I unexpectedly, spontaneously, and loudly laughed at that part and NO ONE else in the audience did. Crickets. I saw it at a theatre in a very wealthy area so maybe the others don't have problems that allow them to relate to anxiety Barbie......
The only thing I was upset about was after he said all of that and they ended the film. I'm like "wait why tf didn't Ken have a house with a horse barn magically appear, he would've been so happy". I've legit built him a Ken ranch house with barn and a rootbeer float bar in my mind. With two double door fridges, f@ck the mini fridge 🤣🤣
As a straight 55 year old black dude, I suspect I am slightly outside of the target audience for this movie, BUT I LOVED IT!!!! No real criticism of it as I went in with no expectations; I just wanted something different and it delivered! Won’t pay to see again, but looking forward to it coming to cable or Netflix for a rewatch!👍❤☺️
as a 19 year old guy who saw the movie I liked how they show how neither extreme is good and how misogyny effects both men and women, and Ryan Gosling as ken was the best thing I ever saw. Great movie!!
@@parsanasirzadeh2733 this movie is about nothing. This american debate makes way more out of this movie that it actually is. What this movie actually is about - it's all about rebranding Barbie doll and making sales. This movie is a stupid plot platform for advertisement. This is same concept that Emily in Paris used with great success but now brought without any remorse to big cinema. Plot is so dumb because half of it was written in collaboration with Mattel to ensure they hit on all aspects necessary for their marketing goals. Greta Gerwig did not come up with Barbie - she was hired to make a movie for Barbie and she clearly didn't even tried hard to produce any interesting plot. They don't need movie that is too smart. They needed it to be pretty. Because pretty sells. And they needed it to have just enough shallow talking points dropped in the movie so that average potential Barbie doll buyer would think there was something of essence. But here you missed the most important fact that Barbie dolls are idiotic toxic toys to begin with. They do not empower anyone. Sasha was right all along. And they knew that this topic will come online. So they made rather smart move to include this point within the movie so that peole don't talk about it after it. And in the movie they kind of conclude that Sasha was "wrong" thinking badly of Barbie. But thing is Barbie IS in fact a toxic toy. No kid ever had or will get an inch closer to STEM field by dressing their dolls in science attire and they also will not become presidents by playing a president doll. If you want your kid to be president at the age when they can play dolls get them interested in books rather than dolls. And for STEM field there are many great toys that teach various topics of physics to kids of very young age and engage their curiosity. Barbie is not just waste of money but kids playing it do not develop anything of essence. To say that Barbies are empowering is just straight up lie told by corporate that is Mattel that is built on nothing more than the concept of Barbie doll. Mattel as corporate must come up with these lies about empowerment because without it they would bancrupt.
Yes because women are the judghes of what is anti male. Please remember that attitude when you think something is offensive to women and men tell you your wrong and it's not.
The idea that it was anti-man is really weird. It's so compassionate to Ken... for me, the most stunning part was where he was telling the other Kens that someone asked him what time it was and they said "No way!" and he promptly showed that he'd put on three watches in case the occasion that it happened again. (And can we talk about how universe-appropriate it is that he expressed his sense of importance by _adding accessories_? He's still a Ken doll, after all.) There was a kind of pathos to that. Someone cared what he had to say! They asked him what time it was! And the other Kens were gobsmacked by this. The whole movie isn't at all subtle in its message that any of the gender BS is a bad thing. So how did it get the rep for being "anti-man"? Weird. But yes, the colors! Oh, how I want movies to have beautiful colors again!
I walked away very much aware that many people would think this is anti-man, even though I think it was supposed to be more subtle than that. Surface level it is very anti-man. While trying to explain the nuance I thought I saw in the movie to my friend that saw it with me, I realized that the only examples I could give were very ambiguous, like Barbie's somewhat dissatisfied smile after seeing her world go back to exactly the way it was before. Or this quote: """a government with Kens, for the Kens by the Kens! You can not do that. It's Barbie Country. We worked hard and dreamed for everything that exists now... You can't cancel it in a day.""" But this quote can still be interpreted in several different ways. So I'm still not sure what the creators were going for, but the result is certainly ambiguous and discusses some of the nuance whether it was intentional or not.
Love how women think they can decide what men should find offensive to men. Hope yall keep that energy the next time you're offended by some movie or song men make and men tell you you're not lmao.
@@poocrayon4588idk if you read what they said wrong but they were just expressing their opinion about how they don't understand why people say that the barbie movie is anti-men. They aren't saying that men should or should not get offended by it. Either way if someone gets offended they're not understanding the actual theme/moral of the movie because it's just a movie that reverses sexism and makes the Kens experience it (their opinions don't matter and they're not included in the gov or anything important) and then in the real world the women experience the same plus getting hit on (like what barbie experience when she walked into the real world). It's just teaching a lesson on how dumb and shit the idea is that a specific gender/sex is better than the other and how it affects everyone negatively
@@ximsbite Eveyone understood the role reversal, it's hilarious when people think people are saying it's anti men because of that. No what is anti men is making every male character whether a Ken or a real world man as fundementally dumb compared to his female counterpart and in need of moral correction.
@@poocrayon4588 Again they did that on purpose, whether for "comic relief" or to help with the lesson. In the real world, most men and even women don't respect other women as much as they respect men (when it comes to opinions and stuff like that). So inherently people think that women are dumb compared to men (whether that is bcs of patriarchy or something else). Same thing happened to Ken and whenever someone asked him what the time was he was astounded by it because no one has ever cared about what he has to say in Barbie World. Again I don't think it's anti men because I believe that everything they did in the movie was either for just a silly joke or to help w the major lesson of the movie. Like the part where ken said he stopped being interested in the patriarchy after he found it isn't about horses 😭 that was really funny and I don't think it was intended to portray Ken as being dumb unless there's a specific part that makes you think they made the kens look dumb?
I thought it got a little weird at the end but I liked Barbie overall. And the controversy is stupid because it isn’t condescending to its audience, which is refreshing to see in an entertainment landscape filled with snark and contempt (looking at you, The Witcher).
Yeah the ending was a little off the rails to me. I can see the messaging still there, but the fact that they kept it light I guess made it seem more fun rather than contemptuous. Except for America’s rant, but that was supposed to be from a place of frustration
Not having an Allan and Midge scene together was quite disappointing. I could've sworn there was supposed to be a post credit scene about the two of them that was cut from the movie
Everybody is affected by works of art differently obviously. I am a male but because I don't care about gender debates I didn't get mad with the talk about patriarchy neither I was inspired by America Ferrera's feminist speech but because I have some psychological issues I was impacted by the existential messaging of the film. And I felt it throughout not just in the ending where Barbie decides that she wants to be human even though she realises it's hard. Like the first time she cries she acknowledges that it was bad but also good 😊 For me that was the takeaway: being human isn't easy but it can be beautiful. Margot Robbie's performance combined with the sweet melancholy of the eilish song made me cry... Despite being a man😉
I think what is dividing people is the way it ended with Barbie land just reinstating the matriarchy. I think the message would have been cleaner if Barbie land resolved to reject both the patriarchy AND the matriarchy, and instead embrace something that is both. Also, I think we can all agree the movie needed more screen time with Ken😂
But it didn't reinstate the matriarchy. It established itself to be more like our world, which originated from a time when men held higher power over women.
I think part of it is kind of pushing the point that true equality doesn't just happen immediately in a nice happy ending. The narrator in the movie even mentions that the Ken dolls still have to slowly climb their way up in Barbieland, just like how women have to climb their way up slowly in the real-world. Barbieland had it's reckoning, but the work for Ken dolls is not done yet, just like how women still try to take their place in our society.
@@KinoFlexReviewsit reinstated the matriarchy after the war of kens and then kens big Realisation is that his name is ken and the president barbie says that the kens will be just as equal with Barbie’s as women with men Which is kind of a lazy argument regarding that all the Barbie’s shown are in high position and no jobs like oil rig Barbie or brick layer Barbie are shown
@@lucpage1665But Barbie don't need that job. They probably didn't even have oil in their world. Their cars can move without oil. And they already have Barbie Houses when they were born into this world.
Totally agree. Basically the movie says that any kind of sex/gender-based segregation is bad. There's even that one line abt how eventually the ken's will have as much influence over barbie world as women in the real world. So yea, I don't get where the "anti-men" is coming from
the anti-man is from when barbie gets to the real world. all the men in the 'real world' are terrible people. they all sexually harass barbie & insult her. & the ken's patriarchy was way worse than the barbie's matriarchy. the barbies didn't force the kens to wear sexual outfits & serve them drinks
It’s what I got from the movie too. For me, it said: it’s important to be yourself, extreme patriarchy or extreme matriarchy isn’t good, life with its imperfections is great
Actually that line was particularly muddled... because if you flip it around it’s “barbie will eventually have as much influence over the real world, as ken in the barbie world.” But ken was living in a matriarchy so that makes no sense. Barbie at the end apologizes to ken for relegating the entire gender of kens/men to being second class citizens, but then reinstates the matriarchy. She is “woke” to the second class citizen effect of kens in barbie world but rescues barbie world from the intrinsic meathead simpleton incompetence of kens, and then placates the struggle of ken uprising with essentially “don’t worry you’ll be equal…eventually”. It’s kinda how men have condescendingly placated to the women’s movement with “you’ve come along way baby…” ads of the 70s. I think the movie didn’t want equality, it wanted the pendulum to swing the other direction. Which i understand of course emotionally why women would want that. All oppressed people want the pendulum to swing the other direction, it’s extremely satisfying. That’s why Django unchained was such a blast. But it didn’t truly want equality. The movie had a foggy philosophy but I enjoyed it very much and thought it was a lot of fun.
@@robertmakesashow7089 The point is that the frustration you feel when things go back to “normal” in BarbieLand is how women feel in the real world when we fight for rights, men even understand, sympathize, protect and apologize in personal relationships, but systemically things don’t change
I commented this on another Barbie video, but one of my first thoughts after watching this was hoping that people realized that even though Barbieland is a matriarchal society, the movie advocates for "Kens" as well. Ken did feel rejected in Barbieland, but establishing patriarchy didn't help his problems. His self-doubt and lack of esteem weren't fixed by taking away the Barbies' autonomy and acting macho. Barbie telling Ken that he's more than his girlfriend, his house, being macho, and his status as a "leader" one-upping other Kens is a direct commentary on how a toxic patriarchal society can often pressure men and judge their worth by how many status symbols they acquire. He needed time to explore himself and cultivate self-worth, independent of Barbie and everything else.
I feel like these people watched the first 10 minutes of the movie and walked out. Barbie directly told Ken she was sorry she took him for granted! Advised him to figure out who he is outside of whom he was made to be. What is wrong with people! It wasn't even subtle, she specifically told him to find his worth regardless of his titles or possession.
Lol, everyone gets it. What your missing is thats a message for feminist women that appeals to women. Men arent "acting macho" they're just being normal men. It isn't an act. It's a feminist womans idea of what problems she thinks men have and other women buy into it - but men dont give a crap. Idk why women think they can accurately anaylse how men think and feel, when they would hate the same in return. Pure arrogance. Also the movie is man hating because it makes the Kens and real world men all dumber than their female counterparts and in need of moral correction. But hey, if the movie has shown anything, it's that women dont care when men say something is offensive to men so men shouldnt give a shit if women claim something is offensive to women.
@@poocrayon4588 Yes, its primary audience is women and it's full of feminist themes, but it's not a "man-hating" movie. If the men seem "dumber" than their female counterparts, it's because in the Barbie universe, Ken has always been an accessory. That's what his entire character arc is about, it's why Barbie ends up *apologizing* to Ken in the end. At the end of the day, you're supposed to sympathize with Ken even when he's an antagonist. If the move was anti-men, that apology never would've happened. And I've seen *plenty* of movies that actually make the men the WORST characters in the name of "feminism," I honestly hate when movies do that. And as for the "acting macho" part: (Ngl I should've used a better phrase regarding pride and ego, but "macho" just came to mind because it is male-focused.) I just wanted to talk about how in the face of disrespect, Ken's character seems to blur the line between egotism and genuine self-esteem. He seems to lose his sense of self-respect and value if he loses against another Ken, or when his feelings aren't returned. And in all honesty, it makes sense to not want to take a female-focused surreal fantasy comedy's judgement on issues regarding men, and that's perfectly fine. There are plenty of studies and pieces written by male figures speaking on the same issues regarding ego and self-worth that the movie tries to incorporate.
@@its_all_luv3609 Yeah except it's not just the Kenxs that are dumber than the Barbies - it's the real world men being dumber than the real world women as well. The whole bit about Ken being an accessory is so obnoxious and sexist and is just spin for the movie - imagine if the Ninja Turtles movie came out and they were saying April was only ever an accessory for the Turtles. It's just an excuse for the Tik Tok generation of women to endulge in some sexism and hide behind satire while doing it. Pathetic. The men were the worst characters in Barbie - they are dumber than the women and in need of moral correction. That is bad. Reality is the movie is a feminist womans idea of whats good for men and women wrapped in man hating condescending packaging. So what if some few academic men agree with her? Most men dont. But anyways I guess since women think it's fine for them to decide what is or isnt man hating men can now go back to deciding what should or shouldnt be offensive to women and tell them theýre wrong if they say something offends them. After all the Barbie movie shows them they shouldnt expect better in return.
The fact that we all wanted Barbies life because it was perfect , and in the end she really wanted our life because it wasn’t perfect-that was the greatest part. She saw how beautiful the imperfections really were.
I guess the writers never watched Legally Blonde? LOL I mean hello! Elle Woods rocked her pink outfits in a professional sense ;) she was totally Lawyer Barbie in another universe lol. I haven't seen this yet but *maybe* I'll give it a chance when it's available on streaming.
that movie was SO much better than the barbie movie for me. it did feminism so much better & subtler (didn't shove it in your face like barbie movie did)
That's a real good point. When it ended and had Barbie now just Barbra with a new look, thinking about this moment more, I would think that what if she still called herself Barbie. I mean pretty sure names from famous storylines are always being used. Like that one queen from Game of Thrones, her name had been popular when if first came out. Even those named Alice were from the admiration of Wonderland. So, Barbie could of stuck with Barbie, because it's who she is, and maybe in the real world, as "Barbie," she could of change something.
