in the movie were far more important than the movie's plot.
The products in the movie were not currently products to sell to little girls, they were legacy items, it was nostalgia bait.
I think matel understands they won't be able to win over the kids... They're trying to make Barbie a collectible for adults.
This movie was destroyed in the editing room
The hamfisted "re-programming" scenes are all re-shoots forced into the movie with a sledgehammer
I really enjoyed the movie, but I also am ideologically aligned with the filmmakers. To me the message of the film through BOTH Barbie and Ken’s character arc’s is to be okay with yourself, and try to filter out everyone’s opinion of you. You don’t have to perform the role assigned to you by society. I’m surprised you totally missed that, it was so obvious. And America Ferrara’s speech was FIRE. I hope she gets a best supporting actress nomination for her role, or at least more recognition for how good she is.
I didn’t find it reinforcing capitalism (it was a mild criticism of it), but it does help redeem the image of Barbie for consumers so yeah, it’s a win for Mattel over the long term.
There weren’t many children in my packed matinee screening. I think parents have probably clocked the film correctly.
You seem to have a solid insight on the movie so i wanted to ask....
Why didn't Barbie reflect on how and why Ken "brainwashed" Barbie land into a patriarchy.
Why was the solution to default back to gender roles where men serve women in barbie matriarchal society rather than creating something more equal?
What was the suppose of removing womens choice to be mothers and showing no positive examples of masculinity?
In the end they give more opportunities to the Kens too, so they are moving towards a more equalitarian society…slowly…but we’re getting there 😅
@@AnneliLMendozaArt thank you for replying but you cherry picked what to respond to in my comment and ignored the rest. Can you give a more complete answer?
@@AnneliLMendozaArt personally... I do think the movie was trying to be satire the more I think about it, and make the statement that modern feminism has failed. And I'll repeat this... The reason for the failure is because instead of creating a new more egalitarian system, it just took the unequal system men created and replaced the people in power with women with no actual structural benefits towards equality.
Keep in mind, IRL that women do serve on the supreme court and congress yet Barbieland hasn't even reached that stage in their society.
@@hiz24airness change is a slow process, but yes, in my relatively uninformed view, when a movement can risk not being adamantly strident but actually self-critique itself in a humorous way, that may mean it has the relaxed ability and cultural space to transform things even more, into more objectives and structures
Great review, as usual.
The best objective review of this movie so far.
Matriarchs, not just patriarchs, can be illegitimate authorities, which is the message that the “oracle” did not communicate. As Paulo Freire said, “This, then, is the great humanistic and historical task of the oppressed: to liberate themselves and their oppressors as well."
Exactly. I want to see the Barbieland where the matriarchs are seen as autocrats.
this was a great overview and i was not aware of the meta quality of this movie, but i've had the same confusion regarding if this movie was a critique, a reinvention, an empowerment, or a sham. i like greta gerwig and appreciated an interview with her discussing her cinematic influences that she brought to this movie. overall though, it does seem to be a trojan horse of critique with more capitalism inside. it is interesting however how patriarchy has gone mainstream, as in my youth the word was essentially taboo, as well as the broadcasted empowerment of women, even if sometimes in a way so bombastic to feel ludicrous. i probably will not see this movie for sometime, if at all, as the winsome meta-ness of movies like 'everything, everywhere all at once' leave me plastered with a sense of artificiality. ty
I wonder what Hasbro would do with GI Joe.
This is a good review!
I enjoyed the fun and light-hearted tone of the movie. It is rare nowaways. I liked the dance numbers.
Some scenes reminded me of some movies of the 60s... campy and fun. I wish they had embraced that side more instead of going too meta.
Ryan Gosling was really good. He made me care about his character even though it was a goofy character.
This is not a children movie!! Too meta.
The movie had good ideas that were executed poorly. Some parts of the script were very cringey. I think the movie lacks focus and an identity. I am not sure what the message is.
Basically, we didnt get the movie we had hoped for. The movie is all over the place ideologically (just like you said) but I think some parts were strong enough as well. I enjoyed the 1st and 3rd act. I think it was a good effort from Greta Gerwig. Barbie is not an easy subject. I am curious to see how the movie will age.
