This is the best summary and explanation of Barbie I have seen. I 100% agree the film is incredibly sympathetic to the Kens and have zero idea why people think this movie is anti men? It’s pro-human and all our weird and wonderful ways of being. It’s telling us to celebrate our own individualism because we are all, “Kenough”.
I understand why you feel that way. But in that scene I was only able to see a toy brand building lore into its corporate history, which was very off-putting and obvious.
You incredibly verbalised the broader aspects of feminism about the film that was a lot more subtle and I think a lot of people didn't get. Sick video, this deserves way more views !!
It took me an hour of searching to find an explanation of the Barbie movie that was presented in a manner that I could understand. Thank you for your review. I felt lost often during this movie due to me not catching the references or due to the deeper meanings being introduced so quickly that they did not have time to sink in for me before moving on to the next one. It was quite confusing (and I grew up playing with Barbie dolls). But, I was able to appreciate the movie much more with your explanation. Thank you!
I like that Greta explored the role of Ken. You also touched on near the end of this video on how Men are lost in this new modern world and may be trying too much to adhere to unrealistic standards the same way women are. There is also an underlying cause which is that insecurity creates consumerism. The more men and women feel inadequate the more try will consume to fill that emotional void or products they will buy to try and fit the mold or ideal.
this is such an excellent essay on BARBIE. wonderfully thought out and presented. you perfectly hit on why BARBIE was such a profound and moving experience for so many people. it is a modern classic. bravo to all involved! and anybody who felt BARBIE was anti-men or anti-family or any other bad label the film was given really wildly missed the point. and in missing this point, they are thus proving the point BARBIE is satirizing and warning us about. ironic? yes. surprsing? sadly no. I was very disappointed in this reaction from a lot of men because not only is it a silly and not smart reactionary reaction. but importantly and sadly-it is just so ungenerous. boys? did we not learn the concept of sharing back in the day? in like kindergarten? maybe you need a refresher--. I thought about all of the big budget summer blockbuster movies of the last (no joke) 40 years. (my entire adult life.) we have had multiple films from-batman, Spiderman, superman, x-men, Star Wars, raiders of the lost ark, pirates of the Caribbean, even Harry Potter. these are the characters and worlds we have watched for the past 40 years. some have been good. some have been bad. but they all have one thing in common. which I think is pretty obvious. yeah. and then this summer, for the first time-ever, the big budget summer blockbuster is BARBIE. HI BARBIE! and a sizable (and very loud) bunch of men lose their minds. they cannot take it. (share guys. remember? share?) they are outraged. and the vitriol they release on BARBIE-well?? my god! they don't just "not like" it. they call it "feminist trash" "the worst piece of garbage ever onscreen" "feminist propaganda" "man-hating" "woke bulls**t." etc. really guys?? really? I don't remember anyone saying anything close to this about any of the Spiderman movies. or any of the batman movies. nobody went online and burned Luke Skywalker action figures in an angry protest. (that idiot ben shapiro-why does anyone want to listen to anything he has to say at this point? people? people!!) I mean, come on!? it makes me sad, because I am a man, and it is depressing to see how limited so many men are to any life experience that is not their own. do these men not have a mother? a sister? a daughter? have they ever met a woman? this summary is excellent. it is clear as a bell. it is smart and informed. it fair, caring and true. and it is inspiring. thank you so much for posting this essay. I have liked and subscribed. I am a fan.
Amazing job on this. I searched RUclips for a legitimate and well thought out analysis of the film and there were seldom any. So thankful for this piece you gave us. Thank you 🙏🏼
I loved the movie and I appreciated your analysis. I was able to relate to Stereotypical Barbie and Weird Barbie, not only because I've gone through identity struggles myself of not finding my identity in my gender, beauty, or career, but also as a person with Asperger's syndrome, the coming of age that Stereotypical Barbie goes through in my learning how to "feel," managing my own empathy, and managing my emotions that comes with being autistic - I also learned how to embrace my "humanness" more and reject patriarchy by coming out of religious fundamentalism. So, I was able to relate to the characters. I did have to say though, that while I didn't predict that Barbie wouldn't be in love with Ken, I did predict that the Barbies and Kens would learn how to work together in the end, and I predicted that she was going to want to become human as well. Maybe I've just seen too many movies so now I'm able to predict things better 😅 I loved how this movie tackled issues of gender and identity through satire.
great insight and you really enjoyed seeing the film a second time recently with my mother and we both enjoyed it and i think there is deeper meaning to the film you are right. It is one of my favourite films of the year and Gerwig is probably one of my fav directors right now
ok! I understand the message or the intention of the film, but that doesn’t mean that doesn’t have a lot of problems talking about structure or writing, even direction.