I loved how girly and camp it was 😍. Also, the message was sentimental and sincere. I loved Gloria as a character and weird Barbie was hilarious 😂. Margot Robbie was sensational. But the whole cast nailed it 👌🏾. The set and soundtrack was awesome too. The messaging could have benefitted from a slightly more subtle approach, but the final stand-off between the girls and the boys was EPIC 🤩. Also, the stylised scenes had me swooning. I'm glad i watched it with an audience who gave great reactions. A lot of laughter in the cinema I went to. Also, I had to check it out for Issa of course 🥰.
I thought the messaging was a little on the nose, too. But after seeing the idiotic bad takes out there about "Barbie hates men!" Blah blah blah, now I think that even spelling it all out in crayons might still be over some folks heads. Well, they tried their best to make these big topics reachable to just about anyone.
@lionmom7629 You know what, that's a valid point. After reading some of these comments, I'm thinking we need more media like this, done in this way. Maybe pure subtlety would've been too kind. With the increase in f£miC!de worldwide (and the rolling back of certain groups of people's rights globally), I care less about balance in subtlety.
No, the message was too over the top, it was forced and unrelatable, I recommend you watch the video Alteori made about this movie she talked about how toxic it’s storyline and message is
@@lauracerqueiramachado8979 I watched it. Barbie was NOT toxic. None of its messages were toxic. The anti feminist anti women, "male rights" manosphere, mysogeny and internalized mysogeny that you are hearing is what's toxic. I hope you stop drinking that right wing extremists poison that's infected our culture.
@@lionmom7629 uh, no, this movie is “anti-men”, it glamourizes all that’s considered “feminine” but antagonizes all that’s considered “masculine”, all men there are either toxic or fragile there is no healthy masculinity there, they also don’t do a good job with women either this movie portrays women as vulnerable, manipulable and victims of “the patriarchy society” at the same time it says they’re superior just because of their gender, they say if a woman likes a man or “manly” things that’s because “she was brainwashed by the patriarchy”
My final opinion of the movie is that I loved it. Its themes and conclusion weren't perfect by any means, but the film really *explored* interesting ideas. Womanhood, motherhood, matriarchy vs patriarchy, gender roles, society. It's thought provoking and intriguing to pick apart how the film handled the concepts.
For the people complaining about Barbieland being "matriarchal" and the Kens being treated unfairly, Barbie has always been about the Barbie dolls, even in the animated movies, Ken/Barbie's love interest BARELY plays a huge role in these films. Ken was either a) a comic relief (Barbie Life in A Dreamhouse and Fashion Fairytale) or b) a random dude who appears in the middle of the movie and happens to like Barbie (Barbie Princess and the Pegasus was the only movie where I remember Barbie's love interest being sassy and smart). Barbie franchise's literal message to young girls is "Be Anything You Want", so yes, the female characters, A.K.A the Barbies, being "girlbosses" makes sense in the context of Barbieland. Do you see anyone complaining about the Transformers series not having well written female side characters? No, cuz it's based off of a toy brand tht sells transforming vehicles targeted towards boys -cough- atleast the Kens were more interesting compared to any of the female side characters in those movies - cough- So yea as someone who has been watching Barbie from a young age, the movie didn't come off as too feminist since tht was to be expected considering the franchise its based off on and I'm glad atleast the Kens in this movie were more interesting characters compared the animated versions and at the end of the day, if you think about it, it's really Mattel's fault the Kens are treated this way in Barbieland since the Kens were literally created to just be there as Barbie's love interest and nothing else. Also I give the movie 0/10 because Martin Short isn't there in this movie to reprise his role as Preminger 🙌🙄
i can see your point but you have to understand the message it is sending. There was no resolve for the mistreatment of the kens, they referred to the real world why the kens couldnt have a supreme court justice, meaning there are no women ones when there actually is and has been for a long time. It still had a strong message that men are not allowed to be themselves even though it showed us in the film both sexes were happier when they were just being themselves.
I'm sorry but transformers doesn't have any well written characters not only women but the men and the children, It does good becouse "Big robots fights each other that can also be cars and sometimes mecha animals but also submarines maybe and don't forget about the explosions"
But when Barbie goes to the real world all men ( that talk or are atleast a little bit important in the movie) are either Profit hungry business men or weird catcalling creeps Like men only exist in these two types And if you show that to an 8 year old Then yeah sorry you are not good at painting a picture of the world Plus in the Movie that’s message is feminism and pushing equality the problems of women are way more detailed than the male problems Which indicates that women have it way worse and men live in heaven on earth
@@lucpage1665well it IS PG-13 🤷🏾♀️ And like someone mentioned, when women started the feminist movement the issues weren’t realized or improved in one huge swoop.. decades of fighting for more rights and opportunities built upon those first steps…. Like how the Kens now have jobs beside just “beach”
Thank you Brittany I completely agree with you the movie isn’t anti man at all it was so funny I dyed laughing at the entire movie! I liked that they honored the Barbie brand and even the inventor of Barbie was in it kind of that was a nice touch plus it was original unlike the boring Disney remakes! This is coming from a 31 year old who hasn’t played or cared about Barbie in years!
oh yeah because women are really qualified to say what is or isnt anti men. I guess men should remember not to give a shit if any movies they make offend women in future. Just dismiss it.
Couldn't be happier Barbie has grossed $500 million in a week, it deserves to join the billion dollar club and Margot Robbie needs a billion dollar hit!
What I liked about the movie: (1) Finally a movie with some color! Loved seeing all the Barbies in Barbie-land (2) The acting was top-notch, everyone really bought in and had fun with it (3) The character arc of Ryan Gosling's Ken was surprisingly well done (4) There were surprisingly a lot of touching moments (5) The song and dance numbers were amazing, easily my favorite parts What I didn't like about the movie: (1) The editing was kind of jarring for me, the way they cut between scenes felt very rushed (2) The comedy was a little off at times. There was a weird mixture of both adult and kid humor. (3) The way they presented "the patriarchy" was very over the top. I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be satire or not. (4) The way they presented Mattel's board as all men was a little odd to me. Especially since half of Mattel's actual board is women, and the head of the Barbie division has always been a woman. Seemed like a missed opportunity to show more about their company. (5) Could've done without any of the gender-role stuff (6) The messaging was a little too heavy-handed for me at times - especially America's speech and the way they had to "deprogram" the Barbies ... no thank you (7) The moral of the movie is a little vague, I think. Sure, you get that nice break-up moment between Barbie & Ken where Barbie apologizes to Ken for her treatment of him. But they still end the movie with the Ken's not being completely equal. I guess you could argue that this is mimicking how women in the "real world" still have to fight for equality so Ken's will also need to fight for their equality, or something?? Like I said, vague. I can completely understand how people can walk away from this saying it's anti-men. They were heavy-handed with everything else, it's odd that they would kind of leave the ending open-ended. Overall, the movie was a little all over the place for me. The highs were very high and the lows were very low. I would give it a 5/10. If I ever do re-watch this, I would only watch the stuff that doesn't have any of the gender stuff in it.
@@RueGrae True. I was also hoping for a little bit of a romance between her and Ken. Just a little!! But no she was completely disinterested in him the whole movie. What a bummer.
Point #7 was my biggest negative of the film. It felt a bit problematic that Barbie allowed the other Barbies to bring back the old system WITHOUT consideration for the Kens.
@@wayIess Right?? It made it seem like the other Barbies didn’t learn anything except I guess that they shouldn’t let the Kens run anything ever again. I think Margot Robbie’s Barbie did come to some sort of realization, but she left for the real world so she didn’t really use her newfound knowledge to help the Kens in any way. I honestly couldn’t tell you what they were trying to say, because I don’t think it was for equality. Or if it was, it was very poor execution.
On point 7, the thing that super irritated me was that the job example given for equality was the supreme court, which you know, is currently 5 men and 4 women. The message that Ken's must "work towards equality" and can't have a position on the Barbieland Supreme Court seems a little... stupid? I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be satire or something. Surely "we should give x gender equality" is a better message than "previously oppressed x gender must remain oppressed and prove their worth".
The fact that Barbie ultimately leaves Barbie Land to go live in the real world is the best takeaway ever. She leaves utopia for a very imperfect world. And Ken finally realizes he's JUST KENOUGH without Barbie. So both of them grow as individuals beyond the confines of their society's mores. On-the-nose preaching and annoying tween daughter aside, it was truly a brilliant movie.
I mostly liked it but America's character kinda ruined it for me, felt like a lot of preaching to the choir and assuming that most of the audience is boring mom's who miss the good old days. Maybe sucking up to them in hopes they will by dolls for their daughters?🤔 Couldn't relate. Overall anytime someone explicitly started using gender studies jargon I would be taken right out of the movie and would struggle to regain focus. Would have liked it if they had gone with a different conflict.
I’ve already watched this movie in theatres twice and adored it both times. The colors and costumes are goofy and fun, the whole soundtrack is gorgeous and fits the setting incredibly well, and the themes, though they could have been explored more, are well done in my opinion. The first time I saw the movie I cried at the ending but walked out of the theatre beaming and laughing because I was so dang HAPPY. If you have not seen this I highly recommend, 9/10 for me
For those confused on the ending. Barbieland did not go back to how it use to be. So those saying “ they showed how both extremes are bad but went back to one extreme “ is not true. The Kens now have a voice just a small one. The point of the ending it that true equality doesn’t happen in a day or isn’t just some instantaneous happy ending you just make happen. The Ken’s still have to fight and work, but having their voices finally heard is a hell of a good start and is more than they’ve ever gotten before. The metaphor is used the mirror our own world and the state of the world in real life where women still have a long way to go before they are equal to men. But it’s a good start.
@@Axolotl720 We do already. The women who WANT to do that can if they wish. You can't force women to be in office just for even numbers if no one is stepping up to the plate for the job.
@@Axolotl720 Not if she works hard enough at it. I personally don't want to be in office. Do you? The ones who really want it get it. It's silly for folks like us to complain about not getting a job we don't even want. Or even try to get 😆
Its hated because of how the patriarchy and the state of the real world is misrepresented. For example, Mattel (the company that owns barbie) is primarily operated by women in the real world, with women making most the decisions... but in the "real world" in the barbie movie its just old men which is the exact opposite.. but they needed it to be all men to fit the narrative of an oppressive patriarchal society. This is just one example of many.
I liked Ken plotline. I wish the movie was funnier but only chuckled a few times. A lot of the funny moments were already in the trailer or social media. I don't know if it just me but the transition didn't felt organic, they were jumping from one scene to the other and then another and It fell rushed at the beginning. America's preaching scene was a little too much in my opinion.
Great video!! I think if you’re having a movie about Barbie's effect in the real world, then the gender topic is a hard one to avoid. Here is my reason why:) Barbie is a doll. Barbie is a doll in the female form made for girls, just as He-man is a boy doll made for boys. Each doll was created to be a vessel for the younger imagination. Yet who gets the slack for being a “bad role model?” The one made for girls. All Barbie is, is a woman doll. Yet she’s never enough somehow, always looked down upon (be it by BOTH sexes, sadly). This movie brings that to face value. As for the “Ken’s” being lesser then, they begin the movie as being treated as the “lesser sex,” via lack of any social sway or significance to Barbieland. But that’s the point. As they switch places and it becomes Ken-land, and women become the lesser spot, it demonstrates that NO one wants to be the “lesser” sex. Everyone wants to be heard, seen, and loved. Both sexes deserve to be heard and listened to. The Barbies end the movie by reclaiming their power, but that does not mean things will return to they were with men at the bottom. After all, it states Kens will have just as much power as women do in the real world. That should be enough. If you think that is suppressing the Kens, then there truly is a disparity in how we treat women. If you believed women had sufficient power in the real world, then the movie did have a happy ending.
@@buntom1800 I agree. They leave the ending open so we can interpret and reflect our current world on it, and how it will change with time, as opposed to telling us what it should be. We get to make that choice for ourselves:)
@Strawberrybby132But the Kens get the same amount of rights as women in the real world. At least in the USA, single women can own their own house, so the Kens will get their mojo dojo casa houses.
As a woman and mother in my early 40s, I LOVED the film. (As an Australian I especially loved Margot Robbie 🥲). It was eerily relatable - especially the Pride & Prejudice + doomscrolling Instagram bit. My husband and kids turned to look at me when that scene came up. 😭😂 The experience of reaching middle age as a woman who is just average, no special accomplishments in one’s life, the hope that I’m (k)enough… I went in expecting a laugh and came out crying but hopeful. That film spoke to me like nothing else has in a very long time. I love that Ken also gets his own arc. Pretty sure the message was that strict patriarchy AND strict matriarchy are dystopias that force half the population to miss out on learning who they are as individuals. And Ken, I love horses too. 😅
"no special accomplishments" I'd say being a mother is a hell of an accomplishment compared to say "getting top 10 in super mario land" or "making a lot of money"
I really enjoyed this movie. But the one thing I didn't like about was at the end when President Barbie wouldn't let a man on the supreme court. I wish they had gone to a place of equality rather than becoming fully Barbieland again.
Yeah, in that sense, I think the ending was bittersweet where the Barbie tried something new (matriarchy --> patriarchy), found out it's insane, and decided to revert to something equally insane. Makes me wonder if there'll be a sequel where they try to find a healthy middle ground.
That was the main thing about this movie that bothered me. It spends it’s whole runtime speaking against inequality and then treats inequality in the other direction as a victory? They brush it off with “Barbieland will be equal when the real world is equal”, but there are women in the Supreme Court already, so a few Kens in the Supreme Court should not be such a big ask. It felt like the Barbies just told the Kens they could be their own people, then reset everything else to the status quo, leaving Kens with little power once again. A bit ironic considering that’s what the movie said about the real world. But it doesn’t seem like the movie notices that irony, which really spoiled the whole thing for me.
@@simoniel_l1646That’s because they said the change had to reflect the way things changed in the real world. President Barbie literally says “let’s start”, which I think is just a great way to show that the progression of women in power has been slow and often very hard.
@Strawberrybby132 And how long did it take for a woman to get into that position? That’s what it’s about, women didn’t just say “we want to be involved in politics” and suddenly there was a female vice president. It’s a commentary on how gaining that power has been slow for women, women have had to fight for the right to vote, the right to own bank accounts, and the right to have women in the Supreme Court, etc.