EDIT: I really didnt like the war between the sexes. Barbies vs Kens part of the story. It was depressing and mean.
David here from Sebring Florida I been a movie buff for over fifty years and I liked most of the movie. But in years to come you will know it came out in 2023. They really wanted to drive home a message! I felt sad for Ken when Barbie told her friend that she didn’t love Ken. Too heavy of a movie for Kids!
I thought the message was super clear: you don’t have to perform the role society gives you (it was both Barbie and Ken’s arc). I’m surprised that people aren’t getting that.
@@KatharineOsborne Did you watch the review? He explains it clearly.
We understood what the INTENTION of the message was: social expectations. But one minute the movie is poking fun at itself, the second it is taking itself too seriously. So when it comes to the message, we are not sure if they mean it. They poke fun at casting Margot Robbie. Barbie is a physical representation of the social expectations for women and girls. So just because they say we dont have to follow them, it doesnt feel genuine coming from this stereotypical woman. So yes, the message is lost.
maybe the movie had to be a bit ambiguous, so as not to alienate one-side or the other. and for a figure so iconic, pretty much any movie about it is going to be controversial. maybe it's about opening space to discuss and ponder the issues, and to possibly reinvent them. i guess as much as we purportedly disdain stereotypes, privately there are always going to be idealized versions of men & women that the majority gravitate towards
Appreciate the review.
I certainly did not expect the last words for your Barbie review to be "Wings of Desire by Wim Wenders!" That was a nice little bit of last-second whiplash (as that German film is easily one of my favorites). Though I've only been watching your videos for the past month or so, it's a very impressive channel. I greatly appreciated your multi-faceted review of this film. Well done!
thank you. One reason I brought that movie up is that letterboxd put out comminques showing Greta Gerwig's favorite films and films that influenced Barbie, and Wings of Desire was one of them.
@@LearningaboutMovies Very interesting. I hadn't planned on seeing Barbie, especially after enduring Gerwig's overpraised version of Little Women. Wenders is a flawed filmmaker, but everything came together for him on Wings of Desire, a rare film that manages, somehow, to be dolorous and magical. One would hope Gerwig might someday pay more attention to the art and less to the ideology to create something timeless.
Really good review. Thanks.
It's a Barbie doll movie with 60 years of history behind it. Barbie was a feminist from day 1 in 1959, and Ken was always an accessory for Barbie. Most of the movie takes place in Barbieland which is an artificial world where Barbie owns everything and the world is made for Barbie. I counted about a dozen times the word Patriarchy was said, and half of the time it's Ken saying this world. Ken loves the Patriarchy until he finds out it's not about horses, and he immediately drops it. My show was sold out with about 3/4 of the audience being women between 18 - 50, and they loved the movie. They laughed at almost every joke. ( I laughed at maybe a third of the jokes )
It looks like the Barbie movie is going to make $150 million this weekend. ( $300 million world wide, even China likes the Barbie movie ) And might go on to become a billion dollar movie by the end of the year. I live in Canada, and the Barbie movie has a rating of just PG in Canada, so kids of any age can see Barbie if their parents are ok with it. I've noticed that there are many very defensive male reviewers of the Barbie movie, who think it will destroy society, etc... To me they seem to be hilariously scared of a movie about a doll that wants to become a human. I give the Barbie movie 5 out of 5 stars. I think it's going to be a blockbuster.
When you copy/paste this response into all reviews, do you use a mouse or a keyboard shortcut?
Oscar for Ryan ❤! This movie is originais tipe. This is rare. Oscar vibes !
I agree.
I think I shall not be watching this one. Gonna stop while I'm ahead with Oppenheimer
I still have the Barbie Doll my mother bought me back in the '80s when I was an elementary schoolboy.
😆
Gosh this movie is terrible 🤦
The freaking thing is the internet is Lying about it ..
Wtf is good about this movie frr frr?
Wtf did google try to get at by making barbie search result page pink 🤨
Whc other freaking movie has that ever been done for
I came here from a Google search. (So you been blessed from the traffic God).