@@TheReeelBradPittand why there’s need to be subtlety in the message?, not a rule or trait of a good or bad script. And about the “thinking” part, that’s something you need to work on yourself, because the vast majority had a lot to think during and after the film, and this 12 minute video is a proof of that
Today it is about marketing, but it hasn't always been. When I went to work at the telephone company I was told the jobs I could apply for and was told that guys needed to make more money because someday one of them be supporting me and I would be having babies. This was true even if he never got married and I knew guys in the plant department who never got married. I also knew divorced mothers who were not paid enough.
My favorite quote from Susan B Anthony; “I never felt I could give up my life of freedom to become a man’s housekeeper. When I was young, if a girl married poor, she became a housekeeper and a drudge. If she married wealthy, she became a pet and a doll. Had I married at twenty-one, I would have been either a drudge or a doll for fifty-five years. Think of it."
Can someone PLEASE tell me how Barbie was supposed to link the fascism and train system? Also, I understand that this movie is an exaggeration on some levels, but is LA that bad when Barbie first visits? I am pretty sure the guy who slapped first is getting arrested before Barbie tenfold.
Outside the slapping, many women have been inundated with cat calls in some parts of the world. (Speaking from some life experience. To the point where I was too scared to go outside as it was so overwhelming.)
Keep in mind that girls empowering themselves ended up having me labeled as a lesbian. When I could I transferred to the plant department at the telephone company and started climbing ladders and fixing electronic equipment because that is what I learned from my dad who worked at the same company. At church people I knew went berserk because I was supposed to be a teacher, secretary, nurse or stay at home mom. I knew more and made more money than a lot of the guys.
Unpopular opinion: I didn’t like the movie. I felt the themes were hammering on me and the movie journey was not fulfilling to me. However, those themes couldn’t be articulated as well if the movie was written by a man. The America monologue was spot on. And the performances were good too but not Oscar worthy. The movie is clearly for a younger audience because you do tend to feel like the movie thinks you’re stupid , because those themes are continuously explained. That annoyed me.
Huh. I did enjoy the movie, but that America Ferrera monologue might be the most cringeworthy speech in American cinema. It was pathetic, pandering, and completely narcissistic, and anyone that would champion that speech must be at least a little narcissistic as well.
Thanks for your apt analysis, OE! I love Gerwig's exploration, too... so much brilliance to contemplate. 🌺 #TheOscarExpert #GretaGerwig #Barbie #BarbieMovie #BarbieTheMovie
I think this is great, but you missed something really important - I say this as a man who only now understands the crushing reality that awaits my daughters. The only place girls can see their dreams come true, the only place they can be president, doctor etc... is in their imagination playing with their toys. They almost lose that - completely and incredibly quickly. Men can easily ruin it all. Even stereotypical stupid men play an enormous role in how confined a woman's life can be. The dumbest man can completely harm women, while physicist Barbie can't let her guard down for a second or she risks being a maid to a dumb man. In the real world, the women accomplish absolutely nothing. What girls now have is fragile; if men decide to change their toys - they may never see themselves the same way again. Barbies - the toys - are an important line in the sand for girls. They are innocent and safe while they play. That's why those toys must be protected. Even the men on the board of directors at Mattel understand that in the movie. While we all hold out hope for a world where girls will have the same opportunities as men, everyone knows it's not true. So we have to protect the gains they've made even if they are just imaginary and built around a line of toys. That's the real value of Barbie the toys, girls will face the world believing they can be anything they want to be - even if most of them can't. They should at least face the world as women, as adults - believing in themselves. That's the absolute minimum standard we owe to girls - they have that much. It's up to everyone alive to play a role in helping women fulfill those dreams - in the real world. This hidden contract - proposed to girls as they play and grow up - that men will value women as they are, not as men want women to be, this movie shows how impossible this contract will be to keep. As a father of daughters, this is one of the most depressing movies I've ever seen. This story could only be told as a comedy. We must laugh at the entire situation to make any sense of it. It's just depressing to know how far we've come only to find out the end - real equality between sexes - is nowhere in sight.
This is a beautiful comment, on the value toys and play have for girls. But I think we can be much more optimistic for the current generation of girls. While it’s scary, I think we can be role models to both the boys and girls in our lives.