I am SO SICK of woke crap...but this movie wasn't woke. The right is REALLY reaching on this one. Sure, it was uplifting and empowering women, but that's it. Hell, there was some very NOT woke things in the movie. Like society makes up words like "patriarchy" to cope. And Barbie's whole monologue to Ken at the end was uplifting MEN. So it's absolutely ridiculous that people on the right(many that haven't even watched it) are whining. And it was really good, too! This is a box office hit, and deservedly so. Superb set design, fantastically acted(Margot did an AMAZING job). And a well-rounded film, too. Laughs, tears, drama, it has it all!
I loved it and loved all the deeper touches not just about gender but about life and all the emotions that are a part of being a living, breathing human, any gender. I don't get how a world where women are empowered and given some spotlight is hating men. Do some men act like Ken when they can't get what they want, yes, so can some women. Ken is an individual not all men but in our world, a lot of men did just watch while things got unfair. That's reality. Loved this movie.
Today ..I watched the movie with my sister and mom for my 14th birthday. Let me tell you.....THE MOVIE WASN'T ANTI MEN!!! Dudeeee. Whoever came up with that rumor hasn't even see it! Barbie CLEARLY apologizes to Ken! PS: The ending had me in tears. ❤
I think it’s says more about the men that think this is men hating than it has to do with the actual movie. I think the fact that this is sparking outrage in certain circles rather emphasize the fact that we’re still not where we should be. One of our German critics said it’s „toxic“ 🤦🏻♀️ Thanks for the great review, I finally get to watch it tomorrow!!!! Was rough to have to wait for a whole week. Besides, we’re going all in pink. 😁 The hype is real. 😁
To tell you the truth, its the women who are convinced that "feminism is toxic" and "they weren't fair to Ken" that are the worst to deal with. I don't expect all men to love this movie (although hating it is really toxic and kinda bonkers) but the women who are so anxious to show that they believe in the so called "natural order" is just cringy. Don't listen to the haters. Its not a perfect movie. But, then again, its not a perfect world, either. In the end, its "Kenough." Enjoy! And judge for yourself.
I just saw the movie today, and I loved it. I remember Brittney saying that if you're a man (I am a man), then you need to go into this movie with an open mind, so I did. The narrative and plot after Ken and Barbie were both back in Barbie World had me kinda wincing. Like it wasn't bad, but I was getting those anti-men vibes that were being talked about. But the movie wasn't over, so I gave it a chance to the very end, and I'm so glad I did. I was hoping for some kind of Equality inspired ending, and that is most definitely what happened.
One thing that I don't think will EVER make sense to me is: why did so many people react the way they did to seeing Barbie and Ken roller skating down the boardwalk? I mean, i get it was their outfits, but that still made absolutely no sense to me because I feel like the west coast is more so where you WOULD expect to see people dressing like that and behaving like that. And I don't mean that in any negative sort of way either.
I live here, and DUDE, you are so right, especially on Venice Beach, although Margot Robbie did say she felt exposed and all these guy were telling Ryan Gosling, “awesome, bro.” I guess it was supposed to be that they looked so eighties.
the real world in the movie is a gross stereotypical caricature of the actual world... Nobody behaves like that in our society, generally speaking. The depiction of the patriarchy for me is quite off beat... perhaps that was the point i dont know, but then again this is one my main issues with the film message. Its based on a very short sighted premise to begin with.
The only people who think this movie is anti-men have no patience for quality storytelling. They made up their minds about it before character arcs were resolved. They either stopped paying attention or walked out of the theater. This movie was way too smart for it's own good. I cried during this movie and I don't know which emotion caused it. Don't know if it would change your opinion, but the suit she's wearing at the end (at least in the theater I was in) looked like it had a pinkish-purple hue to it and wasn't just plain beige.
@@animal1nstinct394It’s not. Ken grows, he evolves. Ken realizes that he didn’t want to control women, he just wanted to feel seen and heard. It would be anti-men if Ken never changed. Then you have Allen. Allen is also men, but it’s men who respect women and don’t buy into patriarchy. He protects women (seen by him beating up the Ken’s building walls) but he never once feels superior or inferior. He’s always true to who he is. There’s nuance to the men in barbieland, it’s not anti-men at all.
can you explain why barbie got super depressed & said she wasn't pretty & can't do anything ? i mean anyone would be mad in that situation (what ken did), but she also became insecure for no reason? I thought that was really random, it seemed like they just had to make barbie sad so america could have her rant. & it also didn't make sense how all the barbies were so easily brainwashed...if anything I think the movie insulted the barbies intelligence more than it insulted the kens. I honestly don't see how it's smart writing if so many people are confused / annoyed at some plot points
the end of the movie literally has men go back to being second class citizens, also the fact the barbies who were supposed to be these strong women just up and fell to the patriarchy just makes no sense. the other part that made no since was the part where barbie took back the dream house and the men just gave up without argue.
Guy here. You are the ONLY reviewer who seems to UNDERSTAND the main point! Thanks! The other point is that women should be free to live ordinary lives as mothers, since the break up babies at the beginning, and then it ends with mothers hugging their children. BEST REVIEW SO FAR!
Men couldn't run for President, couldn't be in the supreme court, couldn't hold a construction job. And the men played their hearts out for the Barbies to make them happy and the Barbies tried to ruin them. Heartbreaking movie
I don't think Barbie was "mean" to Ken. She was annoyed that he kept trying to come on to her when she was clearly not interested. I feel like that's reasonable. Anyway, being that this was made by Greta Gerwig, I totally expected there to be bigger commentary and I never expected it to be an escapist fantasy ala Legally Blonde. Lastly as for her outfit at the end of the film...she's plenty feminine. She was even wearing PINK Birkenstocks at the end...which I found to be a really cute tie in with what Weird Barbie was asking her to choose between. She chose both...plus I feel like wanting her to conform to how you feel Barbie SHOULD be is literally the point the film was trying to make.
I’m a boring mom with a boring job who may or may not sometimes play dress up with my daughter’s Barbies now that she’s grown past playing with dolls. This movie hit me like a freight train.
I personally just think this movie didn't get the correct marketing (big surprise there) and i think that maybe they didn't play their hand well enough I do think they wanted to balance it, i really do, but i feel that maybe the issue might be that they didn't left clear enough the, well, matriarchy of the Barbie world, perhaps that's what failed, something must have left enough space for misinterpreting, there has to be something wrong in how things are worded or shown, there has to be some sort of failure in how information is conveyed, there just has to. I wish the ending was a more evenly matched barbie and ken, maybe that's what is missing, that people felt that the world isn't just for Barbie, is also for ken, maybe that would have done the trick. Is a shame this movie became another among a big pile of controversies, it deserved better, is barbie!
the problem is the movie describes the real world as an opposite to the barbie's world which of course it's not like that. women in the real world are on much better situation than the kens
Not a fan of the inconsistency of the already tepid messaging, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the chatacters! Will Ferrell didnt offer much plot-wise, but he made me laugh out loud at times (the casual "her ghost haunts the second floor" made me break) and I appreciated everything Michael Cera brought. America Ferrera's acting was noticeably worse than the rest and her daughter seemed to offer nothing besides being a relatable cutout for younger audience-members, but all the rest were well-performed and vibrant!
God I hated the teenage daughter. She was extremely annoying and didn't have any real depth besides being a typical angsty teen. Her character came across as poorly written. Same with Will Ferrell's character that felt very unnecessary to the main plot.
Straight man here. I saw it with my wife last night. You summed it up perfectly and I agree totally. I enjoyed it but it was heavy handed with its messaging. I would have loved to see the entire movie in Barbieland with its incredible sets and visual gags. But I am just a Ken so…😄
Excellent review. Here’s the thing about Ben Shapiro: he’s a very unpleasant person with a lot of issues who hates almost everything (but he knows how to make money by getting attention). So him burning Barbies and stoking hatred for this movie is a way for him to get clicks. He is shameless and should be ignored as much as possible. As for the movie, I never felt threatened or attacked as a man…but my straight guy friends did. They felt a little hurt. We talked about it and they ended up agreeing that the movie lampooned frat boy behavior, not all guys. The Kens honestly act like if 8yo boys grabbed their sisters’ dolls and started playing with them; the Barbies and Barbieland were just like if little girls were playing and that created a world. Sort of like how Neverending Story had that one boy creating Fantasia from his imagination. The “patriarchy” stuff sounded like Lisa Simpson going off on one of her rants on the Simpsons. But the Barbies mistreated the Kens and thought nothing of it…so to me the lesson was that we ALL need to think about how we treat others…and how we each want to be treated…and also what labels we each want to choose to wear for ourselves. I actually came out of the movie realizing that I need to be nicer to the straight guys that I know who work hard and people take for granted. I need to encourage them and make sure they feel appreciated and not neglected like Kens. I already do that for female friends but I never stop to think if straight guys need some praise or understanding so I’m going to check in on them more.
I'm glad to hear your take on this. I was feeling kind of mixed coming out of the movie myself and unsure what to think. Yes it comes off rather heavy handed at times. But in others shows the detriment to both sides. I just felt confused about what the ultimate message was supposed to be. Did the movie even know itself? I like your take, so maybe I'll go with that. Still, I think the movie could have been more clear on what it actually wanted to say.
Have you seen an interview with Greta Gerwig? She babbles like an idiot and jumps from thought to thought at random. The movie is incoherent because she is an incoherent thinker.
You fail to mention that Barbie land goes back to a complete matriarchy and kens aren't treated with equality despite Barbie learning what being a second class citizen felt like.
I agree with the last part but I don't understand why they didnt make the sexes equal in barbieland. Its not the real world, thats the point. Both patriarchy and matriarchy is bad, and barbie world is stylistically an idealized utopia, or at least its presented as such so it sends mixed signals.@Strawberrybby132
We " My boyfriend and I" just saw this last night and we both absolutely loved it ❤️ I had explained the history of Barbie to my man before for context so he could better understand, honestly we laughed a lot ✌️the " I am Kenough shirt was everything"
For those who don't see this as anti-men, open your eyes: all men were depicted in a bad light in the real world, as if women were literally treated today like Kens in Barbie world (or worse according to this movie). So yes, the film is anti-men and pro woman victimhood
I think her outfit the end is supposed to be a misdirect type joke, making the audience think her first task after deciding to be a “real person” will be something like a job interview, but *instead* she just needs to go the gynecologist. It’s a great joke, because in retrospect, totally goofy to wear a blazer to the doctor lol
I thought making Ken exist only for barbies approval was inspired by all the movies that have had one dimensional female characters who exist mainly to date the main character. Ken seemed like one of the main cast right off the bat and I feel like he should've seemed a lot more like a side character
I didn't like it, apart from some laughs, I just feel like this is stuff girls have known in the 90s, the media has really started infantilizing people since the age of social media, and makes it feel like we are spinning wheels in terms of progress. How do we still need these pedestrian gender speeches in 2023? Also people didn't like it when similar stuff was said in She hulk but I guess in Barbie it's super clever..
Eh I think it depends on where you live. I live in a liberal place but since dating have discovered how obnoxious many men are about gender differences and seeing women as human beings deserving of respect. I think the Midwest, especially conservative religious communities have a lot of growing to do. This movie is great for calling this out
@@liabw05 huh? There are barely any true red states left in 202 and the entire entertainment industry regurgitates these same messages about "girl power" and female independence. if you live in the US anywhere you will be bombarded with that agenda
@@liabw05 we definitely still have some serious things to work on but I don't think they can be covered in a jokey light movie. So the stuff that gets most attention is the stuff that is base level same old speech.
I've been very excited about this movie because I Love Barbie! When my sister and I played "Barbies" we rarely ever used Ken. He was mostly left behind, unplayed with. It wasn't anything personal, planned, or discussed, in our young minds he just didn't really fit in, from the perspective of 5- 9yo little girls. Maybe because we didn't have much experience with what a man would be doing; our dad was usually at work and on weekends or after work fixing things around the house and doing yardwork. Sometimes, our Ken doll did those tasks. In this way, I think that's where the murkiness of Ken's 'role' comes from and I think that has been alluded to in some of the interviews with Greta, Margo, and Ryan. I think the roles for 'Kens' were literally from little girls' imaginations, and if we'd had more than one Ken maybe we would have acted out fights between them. BTW, my brother had GI Joe who had a gristle- beard, very manly, he and Barbie did lots of things together, especially because he came with a horse they often rode on together. Even then, it seems, we somehow knew that GI Joe was way more exciting! Lastly, in all the interviews, Ryan is pretty much always deferring his power and autonomy to Stereotypical Barbie and Barbies in general, even when the interviewer tries to really press him to take a stand on issues. He never broke with that character trait in interviews and I would guess that was intentional and maybe easier so it leaves the audience to get into it however they choose....
I respect your opinion but I was disgusted with this movie. If it was solely about going to the real world to help the mom be happy with her life so Barbie can return to feeling like herself than it would be a good movie. Ken could even tag along just for the change of scenery. The patriarchy message was so distracting that it was the climax of the movie. The Barbies were hypnotized servants, feminism Ted Talks broke the trance, and the Barbies strung the Kens along to fight eachother; how does all that stem from horses? I shouldn't be hit over the head with politics in a girl's doll film. The marketing team conned me out of $14.
I loved this movie. In no way did I think Ken was a bad guy in this. In doll world, his identity was always tagged to liking Barbie and worrying what Barbie think of him not what he thought of himself. When he went to the real world, he realize that he can be who he wanted to be. In the end, when he realize he needs to discover himself. Barbie wanted the same thing too. I thought this was a fitting ending. I didn't hate Ken, I actually rooted for him in the end. Isn't that what men and women all want: to discover themselves and have their own identity in this world?
'Barbie' might be the first of spectaculars made for women and girls. Until now, big budget movies have shoe-horned women into typically masculine roles and expected us to be impressed by the attempt at representation and inclusion. Hollywood has finally found a formula to attract women and girls into the cinema to see films that appeal to them. Let's hope there will be less of the overt feminism, that would get tiresome pretty quickly.
I was a little disappointed to not see a single Barbie erupt into flames or be blown up as kids have been known to burn their Barbies and blow them up with fireworks. Guess that would have been a little too dark though. Funny, but dark.
The ending didnt show equality at all. The Ken's didn't get any of the things they gained since the beginning of the film, the best they got was being able to cry and be told they don't need Barbie for purpose... What does that have to do with fucking gaining equality? Do you guys choose to read the movie this badly? 😂 Also, it's not very 'real world' to show a world that looks more like the western 50s, and at the same time pretend that's how it is now. It's clear cut them wanting to have their cake, and eat it too
I agree 100% with you thank you for being a good critical thinker when it comes to art because most people on the Internet completely completely missed the point. They got caught up with the finger and not seeing what the finger is pointing to.