Great review, unbiased. I hear good scores or really bad ones. I'm Dad of 2 girls so I was on the fence. Thanks
Hi, depending on how old your daughters are I personally would not take them. Alot of blatant adult humor and dialogue heavy with SAT-type words. I'm also not sure they would relate with the movie's message as it's quite abstract and describes experiences they may not have yet encountered. BUT it's all up to you to decide what they can handle. This is just my personal take
There were scenes alredy played all over the Internet that when you see the movie is just meh!
And yes I trully undesrtand it is not a 100% comedy, but something was missied and the story was a circle. Again just meh.
Thanks for the review. I'll skip this one. I don't go to the movies to be preached to. Not interested. I'll watch Clueless.
" There's not much in a critic showing off how clever he is at writing silly, supercilious gags about something he hates.”
― Stanley Kubrick
The marketing for that movie was outrageously misleading. I expected to see a goofy, light hearted summer comedy from the trailers. It may have started that way, then it turned into a political essay about feminist studies, the wasn't really a plot to care about, or even characters, only ideologies thrown at you. I agreed with some of them, some less, but in both cases, I wasn't really entertained.
At least our Aussie Margot makes a good looking Barbie
That movie was so weird. It's not ideal for me. I honestly think that the movie could went a different direction
just came back watching Barbie,I think it was very clever and turned their back to the Woke ideology for a change.
It is portrayed from a young girls point of view
And some history of Barbie woven in the picture,
This is the difference between man a woman
Barbie is woman oriented and Ken comes second ,and I don't mid at all.
You just need to read between the lines .not really my type of movie but
A Dad must spend some time with his daughter
I haven’t seen a more ideological film since Godard Maoist era.
Thanks for watching this so I don’t have to (not that I was going to anyway)
Edit: I feel like your philosophical/ideological analysis of the movie had more thought put into it than what the people who wrote the movie themselves did
thanks for watching the video, as always.
Dr Josh Matthews first of all, huge fan, I didn't agree with this review, this movie is so cool
I was beyond disappointed. Wanted to see it so badly. The trailers were hilarious. The movie sucked. America Ferrera's friggin Women's Lib LECTURE put me over the edge. I thought it was so mean spirited. JMO
" There's not much in a critic showing off how clever he is at writing silly, supercilious gags about something he hates.”
― Stanley Kubrick
@@adl6907 is that how Stanley protected himself from LOUSY REVIEWS. Hilarious
That was my favourite part of the film. Her speech was incredible! I don’t understand how anyone can hate it. She spoke the truth. It was all about kindness, not meanness at all. I am so confused by your reaction 😢
@@KatharineOsborne omg. She bitched for 5 straight minutes. Kindness....I remember her saying how all women HATE EACH OTHER !!!! I feel like I've landed on another planet. One of us needs to rewatch that part
@@KatharineOsborne He probably hated it because this type of messaging just pushes the divide between Men and Women. It just paints how women is just a victim of everything is toxic. This whole monologue can also be said through a men's perspective if you think about it. No point in trying to create a divide when women and men have their own unique problems and challenges.
Any chance you will be doing a review on Sound of Freedom? Curious to hear your thoughts on it.
yeah, I think my local theater is showing it this week. I plan to do that and Mission Impossible 7 review videos next week. Should be able to.
Thanks for telling us everything hell
Totally agree that there’s pretty much nothing under the surface of this movie, clearly made with a gen x/millennial liberalism that dominates the mainstream today, a centrist position that is too hypocritical to actually stand for anything or help anyone it claims to. That said, i found the movie to be pretty hilarious as just a pure comedy, treating it with the same level of analysis will Ferrell movies would get back in the early 2000s. I was laughing at pretty much every line knowing how meaningless it was
You should review Across the Spiderverse. I think it would be more rewarding
yeah, I missed that one in theaters. As soon as it hits streaming, I'll likely do a review.
@@LearningaboutMovies it really is amazing. It's. Shame you couldn't see it on the big screen, I'm not sure you will have seen anything like it visually, and I don't say that lightly
Hahaha director is married and this is what she thinks of men. I bet he has a super fun place in their relationship. /s
He co-wrote the movie.
UH??
is it fair to call it an exploitation film?
no, I don't think so. It's not that severe. It's a strange mix of so many things -- I think the moviemakers aren't sure what they think of Barbie, and it comes out here as a complicated mess of feelings. In the end, though, Barbie remains and is awesomely beautiful.