Lol women in first world countries are privileged, dude. They are the most protected, and provided the most opportunities in this day and age. The movie perpetuates the cliched victim trope often associated with women. They're not victims. They'll thrive (especially when they play victim). Get off whatever you're smoking.
Symbols have always been representations of the unconscious. To think that we can simply reject them or deprive them of their meaning is a supremely arrogant take on human nature. There is a linear progression between man made symbols, born of introspection, and the art we've come to appreciate for decades. They are not arbitrary or as restrictive as this video claims. Whether these symbols change has no bearing on what they have and will continue to represent. This video also confirms my suspicion that many view this film as a gateway to modern day feminism even though one of the few things the film does right is reject current feminist tropes like the girlboss stereotype, which is as manufactured a symbol as they come.
symbols are a language, I agree they are not arbitrary. They have shared meaning, and the meaning is what we agree on before the symbol is ever expressed. There's a common sigh of relief when they are discovered, a thanks for having it put into words. To say marketers determine the symbols we all agree on is to put far too much praise on a group of people who are simply literate in the symbols most people already agree on. I also agree the girlboss thing is utter invention. This movie is not a modern day feminist piece at all. I think it is just the opposite; Barbie the movie is a review of how far that movement has come - and the answer is: not very far.
Presenting a model of greatness that indicates that you must look like that because I was 14 when she came out and believe it or not girls who looked like that got jobs. Patriarchy was around for centuries and was a huge problem then. Of kids take out their frustrations and anger on their toys.
I’m just mad that the Kens got a whole frigging musical number that united them and helped them realize their feelings were valid; meanwhile the Barbies got a rehashed speech in the back of a van about how being a woman is hard.
I kind of looked at it as…stereotypical Barbie… she seemed to have outgrown musical dance parties. Even in the dance party number at the beginning you could see she wasn’t fully into it anymore. Stereotypical Barbie is being played with by an adult and so she is mentally growing up. Most of the other Barbies and Kens are still played with by children who have a more immature mentality and understanding of the world. The Kens have musical numbers as they still seem to have the child’s point of view. Children’s point of view with all their optimism and naivety are what influences Barbieland. (That’s also why I think Barbieland was so vulnerable to Ken’s understanding of patriarchy. As someone who was a little girl, it’s easy to fall for patriarchy hook line and sinker. Until you realize it’s miserable. Some little girls simply don’t question it, but a whole lot of other little girls do.) Stereotypical Barbie outgrows Barbieland (and their musicals), while Ken is just starting to grow up. I felt Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie played this so well as Ryan Gosling’s Ken was pretty childish. I got the feeling Barbie felt like she was dragging her little brother around everywhere. She helps him start to grow up.
This is the best summary and explanation of Barbie I have seen. I 100% agree the film is incredibly sympathetic to the Kens and have zero idea why people think this movie is anti men? It’s pro-human and all our weird and wonderful ways of being. It’s telling us to celebrate our own individualism because we are all, “Kenough”.
I think maybe a lot of guys just felt like the movie didn’t portray men as strong and smart like most superhero movies do.
That "We mothers stand still..." STILL gets me; even you just referencing it in the video made me tear up. 😭
I understand why you feel that way. But in that scene I was only able to see a toy brand building lore into its corporate history, which was very off-putting and obvious.
❤
You incredibly verbalised the broader aspects of feminism about the film that was a lot more subtle and I think a lot of people didn't get. Sick video, this deserves way more views !!
It took me an hour of searching to find an explanation of the Barbie movie that was presented in a manner that I could understand. Thank you for your review. I felt lost often during this movie due to me not catching the references or due to the deeper meanings being introduced so quickly that they did not have time to sink in for me before moving on to the next one. It was quite confusing (and I grew up playing with Barbie dolls). But, I was able to appreciate the movie much more with your explanation. Thank you!
I love these analysis videos. You explained it so well.
This was a really great breakdown. 👏🏽
I like that Greta explored the role of Ken. You also touched on near the end of this video on how Men are lost in this new modern world and may be trying too much to adhere to unrealistic standards the same way women are. There is also an underlying cause which is that insecurity creates consumerism. The more men and women feel inadequate the more try will consume to fill that emotional void or products they will buy to try and fit the mold or ideal.