Hi Brittany, my daughter found your Barbie Movie review. I was so pleased with your review and decided to finally watch The Barbie Movie. I loved the movie. Thank you for your insights, wisdom, plus more. 1 plus about the Barbie Movie and Barbie World there was no alcohol/drugs and no nude sex scenes.
It’s a really good movie. Me and the whole theatre laughed and cried. I cried so much, it had so much heart and very very beautiful message. I will definitely watch it a second time. And it was so pretty and colourful literally the most prettiest movie ever. The casting was perfect. Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling at Ken were both incredible. And Margot Robbie is so beautiful I love her smile. She really is Barbie ❤
The people (men and women) who said they didn't like the movie mostly because how unrealistic and stupid was the portrayal of patriarchy in this movie was and how it's not a patriarchy in the actual world it is since there are lot of women who holds the power at the top as well. The real world shown was absolutely stupid and meaningless and irrational in this movie and that's where most people showed their issues with the movie. I think it's you who missed the point not the other people.
It would be pro equality were it not for the ending. A more appropriate way to have ended it would’ve been with Barbie selling her Barbie house for a joint venture with Ken, showing how much stronger they are together. The movie completely missed a great opportunity to display feminine and masculine qualities that are different yet compliment one another. It failed to show little girls that we should support each other and not fight over who’s in charge.
Thank you for this.👍🏼 Imo it's just fun and escapism. I'm so tired of people reading deep seated pro/anti messages in movies. They dont all have to have a serious message. Sometimes we just want entertainment!🎉
Finally an honest well thought out review about this movie that wasn’t filled with outrage and unwarranted seriousness. Most reviewers are really missing the plot. I totally agree with your points, really enjoyed this movie for what it was and appreciated the messaging which I found to be positive for all the babies and kens watching.
Didn't the movie have all the men in subservient roles? Didn't they portray most men in a negative light? Didn't they tell the men that until women get equal rights in the real world the men in their world will continue to be in a slightly better world than the one they were already in? You can love this movie but pretending it's not Anti-Man is dishonest. Even Margot Robbie pointed out the movie goes past feminism into misandry in the beginning. She even said she wanted Greta to direct it because she would use it as a "Trojan Horse".
@@RedRoseSeptember22??? Then how do you know if you are or aren't a fan of how they treated the men? There's a whole story you sorta have to see to lend any validity to your opining.
I think you missed the several moments where they bent over backwards to apologise to the men and buck them back up and learn from their own biases (that's not to say their return back to their prior status quo was a great message, but ths film is frankly pretty pathetic in its attempt to criticize men, since it ultimately just coddles them in the end)
@@tracer.s I don't see how anything about what that film did in the end could be seen as bending over backwards. Their idea was "Oh well, women have it bad in the real world so until they have it better, you still don't get equal rights" We can have a discussion on the treatment of women in the real world. But this movie relied on misandry to get it's point across. This movie portrayed men as one trick ponies.
Me as a 25 years old woman who loved Barbie and fantasyzed with that Barbie World as a kid i as an adult loved this movie !!! This made me see things wayyy better !!! Theres no Womans World or Mens World theres A World where both Men and Woman exist together to achieve the goal of being happy and healthy and coe-exist together !!! It made me see men and boys in a new way and potrayed really well a womans live !!!
This film is WAAAY more profound than people give it credit to. "Barbie" is not to be taken on a surface level. The effort put into it by the auteure (yes, "auteure" not "auteur") requires of us that we think deeper about its meaning. People more on the conservative spectrum that say it is "accidentally anti-woke" (e.g. The Podcast of the Lotus Eater and ShoeOnHead) are on the right (pun not intended) track, but they still aren't there. Gerwig is not a hack that did not understand what she wrote. Just read about her process (separating male and female actors so that they can charge up their feminine/masculine "batteries") or how well-thought-through her visual inspirations were. I cannot believe someone who puts so much effort into a project would write a script that said anything else than what she meant. "Rick & Morty" fans like to think themselves SOOO intelligent because they "get" the meaning (do you? do you really?) of the show. Yeah, because they think Rick is the greatest for being so nihilistic, jaded, and cynical. They are on the same level of comprehension of the text of culture as people who think that "Barbie" is just about "women empowerment" or (on the other end of the spectrum) "anti-men". That is just the surface. This film is like an ogre: it has layers. This film is not "woke" in the least. This film is BASED to the core, and it is done purely deliberately. In the most positive meaning of the word "based". It tells you, in no uncertain terms (if you are literate), that the war of the sexes is as damaging as blindly and unquestioningly accepting gender roles. But I am afraid that, as with the characters in the film, very few people will undergo a profound change in their understanding. Gloria and Sasha mend their relationship, but their change is of a comparatively small magnitude. Gloria asserts herself and she serves as the voice of the feminine. Sasha comes to better understand her mother and matures out of churlish teenage contrarianism, yet without losing her independent spirit. Only Barbie and Ken (by which I mean Robbie and Gosling characters) really evolve (Ken becomes an entity independent of external acceptance; Barbie decides to face the challenges of a less-than-perfect Real World). Barbieland itself is basically returned to the status quo, and the Mattel executives also are not interested in changing their approach too much. They have a bottom line to meet. And I love how the IRL Mattel completely missed how Gerwig made them her stooges and they were SO HAPPY with themselves, completely missing how ridiculous they were made to look. that they announced a slew of more films based on their IPs. Why don't you just set that money on fire? Because you cannot possibly deliver anything as good as what Gerwig did. I cannot possibly imagine you can make 45 films that approach anything near this level of intellectual profundity. Back to Barbieworld: When President Barbie denies the Kens even a single judge on the Supreme Court but says that they can get a District Court judge and slowly work their way up, the Narrator says that there is hope that one day the Kens will enjoy as many rights as women do in America. 4 out of 9 SCOTUS judges are now women. And while there is always work to be done to bring society closer to true equality, it is a subtle (is it really though?) jab at those who act as if nothing has changed over the past 150 years. It is also a warning not to try and overcorrect in any direction. The film is not subtle when it says that women have the right to decide for themselves how they want to fulfill themselves. And this means ALL THE WAYS in which women may want to seek fulfillment. (Remember Midge? She still ends with a short end of the stick in the film - and make no mistake that it is not portrayed as a good thing - Gerwig herself managed to have two kids while having a stellar career and, hopefully, she only goes to make more great films for us - Gloria is Gerwig's voice in the film.) But it also tells us that men don't have it easy. Ken has a warped understanding of "patriarchy" because he assumes that the Real World (where he learns about "patriarchy") works the way Barbieworld does. He cannot get a job as a stockbroker in the Real World, because he has no qualifications other than being a man; the same thing goes for becoming a surgeon - he even dismisses the doctor he talks to (a woman) because he assumes that the real world operates like Barbieworld, where the Barbies (who are female-coded, but they aren't really - everybody is dolls, with no genitals) get to have careers because they were CONCEIVED as such. I doubt President Barbie was ever elected. The Nobel-Prize-Winning Barbie seems to remember that she wrote a novel, but since every day, today, yesterday, and tomorrow, is "a perfect day" that keeps repeating itself Groundhog-Day-style, she only ever receives the Nobel Prize. Although credited as "Writer Barbie", we never see her write anything, only receive the prize. Nothing is ever given to anyone on a silver platter just on the account of the junk they have between their legs. You have to actually work for it. There is no way you can misread that. "The Patriarchy" screws both sexes, just in different ways. "The Matriarchy" would do the same, just in different ways. When the Barbies live under "The Patriarchy" they seem equally (if not more) content than when they lived under "The Matriarchy". Why? Maybe because for the first time since they remember, the running of everything does not rest on their shoulders, and their shoulders alone. (Admittedly, the Kens would perhaps come to that same conclusion eventually - but it should be pointed out that the nature of "the vote" they were to have was never clearly explained; it was never said that the Kens would be the only ones allowed to vote; neither does it say that the Kens would establish purely Ken franchise - remember how the stockbroker told Ken about how they are now more subtle with patriarchy? That means the audience is allowed to project whatever they want on the nature of the vote while making an argument against that interpretation equally valid.) Gerwig also absolutely savages the underhanded methods each of the sexes employs to get what they want from the other. After establishing "the patriarchy" Gosling Ken is acting in a way that will make Robbie Barbie feel less than, popularly known as "negging". In turn, the Barbies use the Kens' tendency to "kensplain" (heh) in order to first get their attention, and then they manipulate them into jealousy to fight one another. Which the Kens are oblivious to and more than happy to waste their time on infighting. I cannot stress the following enough: This film is the best thing that Hollywood produced in years after we were spoon-fed garbage and expected to act grateful. The amount of discussion it generates attests to the fact that it makes people think. This is way more than can be said about your average Hollywood preachy crap. It manages to be both visually appealing and have a message, and, for once, a truly egalitarian one. I could go on and on about this. But I was supposed to write an op-ed about the Hollywood strike for our website, but I wrote this instead. WORTH IT. NO REGRETS. And I'm KENOUGH! This film effing rules! Mark my words, there will be doctoral theses written about this film. P.S. A nice touch is that Gloria's husband (Sasha's father) is played by America Ferrera's IRL husband, Ryan Piers Williams. HE HAS NO VOICE: we only hear him attempt to learn and speak Spanish. Initially, I thought he was DEAD or ABSCONDED. And then you might think he is portrayed as men (including fathers) are usually portrayed nowadays in order to make "strong female characters" seem more competent, i.e. by portraying men as bumbling idiots But no: the film is told from the perspective of women and is about female self-discovery. The Father is largely irrelevant to that. Fathers can teach girls something about men, but they cannot teach them how to be women. But the fact that he tries to learn Spanish (the language of his wife's culture, and the culture his daughter identifies with) shows what a sweet man he is. And the fact that he tries to encourage Barbie by saying "Si, se puede!" ("Yes, it can be done") is called out by Sasha as inappropriate in the context (by calling it "cultural appropriation"), considering how it is a political slogan appropriate only in a given political context, no different from pointing out that "Tomorrow belongs to you" is a similarly inappropriate paraphrase of a lyrics from "Cabaret" if you know the original context.
Ken’s song was my favorite part and I completely agree with you on her going beige and boring to be human. The ending was so bad, I guess it was supposed to be funny? I just didn’t see the point.
Brilliant review, Brittney. 👍 I'm a guy, and I know that this film wasn't for me, but I went to see it anyway, as a big fan of Margot Robbie, and would say that, for me, it was a decent film outside of its rushed story structure, cheesy comedic moments and over the top use of its themes. And, I agree that the set design was amazing.
@@TheMoviesWithMikeYeah Message was good execution was fcking terrible Like women’s problems are explained like: women are this and women are that and it is hard for women but men’s explanation was: I am ken 😮
I'm still chuckling at that Anxiety Barbie ad in the middle of the movie.
So great!!
Was it depression Barbie?
@@liabw05 yah somethin like that.
I unexpectedly, spontaneously, and loudly laughed at that part and NO ONE else in the audience did. Crickets. I saw it at a theatre in a very wealthy area so maybe the others don't have problems that allow them to relate to anxiety Barbie......
I was sitting there dying laughing being like yeah I think I need one of those 😭🤚💀
I just love how everyone is getting upset about the messaging when Ken literally says he thought the patriarchy was about HORSES.
"Honestly when I found out the patriarchy wasn't about horses I kinda lost interest." 😂
...because he is an idiot - cause that's what men are!
wholesome message! but at least it was pink! ;-)
The only thing I was upset about was after he said all of that and they ended the film. I'm like "wait why tf didn't Ken have a house with a horse barn magically appear, he would've been so happy". I've legit built him a Ken ranch house with barn and a rootbeer float bar in my mind. With two double door fridges, f@ck the mini fridge 🤣🤣
@jackierenee1691 lol that would have made that movie for me lol
@@jackierenee1691hahaha I love your idea 😂
As a straight 55 year old black dude, I suspect I am slightly outside of the target audience for this movie, BUT I LOVED IT!!!! No real criticism of it as I went in with no expectations; I just wanted something different and it delivered! Won’t pay to see again, but looking forward to it coming to cable or Netflix for a rewatch!👍❤☺️
Nice to hear you enjoyed it. Makes me think you are secure in your masculinity because some of the men seem quite defensive about it 😅
@@liabw05women can’t tell a man if he’s secure in his masculinity or not
You are not straight.
@@glitbow7630facts. Women and the beta males who encourage them, are lost in the sauce.
Enjoyed it myself too. Good film.
as a 19 year old guy who saw the movie I liked how they show how neither extreme is good and how misogyny effects both men and women, and Ryan Gosling as ken was the best thing I ever saw. Great movie!!
Except at the end they return to the first extreme and that confuses me
Misogyny bad, bad, bad!
Misandry good, great, amazing!
Barbie is the most hateful sexist propaganda trash.
@@parsanasirzadeh2733 this movie is about nothing. This american debate makes way more out of this movie that it actually is. What this movie actually is about - it's all about rebranding Barbie doll and making sales. This movie is a stupid plot platform for advertisement. This is same concept that Emily in Paris used with great success but now brought without any remorse to big cinema. Plot is so dumb because half of it was written in collaboration with Mattel to ensure they hit on all aspects necessary for their marketing goals. Greta Gerwig did not come up with Barbie - she was hired to make a movie for Barbie and she clearly didn't even tried hard to produce any interesting plot. They don't need movie that is too smart. They needed it to be pretty. Because pretty sells. And they needed it to have just enough shallow talking points dropped in the movie so that average potential Barbie doll buyer would think there was something of essence. But here you missed the most important fact that Barbie dolls are idiotic toxic toys to begin with. They do not empower anyone. Sasha was right all along. And they knew that this topic will come online. So they made rather smart move to include this point within the movie so that peole don't talk about it after it. And in the movie they kind of conclude that Sasha was "wrong" thinking badly of Barbie. But thing is Barbie IS in fact a toxic toy. No kid ever had or will get an inch closer to STEM field by dressing their dolls in science attire and they also will not become presidents by playing a president doll. If you want your kid to be president at the age when they can play dolls get them interested in books rather than dolls. And for STEM field there are many great toys that teach various topics of physics to kids of very young age and engage their curiosity. Barbie is not just waste of money but kids playing it do not develop anything of essence. To say that Barbies are empowering is just straight up lie told by corporate that is Mattel that is built on nothing more than the concept of Barbie doll. Mattel as corporate must come up with these lies about empowerment because without it they would bancrupt.