C'mon, no matter how much you can try to rationalize it, the messaging in this movie is simply toxic.A commercial product promotion targetting young females that got hijacked by men-hating adults also targetting young females.The only redeeming feature is it's bad enough that few people will take their kids to watch it after the much hyped up opening weekend.
The film is absolutely not man-hating. The film was co-written by a man. The film clearly shows the struggle of Ken as his entire worth is predicated on the attention he receives from Barbie. When he enters the real world he is treated well and he decides that a patriarchy in Barbie world is what is needed to give him and the other Kens self-worth. By the end of the film we see that what is needed is not a patriarchy but he must find who he is as an individual. The film shows that gender is merely a tool in finding who you are and he can use masculinity to find out who he is. The film is saying that worshipping and enforcing gender standards only goes to harm people. By the end the Barbie world is changed from a matriarchy into an equal society. People who say the film is man-hating are deliberately misinterpreting the movie so they can cry woke or just don't know how to properly interpret it. Criticising certain elements of masculinity is NOT man-hating.
@@sam6399well said. I wish Josh had focused on this main message rather than the side issues more.
@@sam6399 Lol - literally every man in the movie is an idiot or an idiot villain while women are clever, good, compassionate etc. You would have a point if the Barbie matriachy was potrayed as badly as the real world of the Kendom but it isnt. The end of the movie barbieland is still a matirachy what are you on about?
There were almost no children in my packed matinee so I think parents correctly clocked this film from the marketing. There were teens, adults, and the elderly in my showing, both men and women, so it still has a pretty broad audience. I don’t know where you are getting the toxicity from. Ken’s arc was handled with a lot of compassion. And did you not understand how the Ken’s ‘war’ ended? With them holding hands in fraternity! It was not destructive but constructive. And Barbie clearly felt guilty for being manipulative, handling Ken’s emotions with sensitivity as she moved towards her own goal. This film deconstructed toxic masculinity in a way that provides instructions for men to do the same. Like, that’s just cool. And the overall message is that you don’t have to perform the role society assigns you, which might fall on deaf ears for those who are fine with that role but for the great many of us who suffer under it terribly (both men and women) it’s something we absolutely need to hear. This film is so good for mental health. I really don’t understand how it can be so badly misinterpreted.
@@poocrayon4588you must have missed the banners in the White House (pink house?) when the women stopped the vote. They tore down only half of the Ken banners. Maybe it could have been more clearly represented but it was definitely and equality not a matriarchy.
It’s like rocky horror picture show but for 13 year old girls 😂
There is more woke politics in this piece of garbage movie than an episode of The View.
When you strip away the academic language, it’s really just a boys vs girls play story.
Marvel films are based on literature amid traditional controversy about the validity of comics as literature, but still based on literate art. "Barbie" is based on a patented product of a company which is actively selling the product that the film is based on. It is not a film about toys or dolls but a specific line of dolls. It is a given that it will be commercial in that sense. The critique of the film is that of a specific industry, namely film. As a film it seems to deserve the highest rating possible based on the various types of art content of the film. "Barbie" is not a mascot of a company like Colonel Sanders is. That raised the bar and it looks to me like the film makers achieved a great and well-earned artistic success. Mattel can only have great films if it has great artists to create them. This time they achieved that.
No one could parse the pretzel logic here.
It was preachy, wginy and way too on the nose. It was far too ideological and political forme, my sife, my daughters and every woman I know who has seen it.
I guess I just don't know anyone in the target audience. Maybe blue haired activist types? Idk
I saw the movie today and It was so focused on the "feminist" message that it had a resentful tone to it. I think men and women are great and important. I don't want Barbie turned into a non-fun ideological movie. It had some fun to it. The sets were good, Margo is a good actress. But it was taken over by the feminist men are the problem message. The baby doll bashing in the beginning was disturbing. The marketing team should get a raise for this movie bc they knew what to leave out of the trailer so that people would go watch it.
I almost subscribed but then you horrified by presenting Cultural Marxism as a thing. It’s equally disturbing that you’re teacher that presents Cultural Marxism as more than a conspiracy theory.
None of this makes any sense.