Barbieeeeee
Margot and Ryan in the running for the Acting Categories at the Oscars. They did the thing! And Greta too!
this is such an excellent essay on BARBIE. wonderfully thought out and presented. you perfectly hit on why BARBIE was such a profound and moving experience for so many people. it is a modern classic. bravo to all involved! and anybody who felt BARBIE was anti-men or anti-family or any other bad label the film was given really wildly missed the point. and in missing this point, they are thus proving the point BARBIE is satirizing and warning us about. ironic? yes. surprsing? sadly no. I was very disappointed in this reaction from a lot of men because not only is it a silly and not smart reactionary reaction. but importantly and sadly-it is just so ungenerous. boys? did we not learn the concept of sharing back in the day? in like kindergarten? maybe you need a refresher--.
I thought about all of the big budget summer blockbuster movies of the last (no joke) 40 years. (my entire adult life.) we have had multiple films from-batman, Spiderman, superman, x-men, Star Wars, raiders of the lost ark, pirates of the Caribbean, even Harry Potter. these are the characters and worlds we have watched for the past 40 years. some have been good. some have been bad. but they all have one thing in common. which I think is pretty obvious. yeah. and then this summer, for the first time-ever, the big budget summer blockbuster is BARBIE. HI BARBIE! and a sizable (and very loud) bunch of men lose their minds. they cannot take it. (share guys. remember? share?) they are outraged. and the vitriol they release on BARBIE-well?? my god!
they don't just "not like" it. they call it "feminist trash" "the worst piece of garbage ever onscreen" "feminist propaganda" "man-hating" "woke bulls**t." etc. really guys?? really? I don't remember anyone saying anything close to this about any of the Spiderman movies. or any of the batman movies. nobody went online and burned Luke Skywalker action figures in an angry protest. (that idiot ben shapiro-why does anyone want to listen to anything he has to say at this point? people? people!!) I mean, come on!? it makes me sad, because I am a man, and it is depressing to see how limited so many men are to any life experience that is not their own. do these men not have a mother? a sister? a daughter? have they ever met a woman?
this summary is excellent. it is clear as a bell. it is smart and informed. it fair, caring and true. and it is inspiring. thank you so much for posting this essay. I have liked and subscribed. I am a fan.
Great synopsis- fun and interesting movie too!
Amazing job on this. I searched RUclips for a legitimate and well thought out analysis of the film and there were seldom any. So thankful for this piece you gave us. Thank you 🙏🏼
Great analysis. More of these please
No cat, but I still love you and your analysis!
The cat is on leave , it has been looking at addressing the overpatting on set 😂
I loved the movie and I appreciated your analysis. I was able to relate to Stereotypical Barbie and Weird Barbie, not only because I've gone through identity struggles myself of not finding my identity in my gender, beauty, or career, but also as a person with Asperger's syndrome, the coming of age that Stereotypical Barbie goes through in my learning how to "feel," managing my own empathy, and managing my emotions that comes with being autistic - I also learned how to embrace my "humanness" more and reject patriarchy by coming out of religious fundamentalism. So, I was able to relate to the characters. I did have to say though, that while I didn't predict that Barbie wouldn't be in love with Ken, I did predict that the Barbies and Kens would learn how to work together in the end, and I predicted that she was going to want to become human as well. Maybe I've just seen too many movies so now I'm able to predict things better 😅 I loved how this movie tackled issues of gender and identity through satire.
great insight and you really enjoyed seeing the film a second time recently with my mother and we both enjoyed it and i think there is deeper meaning to the film you are right. It is one of my favourite films of the year and Gerwig is probably one of my fav directors right now
Best analysis of this! One of my favorite movies of the year for sure
ok! I understand the message or the intention of the film, but that doesn’t mean that doesn’t have a lot of problems talking about structure or writing, even direction.
what are they? say it then
@@nalday2534the message lacks any sort of subtlety. Doesn’t really let you think, has to spell it out for you. Otherwise it’s fine
@@TheReeelBradPittand why there’s need to be subtlety in the message?, not a rule or trait of a good or bad script. And about the “thinking” part, that’s something you need to work on yourself, because the vast majority had a lot to think during and after the film, and this 12 minute video is a proof of that
@@CRM-114I bet you’re one of the guys who talks through the entirety of The Godfather to explain how good it is.
@@CRM-114 no it's not
The Holdovers best picture
Today it is about marketing, but it hasn't always been. When I went to work at the telephone company I was told the jobs I could apply for and was told that guys needed to make more money because someday one of them be supporting me and I would be having babies. This was true even if he never got married and I knew guys in the plant department who never got married. I also knew divorced mothers who were not paid enough.