@@parsanasirzadeh2733it supposed to represent how women are treated, the movie narrator literally explains that to you
@@chisulover1235 dosent that kinda ruin the sexism goes both ways message they had going if the kens just represent woman but so do the barbies?
Ken was friendzoned and Barbie APOLOGIZED for it! It didn’t seem remotely anti-male to me. Ken was hurt and redeemed.
Barbie is a vile, extreme misandrist propaganda.
Yes because women are the judghes of what is anti male. Please remember that attitude when you think something is offensive to women and men tell you your wrong and it's not.
Apology not accepted if the film continues to rationalize the enslavement of men.
@@Attmayexcept it didn't. watch the movie.
The idea that it was anti-man is really weird. It's so compassionate to Ken... for me, the most stunning part was where he was telling the other Kens that someone asked him what time it was and they said "No way!" and he promptly showed that he'd put on three watches in case the occasion that it happened again. (And can we talk about how universe-appropriate it is that he expressed his sense of importance by _adding accessories_? He's still a Ken doll, after all.) There was a kind of pathos to that. Someone cared what he had to say! They asked him what time it was! And the other Kens were gobsmacked by this. The whole movie isn't at all subtle in its message that any of the gender BS is a bad thing. So how did it get the rep for being "anti-man"? Weird.
But yes, the colors! Oh, how I want movies to have beautiful colors again!
I walked away very much aware that many people would think this is anti-man, even though I think it was supposed to be more subtle than that. Surface level it is very anti-man. While trying to explain the nuance I thought I saw in the movie to my friend that saw it with me, I realized that the only examples I could give were very ambiguous, like Barbie's somewhat dissatisfied smile after seeing her world go back to exactly the way it was before. Or this quote:
"""a government with Kens, for the Kens by the Kens! You can not do that. It's Barbie Country. We worked hard and dreamed for everything that exists now... You can't cancel it in a day."""
But this quote can still be interpreted in several different ways. So I'm still not sure what the creators were going for, but the result is certainly ambiguous and discusses some of the nuance whether it was intentional or not.
Love how women think they can decide what men should find offensive to men. Hope yall keep that energy the next time you're offended by some movie or song men make and men tell you you're not lmao.
@@poocrayon4588idk if you read what they said wrong but they were just expressing their opinion about how they don't understand why people say that the barbie movie is anti-men. They aren't saying that men should or should not get offended by it. Either way if someone gets offended they're not understanding the actual theme/moral of the movie because it's just a movie that reverses sexism and makes the Kens experience it (their opinions don't matter and they're not included in the gov or anything important) and then in the real world the women experience the same plus getting hit on (like what barbie experience when she walked into the real world). It's just teaching a lesson on how dumb and shit the idea is that a specific gender/sex is better than the other and how it affects everyone negatively
@@ximsbite Eveyone understood the role reversal, it's hilarious when people think people are saying it's anti men because of that. No what is anti men is making every male character whether a Ken or a real world man as fundementally dumb compared to his female counterpart and in need of moral correction.
@@poocrayon4588 Again they did that on purpose, whether for "comic relief" or to help with the lesson. In the real world, most men and even women don't respect other women as much as they respect men (when it comes to opinions and stuff like that). So inherently people think that women are dumb compared to men (whether that is bcs of patriarchy or something else). Same thing happened to Ken and whenever someone asked him what the time was he was astounded by it because no one has ever cared about what he has to say in Barbie World. Again I don't think it's anti men because I believe that everything they did in the movie was either for just a silly joke or to help w the major lesson of the movie. Like the part where ken said he stopped being interested in the patriarchy after he found it isn't about horses 😭 that was really funny and I don't think it was intended to portray Ken as being dumb unless there's a specific part that makes you think they made the kens look dumb?
I thought it got a little weird at the end but I liked Barbie overall. And the controversy is stupid because it isn’t condescending to its audience, which is refreshing to see in an entertainment landscape filled with snark and contempt (looking at you, The Witcher).
But pretty much everything these days is filled with snark and contempt.
well its audience is meant for liberal adult women so in that sense no it isnt offensive to it's audience, it's offensive to everyone else
Yeah the ending was a little off the rails to me. I can see the messaging still there, but the fact that they kept it light I guess made it seem more fun rather than contemptuous. Except for America’s rant, but that was supposed to be from a place of frustration
@@animal1nstinct394think of the social conservatives!!!11121eleventyonws
@animal1nstinct394 that's what most movies are geared towards now.
The only criticism of this movie I had was that it didn't have enough Allan.
Not having an Allan and Midge scene together was quite disappointing. I could've sworn there was supposed to be a post credit scene about the two of them that was cut from the movie
Everybody is affected by works of art differently obviously. I am a male but because I don't care about gender debates I didn't get mad with the talk about patriarchy neither I was inspired by America Ferrera's feminist speech but because I have some psychological issues I was impacted by the existential messaging of the film. And I felt it throughout not just in the ending where Barbie decides that she wants to be human even though she realises it's hard. Like the first time she cries she acknowledges that it was bad but also good 😊 For me that was the takeaway: being human isn't easy but it can be beautiful. Margot Robbie's performance combined with the sweet melancholy of the eilish song made me cry... Despite being a man😉
Well said. The existential part was what impressed me the most too.
@@user-tz3fp3tj8h I don't get if this is supposed to be humour or not but I assure I am a male. And it's "you're"
Thanks for this comment.
It’s a perfect example of “Art should comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable”
I really liked her speech, too. ❤
I think what is dividing people is the way it ended with Barbie land just reinstating the matriarchy. I think the message would have been cleaner if Barbie land resolved to reject both the patriarchy AND the matriarchy, and instead embrace something that is both.
Also, I think we can all agree the movie needed more screen time with Ken😂
But it didn't reinstate the matriarchy. It established itself to be more like our world, which originated from a time when men held higher power over women.
I think it was just a funny way to close the movie
I think part of it is kind of pushing the point that true equality doesn't just happen immediately in a nice happy ending. The narrator in the movie even mentions that the Ken dolls still have to slowly climb their way up in Barbieland, just like how women have to climb their way up slowly in the real-world. Barbieland had it's reckoning, but the work for Ken dolls is not done yet, just like how women still try to take their place in our society.
@@KinoFlexReviewsit reinstated the matriarchy after the war of kens and then kens big Realisation is that his name is ken and the president barbie says that the kens will be just as equal with Barbie’s as women with men
Which is kind of a lazy argument regarding that all the Barbie’s shown are in high position and no jobs like oil rig Barbie or brick layer Barbie are shown
@@lucpage1665But Barbie don't need that job. They probably didn't even have oil in their world. Their cars can move without oil. And they already have Barbie Houses when they were born into this world.
Totally agree. Basically the movie says that any kind of sex/gender-based segregation is bad. There's even that one line abt how eventually the ken's will have as much influence over barbie world as women in the real world. So yea, I don't get where the "anti-men" is coming from
the anti-man is from when barbie gets to the real world. all the men in the 'real world' are terrible people. they all sexually harass barbie & insult her.
& the ken's patriarchy was way worse than the barbie's matriarchy. the barbies didn't force the kens to wear sexual outfits & serve them drinks
Feminism in general sparks a victim complex in some men
It’s what I got from the movie too. For me, it said: it’s important to be yourself, extreme patriarchy or extreme matriarchy isn’t good, life with its imperfections is great
Actually that line was particularly muddled... because if you flip it around it’s “barbie will eventually have as much influence over the real world, as ken in the barbie world.” But ken was living in a matriarchy so that makes no sense. Barbie at the end apologizes to ken for relegating the entire gender of kens/men to being second class citizens, but then reinstates the matriarchy. She is “woke” to the second class citizen effect of kens in barbie world but rescues barbie world from the intrinsic meathead simpleton incompetence of kens, and then placates the struggle of ken uprising with essentially “don’t worry you’ll be equal…eventually”. It’s kinda how men have condescendingly placated to the women’s movement with “you’ve come along way baby…” ads of the 70s. I think the movie didn’t want equality, it wanted the pendulum to swing the other direction. Which i understand of course emotionally why women would want that. All oppressed people want the pendulum to swing the other direction, it’s extremely satisfying. That’s why Django unchained was such a blast. But it didn’t truly want equality. The movie had a foggy philosophy but I enjoyed it very much and thought it was a lot of fun.
@@robertmakesashow7089 The point is that the frustration you feel when things go back to “normal” in BarbieLand is how women feel in the real world when we fight for rights, men even understand, sympathize, protect and apologize in personal relationships, but systemically things don’t change
I commented this on another Barbie video, but one of my first thoughts after watching this was hoping that people realized that even though Barbieland is a matriarchal society, the movie advocates for "Kens" as well. Ken did feel rejected in Barbieland, but establishing patriarchy didn't help his problems. His self-doubt and lack of esteem weren't fixed by taking away the Barbies' autonomy and acting macho. Barbie telling Ken that he's more than his girlfriend, his house, being macho, and his status as a "leader" one-upping other Kens is a direct commentary on how a toxic patriarchal society can often pressure men and judge their worth by how many status symbols they acquire. He needed time to explore himself and cultivate self-worth, independent of Barbie and everything else.
Couldn’t agree more. This is one of the best comments I have seen, very true
I feel like these people watched the first 10 minutes of the movie and walked out. Barbie directly told Ken she was sorry she took him for granted! Advised him to figure out who he is outside of whom he was made to be. What is wrong with people! It wasn't even subtle, she specifically told him to find his worth regardless of his titles or possession.
Lol, everyone gets it. What your missing is thats a message for feminist women that appeals to women. Men arent "acting macho" they're just being normal men. It isn't an act. It's a feminist womans idea of what problems she thinks men have and other women buy into it - but men dont give a crap. Idk why women think they can accurately anaylse how men think and feel, when they would hate the same in return. Pure arrogance.
Also the movie is man hating because it makes the Kens and real world men all dumber than their female counterparts and in need of moral correction.
But hey, if the movie has shown anything, it's that women dont care when men say something is offensive to men so men shouldnt give a shit if women claim something is offensive to women.
@@poocrayon4588 Yes, its primary audience is women and it's full of feminist themes, but it's not a "man-hating" movie. If the men seem "dumber" than their female counterparts, it's because in the Barbie universe, Ken has always been an accessory.
That's what his entire character arc is about, it's why Barbie ends up *apologizing* to Ken in the end. At the end of the day, you're supposed to sympathize with Ken even when he's an antagonist. If the move was anti-men, that apology never would've happened.
And I've seen *plenty* of movies that actually make the men the WORST characters in the name of "feminism," I honestly hate when movies do that.
And as for the "acting macho" part:
(Ngl I should've used a better phrase regarding pride and ego, but "macho" just came to mind because it is male-focused.)
I just wanted to talk about how in the face of disrespect, Ken's character seems to blur the line between egotism and genuine self-esteem. He seems to lose his sense of self-respect and value if he loses against another Ken, or when his feelings aren't returned.
And in all honesty, it makes sense to not want to take a female-focused surreal fantasy comedy's judgement on issues regarding men, and that's perfectly fine. There are plenty of studies and pieces written by male figures speaking on the same issues regarding ego and self-worth that the movie tries to incorporate.
@@its_all_luv3609 Yeah except it's not just the Kenxs that are dumber than the Barbies - it's the real world men being dumber than the real world women as well.
The whole bit about Ken being an accessory is so obnoxious and sexist and is just spin for the movie - imagine if the Ninja Turtles movie came out and they were saying April was only ever an accessory for the Turtles. It's just an excuse for the Tik Tok generation of women to endulge in some sexism and hide behind satire while doing it. Pathetic.
The men were the worst characters in Barbie - they are dumber than the women and in need of moral correction. That is bad.
Reality is the movie is a feminist womans idea of whats good for men and women wrapped in man hating condescending packaging. So what if some few academic men agree with her? Most men dont.
But anyways I guess since women think it's fine for them to decide what is or isnt man hating men can now go back to deciding what should or shouldnt be offensive to women and tell them theýre wrong if they say something offends them. After all the Barbie movie shows them they shouldnt expect better in return.
The fact that we all wanted Barbies life because it was perfect , and in the end she really wanted our life because it wasn’t perfect-that was the greatest part. She saw how beautiful the imperfections really were.
this is a great takeaway.
My sister pointed out, the birkenstock that weird Barbie holding, is the same one (stereotypical) Barbie wear at the end of movie.
except in the real world she wears one thats pink! :)
@@jasperkanes8522 Your right
I guess the writers never watched Legally Blonde? LOL I mean hello! Elle Woods rocked her pink outfits in a professional sense ;) she was totally Lawyer Barbie in another universe lol. I haven't seen this yet but *maybe* I'll give it a chance when it's available on streaming.
Legally Blonde was one of the inspirations for the script Greta and her husband wrote. Also Wizard of Oz.
Legally blonde is on RUclips movies for free
that movie was SO much better than the barbie movie for me. it did feminism so much better & subtler (didn't shove it in your face like barbie movie did)
That's a real good point. When it ended and had Barbie now just Barbra with a new look, thinking about this moment more, I would think that what if she still called herself Barbie. I mean pretty sure names from famous storylines are always being used. Like that one queen from Game of Thrones, her name had been popular when if first came out. Even those named Alice were from the admiration of Wonderland. So, Barbie could of stuck with Barbie, because it's who she is, and maybe in the real world, as "Barbie," she could of change something.
I loved how girly and camp it was 😍. Also, the message was sentimental and sincere. I loved Gloria as a character and weird Barbie was hilarious 😂. Margot Robbie was sensational. But the whole cast nailed it 👌🏾. The set and soundtrack was awesome too. The messaging could have benefitted from a slightly more subtle approach, but the final stand-off between the girls and the boys was EPIC 🤩. Also, the stylised scenes had me swooning. I'm glad i watched it with an audience who gave great reactions. A lot of laughter in the cinema I went to. Also, I had to check it out for Issa of course 🥰.
I thought the messaging was a little on the nose, too. But after seeing the idiotic bad takes out there about "Barbie hates men!" Blah blah blah, now I think that even spelling it all out in crayons might still be over some folks heads. Well, they tried their best to make these big topics reachable to just about anyone.
@lionmom7629 You know what, that's a valid point. After reading some of these comments, I'm thinking we need more media like this, done in this way. Maybe pure subtlety would've been too kind. With the increase in f£miC!de worldwide (and the rolling back of certain groups of people's rights globally), I care less about balance in subtlety.
No, the message was too over the top, it was forced and unrelatable, I recommend you watch the video Alteori made about this movie she talked about how toxic it’s storyline and message is
@@lauracerqueiramachado8979 I watched it. Barbie was NOT toxic. None of its messages were toxic.
The anti feminist anti women, "male rights" manosphere, mysogeny and internalized mysogeny that you are hearing is what's toxic. I hope you stop drinking that right wing extremists poison that's infected our culture.
@@lionmom7629 uh, no, this movie is “anti-men”, it glamourizes all that’s considered “feminine” but antagonizes all that’s considered “masculine”, all men there are either toxic or fragile there is no healthy masculinity there, they also don’t do a good job with women either this movie portrays women as vulnerable, manipulable and victims of “the patriarchy society” at the same time it says they’re superior just because of their gender, they say if a woman likes a man or “manly” things that’s because “she was brainwashed by the patriarchy”
My final opinion of the movie is that I loved it. Its themes and conclusion weren't perfect by any means, but the film really *explored* interesting ideas. Womanhood, motherhood, matriarchy vs patriarchy, gender roles, society. It's thought provoking and intriguing to pick apart how the film handled the concepts.
I do hope barbie becomes a billion top.
It's going to get close to a billion.
I know it was already over $500 million!
@@jessicaarend yup.
It could get to a billion if it can continue its box office domination.
It’s already at 500 million globally after 1 week. 🤯🤯🤯
I enjoyed it and am glad that it’s being received so well .
A barbillion
For the people complaining about Barbieland being "matriarchal" and the Kens being treated unfairly, Barbie has always been about the Barbie dolls, even in the animated movies, Ken/Barbie's love interest BARELY plays a huge role in these films. Ken was either a) a comic relief (Barbie Life in A Dreamhouse and Fashion Fairytale) or b) a random dude who appears in the middle of the movie and happens to like Barbie (Barbie Princess and the Pegasus was the only movie where I remember Barbie's love interest being sassy and smart).
Barbie franchise's literal message to young girls is "Be Anything You Want", so yes, the female characters, A.K.A the Barbies, being "girlbosses" makes sense in the context of Barbieland. Do you see anyone complaining about the Transformers series not having well written female side characters? No, cuz it's based off of a toy brand tht sells transforming vehicles targeted towards boys -cough- atleast the Kens were more interesting compared to any of the female side characters in those movies - cough-
So yea as someone who has been watching Barbie from a young age, the movie didn't come off as too feminist since tht was to be expected considering the franchise its based off on and I'm glad atleast the Kens in this movie were more interesting characters compared the animated versions and at the end of the day, if you think about it, it's really Mattel's fault the Kens are treated this way in Barbieland since the Kens were literally created to just be there as Barbie's love interest and nothing else.
Also I give the movie 0/10 because Martin Short isn't there in this movie to reprise his role as Preminger 🙌🙄
i can see your point but you have to understand the message it is sending. There was no resolve for the mistreatment of the kens, they referred to the real world why the kens couldnt have a supreme court justice, meaning there are no women ones when there actually is and has been for a long time. It still had a strong message that men are not allowed to be themselves even though it showed us in the film both sexes were happier when they were just being themselves.
I'm sorry but transformers doesn't have any well written characters not only women but the men and the children, It does good becouse "Big robots fights each other that can also be cars and sometimes mecha animals but also submarines maybe and don't forget about the explosions"
Barbie was always a feminist
But when Barbie goes to the real world all men ( that talk or are atleast a little bit important in the movie) are either Profit hungry business men or weird catcalling creeps
Like men only exist in these two types
And if you show that to an 8 year old
Then yeah sorry you are not good at painting a picture of the world
Plus in the Movie that’s message is feminism and pushing equality the problems of women are way more detailed than the male problems
Which indicates that women have it way worse and men live in heaven on earth
@@lucpage1665well it IS PG-13 🤷🏾♀️
And like someone mentioned, when women started the feminist movement the issues weren’t realized or improved in one huge swoop.. decades of fighting for more rights and opportunities built upon those first steps…. Like how the Kens now have jobs beside just “beach”
Thank you Brittany I completely agree with you the movie isn’t anti man at all it was so funny I dyed laughing at the entire movie! I liked that they honored the Barbie brand and even the inventor of Barbie was in it kind of that was a nice touch plus it was original unlike the boring Disney remakes! This is coming from a 31 year old who hasn’t played or cared about Barbie in years!
I can't believe people called the movie "AnTi-MeN" when it literally gives us ALLAN for god sake!
oh yeah because women are really qualified to say what is or isnt anti men. I guess men should remember not to give a shit if any movies they make offend women in future. Just dismiss it.
Loved this film a lot it was amazing the dumb takes and hates is so ridiculous 🙄🙄🙄
Lol, I'm fine with people giving criticism for this movie but calling the movie "woke". I'm like, "are you guys okay?" 😂😂
Couldn't be happier Barbie has grossed $500 million in a week, it deserves to join the billion dollar club and Margot Robbie needs a billion dollar hit!
What I liked about the movie:
(1) Finally a movie with some color! Loved seeing all the Barbies in Barbie-land
(2) The acting was top-notch, everyone really bought in and had fun with it
(3) The character arc of Ryan Gosling's Ken was surprisingly well done
(4) There were surprisingly a lot of touching moments
(5) The song and dance numbers were amazing, easily my favorite parts
What I didn't like about the movie:
(1) The editing was kind of jarring for me, the way they cut between scenes felt very rushed
(2) The comedy was a little off at times. There was a weird mixture of both adult and kid humor.
(3) The way they presented "the patriarchy" was very over the top. I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be satire or not.
(4) The way they presented Mattel's board as all men was a little odd to me. Especially since half of Mattel's actual board is women, and the head of the Barbie division has always been a woman. Seemed like a missed opportunity to show more about their company.
(5) Could've done without any of the gender-role stuff
(6) The messaging was a little too heavy-handed for me at times - especially America's speech and the way they had to "deprogram" the Barbies ... no thank you
(7) The moral of the movie is a little vague, I think. Sure, you get that nice break-up moment between Barbie & Ken where Barbie apologizes to Ken for her treatment of him. But they still end the movie with the Ken's not being completely equal. I guess you could argue that this is mimicking how women in the "real world" still have to fight for equality so Ken's will also need to fight for their equality, or something?? Like I said, vague. I can completely understand how people can walk away from this saying it's anti-men. They were heavy-handed with everything else, it's odd that they would kind of leave the ending open-ended.
Overall, the movie was a little all over the place for me. The highs were very high and the lows were very low. I would give it a 5/10. If I ever do re-watch this, I would only watch the stuff that doesn't have any of the gender stuff in it.
Omg I agree with everything you said. I hated the gender wars. 🙄 I just wanted a barbie to experience the real world and be a fish out of water tale.
@@RueGrae True. I was also hoping for a little bit of a romance between her and Ken. Just a little!! But no she was completely disinterested in him the whole movie. What a bummer.
Point #7 was my biggest negative of the film. It felt a bit problematic that Barbie allowed the other Barbies to bring back the old system WITHOUT consideration for the Kens.
@@wayIess Right?? It made it seem like the other Barbies didn’t learn anything except I guess that they shouldn’t let the Kens run anything ever again. I think Margot Robbie’s Barbie did come to some sort of realization, but she left for the real world so she didn’t really use her newfound knowledge to help the Kens in any way. I honestly couldn’t tell you what they were trying to say, because I don’t think it was for equality. Or if it was, it was very poor execution.
On point 7, the thing that super irritated me was that the job example given for equality was the supreme court, which you know, is currently 5 men and 4 women. The message that Ken's must "work towards equality" and can't have a position on the Barbieland Supreme Court seems a little... stupid? I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be satire or something. Surely "we should give x gender equality" is a better message than "previously oppressed x gender must remain oppressed and prove their worth".
The fact that Barbie ultimately leaves Barbie Land to go live in the real world is the best takeaway ever. She leaves utopia for a very imperfect world. And Ken finally realizes he's JUST KENOUGH without Barbie. So both of them grow as individuals beyond the confines of their society's mores. On-the-nose preaching and annoying tween daughter aside, it was truly a brilliant movie.
I mostly liked it but America's character kinda ruined it for me, felt like a lot of preaching to the choir and assuming that most of the audience is boring mom's who miss the good old days. Maybe sucking up to them in hopes they will by dolls for their daughters?🤔 Couldn't relate. Overall anytime someone explicitly started using gender studies jargon I would be taken right out of the movie and would struggle to regain focus. Would have liked it if they had gone with a different conflict.
I went to see the movie the other day and I thought it was amazing Ryan gosling and Margot Robbie were both incredible
I’ve already watched this movie in theatres twice and adored it both times. The colors and costumes are goofy and fun, the whole soundtrack is gorgeous and fits the setting incredibly well, and the themes, though they could have been explored more, are well done in my opinion. The first time I saw the movie I cried at the ending but walked out of the theatre beaming and laughing because I was so dang HAPPY. If you have not seen this I highly recommend, 9/10 for me
For those confused on the ending. Barbieland did not go back to how it use to be. So those saying “ they showed how both extremes are bad but went back to one extreme “ is not true. The Kens now have a voice just a small one. The point of the ending it that true equality doesn’t happen in a day or isn’t just some instantaneous happy ending you just make happen. The Ken’s still have to fight and work, but having their voices finally heard is a hell of a good start and is more than they’ve ever gotten before. The metaphor is used the mirror our own world and the state of the world in real life where women still have a long way to go before they are equal to men. But it’s a good start.
Women ARE equal to men, honey. Name 1 right a man has that I don't in USA
@@ElanaVital83it isn’t about rights (although that’s a big part) women should have equal representation and say in any government
@@Axolotl720 We do already. The women who WANT to do that can if they wish. You can't force women to be in office just for even numbers if no one is stepping up to the plate for the job.
@@ElanaVital83 oh please, you damn well know that it’s more difficult for women to gain power in office
@@Axolotl720 Not if she works hard enough at it. I personally don't want to be in office. Do you?
The ones who really want it get it. It's silly for folks like us to complain about not getting a job we don't even want. Or even try to get 😆
Its hated because of how the patriarchy and the state of the real world is misrepresented. For example, Mattel (the company that owns barbie) is primarily operated by women in the real world, with women making most the decisions... but in the "real world" in the barbie movie its just old men which is the exact opposite.. but they needed it to be all men to fit the narrative of an oppressive patriarchal society. This is just one example of many.
I liked Ken plotline.
I wish the movie was funnier but only chuckled a few times. A lot of the funny moments were already in the trailer or social media.
I don't know if it just me but the transition didn't felt organic, they were jumping from one scene to the other and then another and It fell rushed at the beginning.
America's preaching scene was a little too much in my opinion.
Great video!! I think if you’re having a movie about Barbie's effect in the real world, then the gender topic is a hard one to avoid. Here is my reason why:)
Barbie is a doll. Barbie is a doll in the female form made for girls, just as He-man is a boy doll made for boys. Each doll was created to be a vessel for the younger imagination. Yet who gets the slack for being a “bad role model?” The one made for girls.
All Barbie is, is a woman doll. Yet she’s never enough somehow, always looked down upon (be it by BOTH sexes, sadly). This movie brings that to face value.
As for the “Ken’s” being lesser then, they begin the movie as being treated as the “lesser sex,” via lack of any social sway or significance to Barbieland. But that’s the point. As they switch places and it becomes Ken-land, and women become the lesser spot, it demonstrates that NO one wants to be the “lesser” sex. Everyone wants to be heard, seen, and loved. Both sexes deserve to be heard and listened to.
The Barbies end the movie by reclaiming their power, but that does not mean things will return to they were with men at the bottom. After all, it states Kens will have just as much power as women do in the real world. That should be enough. If you think that is suppressing the Kens, then there truly is a disparity in how we treat women. If you believed women had sufficient power in the real world, then the movie did have a happy ending.
the people that are mad are still not going to understand tbh
@Strawberrybby132 thats for u 2 guess lol if u think they got homes then they did!
@@buntom1800 I agree. They leave the ending open so we can interpret and reflect our current world on it, and how it will change with time, as opposed to telling us what it should be. We get to make that choice for ourselves:)
It had false information about the Supreme Court being all male
@Strawberrybby132But the Kens get the same amount of rights as women in the real world. At least in the USA, single women can own their own house, so the Kens will get their mojo dojo casa houses.
As a woman and mother in my early 40s, I LOVED the film. (As an Australian I especially loved Margot Robbie 🥲). It was eerily relatable - especially the Pride & Prejudice + doomscrolling Instagram bit. My husband and kids turned to look at me when that scene came up. 😭😂 The experience of reaching middle age as a woman who is just average, no special accomplishments in one’s life, the hope that I’m (k)enough… I went in expecting a laugh and came out crying but hopeful. That film spoke to me like nothing else has in a very long time. I love that Ken also gets his own arc. Pretty sure the message was that strict patriarchy AND strict matriarchy are dystopias that force half the population to miss out on learning who they are as individuals. And Ken, I love horses too. 😅
"no special accomplishments" I'd say being a mother is a hell of an accomplishment compared to say "getting top 10 in super mario land" or "making a lot of money"
I really enjoyed this movie. But the one thing I didn't like about was at the end when President Barbie wouldn't let a man on the supreme court. I wish they had gone to a place of equality rather than becoming fully Barbieland again.
Yeah, in that sense, I think the ending was bittersweet where the Barbie tried something new (matriarchy --> patriarchy), found out it's insane, and decided to revert to something equally insane.
Makes me wonder if there'll be a sequel where they try to find a healthy middle ground.
That was the main thing about this movie that bothered me. It spends it’s whole runtime speaking against inequality and then treats inequality in the other direction as a victory? They brush it off with “Barbieland will be equal when the real world is equal”, but there are women in the Supreme Court already, so a few Kens in the Supreme Court should not be such a big ask. It felt like the Barbies just told the Kens they could be their own people, then reset everything else to the status quo, leaving Kens with little power once again. A bit ironic considering that’s what the movie said about the real world. But it doesn’t seem like the movie notices that irony, which really spoiled the whole thing for me.
that's why anyone saying it's "not anti man" is lying to themselves
@@simoniel_l1646That’s because they said the change had to reflect the way things changed in the real world. President Barbie literally says “let’s start”, which I think is just a great way to show that the progression of women in power has been slow and often very hard.