My favorite quote from Susan B Anthony; “I never felt I could give up my life of freedom to become a man’s housekeeper. When I was young, if a girl married poor, she became a housekeeper and a drudge. If she married wealthy, she became a pet and a doll. Had I married at twenty-one, I would have been either a drudge or a doll for fifty-five years. Think of it."
Hit it out of the park! Ken out of 10
God I love this movie so much. This is a really good breakdown
These two guys are extremely intelligent . Sensational reviews.
Great analysis, more of these please :) Maybe Oppenheimer's next? ;)
Fantastic analysis, thanks!
Does anyone know where I can get Oscar Expert’s shirt? I really want it
If you type in men's pink shirt flamingos and stripes, you'll find it. I found his exact shirt on Etsy and a similar style sold by Shein.
My man you change the mic , it gives extra static below your voice .
that's why Barbie is the frontrunner for the Oscars 2024 Best Picture
Like Everything Everywhere All At Once last year and CODA
Thanks for the vid❤. So refreshing to hear from someone who won’t bash something because it’s different.
If you don't like men then this the best movie for you
Awesome analysis 😎
Would like to see one for Oppenheimer!
Just saw it yesterday and can't stop thinking about it. Looking forward to a second watch
Can someone PLEASE tell me how Barbie was supposed to link the fascism and train system? Also, I understand that this movie is an exaggeration on some levels, but is LA that bad when Barbie first visits? I am pretty sure the guy who slapped first is getting arrested before Barbie tenfold.
Bro these are the issues you have with the film😒
@@robertsaner8766 lets hear about your complex issues then
No one else saw the guy slapping her first. It’s not that rare for people to slap stranger’s butts. It happens everywhere, I’ve seen it before.
@@robertsaner8766 Yet, you can't explain them. Good talk!
Outside the slapping, many women have been inundated with cat calls in some parts of the world. (Speaking from some life experience. To the point where I was too scared to go outside as it was so overwhelming.)
oscar expert have u seen maestro and rustin? maybe nyad?
Keep in mind that girls empowering themselves ended up having me labeled as a lesbian. When I could I transferred to the plant department at the telephone company and started climbing ladders and fixing electronic equipment because that is what I learned from my dad who worked at the same company. At church people I knew went berserk because I was supposed to be a teacher, secretary, nurse or stay at home mom. I knew more and made more money than a lot of the guys.
Good video, great shirt.
How is this a child’s movie?
My self concept is oscar expert and ONLY oscar expert
Unpopular opinion: I didn’t like the movie. I felt the themes were hammering on me and the movie journey was not fulfilling to me. However, those themes couldn’t be articulated as well if the movie was written by a man. The America monologue was spot on. And the performances were good too but not Oscar worthy. The movie is clearly for a younger audience because you do tend to feel like the movie thinks you’re stupid , because those themes are continuously explained. That annoyed me.
Huh. I did enjoy the movie, but that America Ferrera monologue might be the most cringeworthy speech in American cinema. It was pathetic, pandering, and completely narcissistic, and anyone that would champion that speech must be at least a little narcissistic as well.
This is actually a really good analysis
Well done
I enjoy this channel more and more every video. Keep going!! 🙌🙌
Thanks for your apt analysis, OE! I love Gerwig's exploration, too... so much brilliance to contemplate. 🌺 #TheOscarExpert #GretaGerwig #Barbie #BarbieMovie #BarbieTheMovie
Very good. I feel this video articulates a lot about the movie while keeping it relatable.
Can we get an Oppenheimer analysis next
Wow excellent analysis 👏🏼
💖💖💖
Great analysis!
I think this is great, but you missed something really important - I say this as a man who only now understands the crushing reality that awaits my daughters. The only place girls can see their dreams come true, the only place they can be president, doctor etc... is in their imagination playing with their toys. They almost lose that - completely and incredibly quickly. Men can easily ruin it all. Even stereotypical stupid men play an enormous role in how confined a woman's life can be. The dumbest man can completely harm women, while physicist Barbie can't let her guard down for a second or she risks being a maid to a dumb man.
In the real world, the women accomplish absolutely nothing. What girls now have is fragile; if men decide to change their toys - they may never see themselves the same way again.