@Strawberrybby132 And how long did it take for a woman to get into that position? That’s what it’s about, women didn’t just say “we want to be involved in politics” and suddenly there was a female vice president. It’s a commentary on how gaining that power has been slow for women, women have had to fight for the right to vote, the right to own bank accounts, and the right to have women in the Supreme Court, etc.
Every day i get reminded that these sensitive adult babies exist against my will
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling were amazing! 👍
I am SO SICK of woke crap...but this movie wasn't woke. The right is REALLY reaching on this one. Sure, it was uplifting and empowering women, but that's it. Hell, there was some very NOT woke things in the movie. Like society makes up words like "patriarchy" to cope. And Barbie's whole monologue to Ken at the end was uplifting MEN. So it's absolutely ridiculous that people on the right(many that haven't even watched it) are whining. And it was really good, too! This is a box office hit, and deservedly so. Superb set design, fantastically acted(Margot did an AMAZING job). And a well-rounded film, too. Laughs, tears, drama, it has it all!
honestly what made me laugh the most was when ken said he thought patriarchy was about horses and that's why he got interested in it at first
I loved it and loved all the deeper touches not just about gender but about life and all the emotions that are a part of being a living, breathing human, any gender. I don't get how a world where women are empowered and given some spotlight is hating men. Do some men act like Ken when they can't get what they want, yes, so can some women. Ken is an individual not all men but in our world, a lot of men did just watch while things got unfair. That's reality. Loved this movie.
Today ..I watched the movie with my sister and mom for my 14th birthday. Let me tell you.....THE MOVIE WASN'T ANTI MEN!!! Dudeeee. Whoever came up with that rumor hasn't even see it! Barbie CLEARLY apologizes to Ken! PS: The ending had me in tears. ❤
I know, but these people who make this anti men claim will hold onto this regardless what the truth is.
@@Blue-hf7xt Yeah. 😞
I agree with your analysis. The film was a celebration of HUMANITY. Kindness to ALL (in the end)
I think it’s says more about the men that think this is men hating than it has to do with the actual movie. I think the fact that this is sparking outrage in certain circles rather emphasize the fact that we’re still not where we should be. One of our German critics said it’s „toxic“ 🤦🏻♀️
Thanks for the great review, I finally get to watch it tomorrow!!!! Was rough to have to wait for a whole week. Besides, we’re going all in pink. 😁 The hype is real. 😁
To tell you the truth, its the women who are convinced that "feminism is toxic" and "they weren't fair to Ken" that are the worst to deal with.
I don't expect all men to love this movie (although hating it is really toxic and kinda bonkers) but the women who are so anxious to show that they believe in the so called "natural order" is just cringy.
Don't listen to the haters. Its not a perfect movie. But, then again, its not a perfect world, either. In the end, its "Kenough." Enjoy! And judge for yourself.
@@lionmom7629 very well said :-) Thanks, I will! And I suspect at least one of my girlfriends will be critical of some things in there too.
I just saw the movie today, and I loved it. I remember Brittney saying that if you're a man (I am a man), then you need to go into this movie with an open mind, so I did. The narrative and plot after Ken and Barbie were both back in Barbie World had me kinda wincing. Like it wasn't bad, but I was getting those anti-men vibes that were being talked about. But the movie wasn't over, so I gave it a chance to the very end, and I'm so glad I did. I was hoping for some kind of Equality inspired ending, and that is most definitely what happened.
One thing that I don't think will EVER make sense to me is: why did so many people react the way they did to seeing Barbie and Ken roller skating down the boardwalk? I mean, i get it was their outfits, but that still made absolutely no sense to me because I feel like the west coast is more so where you WOULD expect to see people dressing like that and behaving like that. And I don't mean that in any negative sort of way either.
I live here, and DUDE, you are so right, especially on Venice Beach, although Margot Robbie did say she felt exposed and all these guy were telling Ryan Gosling, “awesome, bro.” I guess it was supposed to be that they looked so eighties.
the real world in the movie is a gross stereotypical caricature of the actual world... Nobody behaves like that in our society, generally speaking. The depiction of the patriarchy for me is quite off beat... perhaps that was the point i dont know, but then again this is one my main issues with the film message. Its based on a very short sighted premise to begin with.
The only people who think this movie is anti-men have no patience for quality storytelling. They made up their minds about it before character arcs were resolved. They either stopped paying attention or walked out of the theater. This movie was way too smart for it's own good. I cried during this movie and I don't know which emotion caused it.
Don't know if it would change your opinion, but the suit she's wearing at the end (at least in the theater I was in) looked like it had a pinkish-purple hue to it and wasn't just plain beige.
I don't know if I would call it quality writing. Lol but it was thoughtful of the fans at least.
I think that the men who hated the movie are offended because they ARE Ken lol. So maybe they should actually look at themselves lol
@@liabw05 just admit the movie is anti male then.
@@animal1nstinct394It’s not. Ken grows, he evolves. Ken realizes that he didn’t want to control women, he just wanted to feel seen and heard. It would be anti-men if Ken never changed.
Then you have Allen. Allen is also men, but it’s men who respect women and don’t buy into patriarchy. He protects women (seen by him beating up the Ken’s building walls) but he never once feels superior or inferior. He’s always true to who he is.
There’s nuance to the men in barbieland, it’s not anti-men at all.
can you explain why barbie got super depressed & said she wasn't pretty & can't do anything ? i mean anyone would be mad in that situation (what ken did), but she also became insecure for no reason? I thought that was really random, it seemed like they just had to make barbie sad so america could have her rant.
& it also didn't make sense how all the barbies were so easily brainwashed...if anything I think the movie insulted the barbies intelligence more than it insulted the kens.
I honestly don't see how it's smart writing if so many people are confused / annoyed at some plot points
the end of the movie literally has men go back to being second class citizens, also the fact the barbies who were supposed to be these strong women just up and fell to the patriarchy just makes no sense. the other part that made no since was the part where barbie took back the dream house and the men just gave up without argue.
Barbie movie is not anti male. It’s anti patriarchy.
Guy here. You are the ONLY reviewer who seems to UNDERSTAND the main point! Thanks! The other point is that women should be free to live ordinary lives as mothers, since the break up babies at the beginning, and then it ends with mothers hugging their children. BEST REVIEW SO FAR!
My friend went to go see Barbie the other day and she said and I quote: “Barbie was glorious.”
Men couldn't run for President, couldn't be in the supreme court, couldn't hold a construction job. And the men played their hearts out for the Barbies to make them happy and the Barbies tried to ruin them. Heartbreaking movie
I don't think Barbie was "mean" to Ken. She was annoyed that he kept trying to come on to her when she was clearly not interested. I feel like that's reasonable. Anyway, being that this was made by Greta Gerwig, I totally expected there to be bigger commentary and I never expected it to be an escapist fantasy ala Legally Blonde. Lastly as for her outfit at the end of the film...she's plenty feminine. She was even wearing PINK Birkenstocks at the end...which I found to be a really cute tie in with what Weird Barbie was asking her to choose between. She chose both...plus I feel like wanting her to conform to how you feel Barbie SHOULD be is literally the point the film was trying to make.
I’m a boring mom with a boring job who may or may not sometimes play dress up with my daughter’s Barbies now that she’s grown past playing with dolls. This movie hit me like a freight train.
Awwww! ❤😊
This movie was not what people would lead you to believe. It actually touched on a lot of issues men have and treated them with dignity.
I personally just think this movie didn't get the correct marketing (big surprise there) and i think that maybe they didn't play their hand well enough
I do think they wanted to balance it, i really do, but i feel that maybe the issue might be that they didn't left clear enough the, well, matriarchy of the Barbie world, perhaps that's what failed, something must have left enough space for misinterpreting, there has to be something wrong in how things are worded or shown, there has to be some sort of failure in how information is conveyed, there just has to.
I wish the ending was a more evenly matched barbie and ken, maybe that's what is missing, that people felt that the world isn't just for Barbie, is also for ken, maybe that would have done the trick.
Is a shame this movie became another among a big pile of controversies, it deserved better, is barbie!
the problem is the movie describes the real world as an opposite to the barbie's world which of course it's not like that. women in the real world are on much better situation than the kens
Exactly. Barbie should have been like, "What? Men and women are both employed here? They're in relationships?"
Not a fan of the inconsistency of the already tepid messaging, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the chatacters! Will Ferrell didnt offer much plot-wise, but he made me laugh out loud at times (the casual "her ghost haunts the second floor" made me break) and I appreciated everything Michael Cera brought. America Ferrera's acting was noticeably worse than the rest and her daughter seemed to offer nothing besides being a relatable cutout for younger audience-members, but all the rest were well-performed and vibrant!
God I hated the teenage daughter. She was extremely annoying and didn't have any real depth besides being a typical angsty teen. Her character came across as poorly written. Same with Will Ferrell's character that felt very unnecessary to the main plot.
Straight man here. I saw it with my wife last night. You summed it up perfectly and I agree totally. I enjoyed it but it was heavy handed with its messaging. I would have loved to see the entire movie in Barbieland with its incredible sets and visual gags. But I am just a Ken so…😄
Ppl will call anything "woke" istg.
People who are hating on it clearly did not watch the end of the movie
Excellent review. Here’s the thing about Ben Shapiro: he’s a very unpleasant person with a lot of issues who hates almost everything (but he knows how to make money by getting attention). So him burning Barbies and stoking hatred for this movie is a way for him to get clicks. He is shameless and should be ignored as much as possible. As for the movie, I never felt threatened or attacked as a man…but my straight guy friends did. They felt a little hurt. We talked about it and they ended up agreeing that the movie lampooned frat boy behavior, not all guys. The Kens honestly act like if 8yo boys grabbed their sisters’ dolls and started playing with them; the Barbies and Barbieland were just like if little girls were playing and that created a world. Sort of like how Neverending Story had that one boy creating Fantasia from his imagination. The “patriarchy” stuff sounded like Lisa Simpson going off on one of her rants on the Simpsons. But the Barbies mistreated the Kens and thought nothing of it…so to me the lesson was that we ALL need to think about how we treat others…and how we each want to be treated…and also what labels we each want to choose to wear for ourselves. I actually came out of the movie realizing that I need to be nicer to the straight guys that I know who work hard and people take for granted. I need to encourage them and make sure they feel appreciated and not neglected like Kens. I already do that for female friends but I never stop to think if straight guys need some praise or understanding so I’m going to check in on them more.
People were so caught up in the easy themes that they missed all the death/loss themes in the film that they executed perfectly!
I'm glad to hear your take on this. I was feeling kind of mixed coming out of the movie myself and unsure what to think. Yes it comes off rather heavy handed at times. But in others shows the detriment to both sides. I just felt confused about what the ultimate message was supposed to be. Did the movie even know itself? I like your take, so maybe I'll go with that. Still, I think the movie could have been more clear on what it actually wanted to say.
Have you seen an interview with Greta Gerwig? She babbles like an idiot and jumps from thought to thought at random. The movie is incoherent because she is an incoherent thinker.
You fail to mention that Barbie land goes back to a complete matriarchy and kens aren't treated with equality despite Barbie learning what being a second class citizen felt like.
They are mimicking the real world.
I agree with the last part but I don't understand why they didnt make the sexes equal in barbieland. Its not the real world, thats the point. Both patriarchy and matriarchy is bad, and barbie world is stylistically an idealized utopia, or at least its presented as such so it sends mixed signals.@Strawberrybby132
I would have hated Amy Schumer as Barbie!
We " My boyfriend and I" just saw this last night and we both absolutely loved it ❤️ I had explained the history of Barbie to my man before for context so he could better understand, honestly we laughed a lot ✌️the " I am Kenough shirt was everything"
For those who don't see this as anti-men, open your eyes: all men were depicted in a bad light in the real world, as if women were literally treated today like Kens in Barbie world (or worse according to this movie). So yes, the film is anti-men and pro woman victimhood
I think her outfit the end is supposed to be a misdirect type joke, making the audience think her first task after deciding to be a “real person” will be something like a job interview, but *instead* she just needs to go the gynecologist. It’s a great joke, because in retrospect, totally goofy to wear a blazer to the doctor lol
I thought making Ken exist only for barbies approval was inspired by all the movies that have had one dimensional female characters who exist mainly to date the main character. Ken seemed like one of the main cast right off the bat and I feel like he should've seemed a lot more like a side character
I didn't like it, apart from some laughs, I just feel like this is stuff girls have known in the 90s, the media has really started infantilizing people since the age of social media, and makes it feel like we are spinning wheels in terms of progress. How do we still need these pedestrian gender speeches in 2023? Also people didn't like it when similar stuff was said in She hulk but I guess in Barbie it's super clever..
Eh I think it depends on where you live. I live in a liberal place but since dating have discovered how obnoxious many men are about gender differences and seeing women as human beings deserving of respect. I think the Midwest, especially conservative religious communities have a lot of growing to do. This movie is great for calling this out
@@liabw05 huh? There are barely any true red states left in 202 and the entire entertainment industry regurgitates these same messages about "girl power" and female independence. if you live in the US anywhere you will be bombarded with that agenda
@@liabw05 we definitely still have some serious things to work on but I don't think they can be covered in a jokey light movie. So the stuff that gets most attention is the stuff that is base level same old speech.
I've been very excited about this movie because I Love Barbie! When my sister and I played "Barbies" we rarely ever used Ken. He was mostly left behind, unplayed with. It wasn't anything personal, planned, or discussed, in our young minds he just didn't really fit in, from the perspective of 5- 9yo little girls. Maybe because we didn't have much experience with what a man would be doing; our dad was usually at work and on weekends or after work fixing things around the house and doing yardwork. Sometimes, our Ken doll did those tasks. In this way, I think that's where the murkiness of Ken's 'role' comes from and I think that has been alluded to in some of the interviews with Greta, Margo, and Ryan. I think the roles for 'Kens' were literally from little girls' imaginations, and if we'd had more than one Ken maybe we would have acted out fights between them. BTW, my brother had GI Joe who had a gristle- beard, very manly, he and Barbie did lots of things together, especially because he came with a horse they often rode on together. Even then, it seems, we somehow knew that GI Joe was way more exciting! Lastly, in all the interviews, Ryan is pretty much always deferring his power and autonomy to Stereotypical Barbie and Barbies in general, even when the interviewer tries to really press him to take a stand on issues. He never broke with that character trait in interviews and I would guess that was intentional and maybe easier so it leaves the audience to get into it however they choose....
I loved this movie so much
this is very accurate. The movie was mostly for girls anyway so if men have a problem with it being anti-men then maybe the movie just isn't for them.
I respect your opinion but I was disgusted with this movie. If it was solely about going to the real world to help the mom be happy with her life so Barbie can return to feeling like herself than it would be a good movie. Ken could even tag along just for the change of scenery. The patriarchy message was so distracting that it was the climax of the movie. The Barbies were hypnotized servants, feminism Ted Talks broke the trance, and the Barbies strung the Kens along to fight eachother; how does all that stem from horses? I shouldn't be hit over the head with politics in a girl's doll film. The marketing team conned me out of $14.
The barbies don’t create an equal world in the end where gender roles are destroyed. They recreate barbie world again.
I loved this movie. In no way did I think Ken was a bad guy in this. In doll world, his identity was always tagged to liking Barbie and worrying what Barbie think of him not what he thought of himself. When he went to the real world, he realize that he can be who he wanted to be. In the end, when he realize he needs to discover himself. Barbie wanted the same thing too. I thought this was a fitting ending. I didn't hate Ken, I actually rooted for him in the end. Isn't that what men and women all want: to discover themselves and have their own identity in this world?
'Barbie' might be the first of spectaculars made for women and girls. Until now, big budget movies have shoe-horned women into typically masculine roles and expected us to be impressed by the attempt at representation and inclusion. Hollywood has finally found a formula to attract women and girls into the cinema to see films that appeal to them. Let's hope there will be less of the overt feminism, that would get tiresome pretty quickly.
I was a little disappointed to not see a single Barbie erupt into flames or be blown up as kids have been known to burn their Barbies and blow them up with fireworks.
Guess that would have been a little too dark though. Funny, but dark.
The ending didnt show equality at all. The Ken's didn't get any of the things they gained since the beginning of the film, the best they got was being able to cry and be told they don't need Barbie for purpose... What does that have to do with fucking gaining equality? Do you guys choose to read the movie this badly? 😂
Also, it's not very 'real world' to show a world that looks more like the western 50s, and at the same time pretend that's how it is now. It's clear cut them wanting to have their cake, and eat it too
Bruh, if I had to take a shot for each time they use the word patriarchy, i’ll be an alcoholic
Is it a bad word now?
I'm in the Barbie movie right now
I agree 100% with you thank you for being a good critical thinker when it comes to art because most people on the Internet completely completely missed the point.
They got caught up with the finger and not seeing what the finger is pointing to.
Hi Brittany, my daughter found your Barbie Movie review.
I was so pleased with your review and decided to finally watch The Barbie Movie.
I loved the movie.
Thank you for your insights, wisdom, plus more.
1 plus about the Barbie Movie and Barbie World there was no alcohol/drugs and no nude sex scenes.
It’s a really good movie. Me and the whole theatre laughed and cried. I cried so much, it had so much heart and very very beautiful message. I will definitely watch it a second time. And it was so pretty and colourful literally the most prettiest movie ever. The casting was perfect. Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling at Ken were both incredible. And Margot Robbie is so beautiful I love her smile. She really is Barbie ❤
The people (men and women) who said they didn't like the movie mostly because how unrealistic and stupid was the portrayal of patriarchy in this movie was and how it's not a patriarchy in the actual world it is since there are lot of women who holds the power at the top as well. The real world shown was absolutely stupid and meaningless and irrational in this movie and that's where most people showed their issues with the movie. I think it's you who missed the point not the other people.
It would be pro equality were it not for the ending. A more appropriate way to have ended it would’ve been with Barbie selling her Barbie house for a joint venture with Ken, showing how much stronger they are together. The movie completely missed a great opportunity to display feminine and masculine qualities that are different yet compliment one another. It failed to show little girls that we should support each other and not fight over who’s in charge.
Thank you for this.👍🏼 Imo it's just fun and escapism. I'm so tired of people reading deep seated pro/anti messages in movies. They dont all have to have a serious message. Sometimes we just want entertainment!🎉
Well said! I’m so happy you decided to make this career! What a cool human 💖✨ many blessings to you 💋
"If this movie doesn't win for best production set, we riot" quote of the day!
The messaging was over the top.
I did relate to the mother/daughter relationship. Loved Ryan as Ken.
I hate this world because we have stupid movies like this now.
This movie was so good! It showed how both genders have toxicity and their problems
Finally an honest well thought out review about this movie that wasn’t filled with outrage and unwarranted seriousness. Most reviewers are really missing the plot. I totally agree with your points, really enjoyed this movie for what it was and appreciated the messaging which I found to be positive for all the babies and kens watching.
Didn't the movie have all the men in subservient roles? Didn't they portray most men in a negative light? Didn't they tell the men that until women get equal rights in the real world the men in their world will continue to be in a slightly better world than the one they were already in? You can love this movie but pretending it's not Anti-Man is dishonest. Even Margot Robbie pointed out the movie goes past feminism into misandry in the beginning. She even said she wanted Greta to direct it because she would use it as a "Trojan Horse".
Yeah I'm not a fan of how they treated the men but I haven't seen it so who knows.
Allan is in the movie.
@@RedRoseSeptember22??? Then how do you know if you are or aren't a fan of how they treated the men? There's a whole story you sorta have to see to lend any validity to your opining.
I think you missed the several moments where they bent over backwards to apologise to the men and buck them back up and learn from their own biases (that's not to say their return back to their prior status quo was a great message, but ths film is frankly pretty pathetic in its attempt to criticize men, since it ultimately just coddles them in the end)
@@tracer.s I don't see how anything about what that film did in the end could be seen as bending over backwards. Their idea was "Oh well, women have it bad in the real world so until they have it better, you still don't get equal rights" We can have a discussion on the treatment of women in the real world. But this movie relied on misandry to get it's point across.
This movie portrayed men as one trick ponies.
Her Birkenstocks were pink! So it was subtle but she didn’t give up pink just because she was in the real world & “grew up”. I loved the movie!
I legitimately enjoyed it. I'm a conservative, but I can also handle a joke at my expense. It's really weird. But seriously, it was fun.
ur weird
Me as a 25 years old woman who loved Barbie and fantasyzed with that Barbie World as a kid i as an adult loved this movie !!! This made me see things wayyy better !!! Theres no Womans World or Mens World theres A World where both Men and Woman exist together to achieve the goal of being happy and healthy and coe-exist together !!! It made me see men and boys in a new way and potrayed really well a womans live !!!
Trying to see the good side of things instead of polarizing even more. Kudos to you. I still think the message of the movie was a bit condescending.
This film is WAAAY more profound than people give it credit to.
"Barbie" is not to be taken on a surface level. The effort put into it by the auteure (yes, "auteure" not "auteur") requires of us that we think deeper about its meaning.
People more on the conservative spectrum that say it is "accidentally anti-woke" (e.g. The Podcast of the Lotus Eater and ShoeOnHead) are on the right (pun not intended) track, but they still aren't there.
Gerwig is not a hack that did not understand what she wrote. Just read about her process (separating male and female actors so that they can charge up their feminine/masculine "batteries") or how well-thought-through her visual inspirations were. I cannot believe someone who puts so much effort into a project would write a script that said anything else than what she meant.
"Rick & Morty" fans like to think themselves SOOO intelligent because they "get" the meaning (do you? do you really?) of the show. Yeah, because they think Rick is the greatest for being so nihilistic, jaded, and cynical. They are on the same level of comprehension of the text of culture as people who think that "Barbie" is just about "women empowerment" or (on the other end of the spectrum) "anti-men".
That is just the surface.
This film is like an ogre: it has layers.
This film is not "woke" in the least. This film is BASED to the core, and it is done purely deliberately. In the most positive meaning of the word "based".
It tells you, in no uncertain terms (if you are literate), that the war of the sexes is as damaging as blindly and unquestioningly accepting gender roles.
But I am afraid that, as with the characters in the film, very few people will undergo a profound change in their understanding.
Gloria and Sasha mend their relationship, but their change is of a comparatively small magnitude. Gloria asserts herself and she serves as the voice of the feminine. Sasha comes to better understand her mother and matures out of churlish teenage contrarianism, yet without losing her independent spirit.
Only Barbie and Ken (by which I mean Robbie and Gosling characters) really evolve (Ken becomes an entity independent of external acceptance; Barbie decides to face the challenges of a less-than-perfect Real World). Barbieland itself is basically returned to the status quo, and the Mattel executives also are not interested in changing their approach too much. They have a bottom line to meet.
And I love how the IRL Mattel completely missed how Gerwig made them her stooges and they were SO HAPPY with themselves, completely missing how ridiculous they were made to look. that they announced a slew of more films based on their IPs. Why don't you just set that money on fire? Because you cannot possibly deliver anything as good as what Gerwig did. I cannot possibly imagine you can make 45 films that approach anything near this level of intellectual profundity.
Back to Barbieworld:
When President Barbie denies the Kens even a single judge on the Supreme Court but says that they can get a District Court judge and slowly work their way up, the Narrator says that there is hope that one day the Kens will enjoy as many rights as women do in America. 4 out of 9 SCOTUS judges are now women.
And while there is always work to be done to bring society closer to true equality, it is a subtle (is it really though?) jab at those who act as if nothing has changed over the past 150 years. It is also a warning not to try and overcorrect in any direction. The film is not subtle when it says that women have the right to decide for themselves how they want to fulfill themselves. And this means ALL THE WAYS in which women may want to seek fulfillment.
(Remember Midge? She still ends with a short end of the stick in the film - and make no mistake that it is not portrayed as a good thing - Gerwig herself managed to have two kids while having a stellar career and, hopefully, she only goes to make more great films for us - Gloria is Gerwig's voice in the film.)
But it also tells us that men don't have it easy. Ken has a warped understanding of "patriarchy" because he assumes that the Real World (where he learns about "patriarchy") works the way Barbieworld does.
He cannot get a job as a stockbroker in the Real World, because he has no qualifications other than being a man; the same thing goes for becoming a surgeon - he even dismisses the doctor he talks to (a woman) because he assumes that the real world operates like Barbieworld, where the Barbies (who are female-coded, but they aren't really - everybody is dolls, with no genitals) get to have careers because they were CONCEIVED as such. I doubt President Barbie was ever elected. The Nobel-Prize-Winning Barbie seems to remember that she wrote a novel, but since every day, today, yesterday, and tomorrow, is "a perfect day" that keeps repeating itself Groundhog-Day-style, she only ever receives the Nobel Prize. Although credited as "Writer Barbie", we never see her write anything, only receive the prize.
Nothing is ever given to anyone on a silver platter just on the account of the junk they have between their legs. You have to actually work for it. There is no way you can misread that.
"The Patriarchy" screws both sexes, just in different ways. "The Matriarchy" would do the same, just in different ways. When the Barbies live under "The Patriarchy" they seem equally (if not more) content than when they lived under "The Matriarchy".
Why? Maybe because for the first time since they remember, the running of everything does not rest on their shoulders, and their shoulders alone.
(Admittedly, the Kens would perhaps come to that same conclusion eventually - but it should be pointed out that the nature of "the vote" they were to have was never clearly explained; it was never said that the Kens would be the only ones allowed to vote; neither does it say that the Kens would establish purely Ken franchise - remember how the stockbroker told Ken about how they are now more subtle with patriarchy? That means the audience is allowed to project whatever they want on the nature of the vote while making an argument against that interpretation equally valid.)
Gerwig also absolutely savages the underhanded methods each of the sexes employs to get what they want from the other. After establishing "the patriarchy" Gosling Ken is acting in a way that will make Robbie Barbie feel less than, popularly known as "negging". In turn, the Barbies use the Kens' tendency to "kensplain" (heh) in order to first get their attention, and then they manipulate them into jealousy to fight one another. Which the Kens are oblivious to and more than happy to waste their time on infighting.
I cannot stress the following enough:
This film is the best thing that Hollywood produced in years after we were spoon-fed garbage and expected to act grateful. The amount of discussion it generates attests to the fact that it makes people think. This is way more than can be said about your average Hollywood preachy crap. It manages to be both visually appealing and have a message, and, for once, a truly egalitarian one.
I could go on and on about this. But I was supposed to write an op-ed about the Hollywood strike for our website, but I wrote this instead.
WORTH IT. NO REGRETS. And I'm KENOUGH!
This film effing rules!
Mark my words, there will be doctoral theses written about this film.
P.S. A nice touch is that Gloria's husband (Sasha's father) is played by America Ferrera's IRL husband, Ryan Piers Williams. HE HAS NO VOICE: we only hear him attempt to learn and speak Spanish. Initially, I thought he was DEAD or ABSCONDED. And then you might think he is portrayed as men (including fathers) are usually portrayed nowadays in order to make "strong female characters" seem more competent, i.e. by portraying men as bumbling idiots But no: the film is told from the perspective of women and is about female self-discovery. The Father is largely irrelevant to that. Fathers can teach girls something about men, but they cannot teach them how to be women. But the fact that he tries to learn Spanish (the language of his wife's culture, and the culture his daughter identifies with) shows what a sweet man he is. And the fact that he tries to encourage Barbie by saying "Si, se puede!" ("Yes, it can be done") is called out by Sasha as inappropriate in the context (by calling it "cultural appropriation"), considering how it is a political slogan appropriate only in a given political context, no different from pointing out that "Tomorrow belongs to you" is a similarly inappropriate paraphrase of a lyrics from "Cabaret" if you know the original context.
Ken’s song was my favorite part and I completely agree with you on her going beige and boring to be human. The ending was so bad, I guess it was supposed to be funny? I just didn’t see the point.
Brilliant review, Brittney. 👍
I'm a guy, and I know that this film wasn't for me, but I went to see it anyway, as a big fan of Margot Robbie, and would say that, for me, it was a decent film outside of its rushed story structure, cheesy comedic moments and over the top use of its themes. And, I agree that the set design was amazing.
Set design, and comedy pretty good,
woke garbage was over the top though
@@TheMoviesWithMikeYeah
Message was good execution was fcking terrible
Like women’s problems are explained like: women are this and women are that and it is hard for women but men’s explanation was: I am ken 😮
The fact that yall need a stupid ass Barbie movie to tell yall how to act towards other humans is crazy