Barbies - the toys - are an important line in the sand for girls. They are innocent and safe while they play. That's why those toys must be protected. Even the men on the board of directors at Mattel understand that in the movie. While we all hold out hope for a world where girls will have the same opportunities as men, everyone knows it's not true. So we have to protect the gains they've made even if they are just imaginary and built around a line of toys. That's the real value of Barbie the toys, girls will face the world believing they can be anything they want to be - even if most of them can't. They should at least face the world as women, as adults - believing in themselves. That's the absolute minimum standard we owe to girls - they have that much. It's up to everyone alive to play a role in helping women fulfill those dreams - in the real world. This hidden contract - proposed to girls as they play and grow up - that men will value women as they are, not as men want women to be, this movie shows how impossible this contract will be to keep.
As a father of daughters, this is one of the most depressing movies I've ever seen. This story could only be told as a comedy. We must laugh at the entire situation to make any sense of it. It's just depressing to know how far we've come only to find out the end - real equality between sexes - is nowhere in sight.
What utter rubbish.
This is a beautiful comment, on the value toys and play have for girls.
But I think we can be much more optimistic for the current generation of girls.
While it’s scary, I think we can be role models to both the boys and girls in our lives.
Lol women in first world countries are privileged, dude. They are the most protected, and provided the most opportunities in this day and age. The movie perpetuates the cliched victim trope often associated with women. They're not victims. They'll thrive (especially when they play victim). Get off whatever you're smoking.
I think it's important not to lose hope
Symbols have always been representations of the unconscious. To think that we can simply reject them or deprive them of their meaning is a supremely arrogant take on human nature. There is a linear progression between man made symbols, born of introspection, and the art we've come to appreciate for decades. They are not arbitrary or as restrictive as this video claims. Whether these symbols change has no bearing on what they have and will continue to represent.
This video also confirms my suspicion that many view this film as a gateway to modern day feminism even though one of the few things the film does right is reject current feminist tropes like the girlboss stereotype, which is as manufactured a symbol as they come.
symbols are a language, I agree they are not arbitrary. They have shared meaning, and the meaning is what we agree on before the symbol is ever expressed. There's a common sigh of relief when they are discovered, a thanks for having it put into words. To say marketers determine the symbols we all agree on is to put far too much praise on a group of people who are simply literate in the symbols most people already agree on.
I also agree the girlboss thing is utter invention. This movie is not a modern day feminist piece at all. I think it is just the opposite; Barbie the movie is a review of how far that movement has come - and the answer is: not very far.
How do you know if a symbol is manufactured or not?
Well done!
Presenting a model of greatness that indicates that you must look like that because I was 14 when she came out and believe it or not girls who looked like that got jobs. Patriarchy was around for centuries and was a huge problem then. Of kids take out their frustrations and anger on their toys.
Go to sleep, if Barbie had a Deep meaning go to sleep
That line by Ruth will forever make me cry ❤😭
Oscar vibes! Oscar for Ryan ❤.
Love the shirt!
deep
Your shirt❣️
Barbie was terrible.
Bro’s buttons don’t match lol
lmfao those Nolan fanboys are downvoting this video. Congrats to Oppenheimer flopping in China and never crossing 1 billion
What did Barbie gross in China?
why did this make me SOB
need a woman's perspective
Not necessarily. The movie wasn’t just about women. Just humans.
What is a woman?
Lol. Precisely why the movie sucked. Ya need a woman's perspective.
👏🏾🩷👏🏾🩷👏🏾🩷👏🏾
and the Oscars goes to.....
You could have been a Ken too
Really?? I'm definitely getting Allan vibes.
I’m just mad that the Kens got a whole frigging musical number that united them and helped them realize their feelings were valid; meanwhile the Barbies got a rehashed speech in the back of a van about how being a woman is hard.
I kind of looked at it as…stereotypical Barbie… she seemed to have outgrown musical dance parties. Even in the dance party number at the beginning you could see she wasn’t fully into it anymore. Stereotypical Barbie is being played with by an adult and so she is mentally growing up.
Most of the other Barbies and Kens are still played with by children who have a more immature mentality and understanding of the world.
The Kens have musical numbers as they still seem to have the child’s point of view. Children’s point of view with all their optimism and naivety are what influences Barbieland.
(That’s also why I think Barbieland was so vulnerable to Ken’s understanding of patriarchy. As someone who was a little girl, it’s easy to fall for patriarchy hook line and sinker. Until you realize it’s miserable. Some little girls simply don’t question it, but a whole lot of other little girls do.)
Stereotypical Barbie outgrows Barbieland (and their musicals), while Ken is just starting to grow up.
I felt Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie played this so well as Ryan Gosling’s Ken was pretty childish. I got the feeling Barbie felt like she was dragging her little brother around everywhere.
She helps him start to grow up.
Nah, it sucked.
Great analysis and in depth