BlackTron
Member
Did you watch it? I have not seen the movie, I thought Barbie should aim to just be a dumb funny movie, but based on what I'm hearing the problem is that it DOES have a political statement/is feminist propaganda.
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Did you watch it? I have not seen the movie, I thought Barbie should aim to just be a dumb funny movie, but based on what I'm hearing the problem is that it DOES have a political statement/is feminist propaganda.
Hardensoul
Member
Movie is also rated PG13(why?) and from what I’m hearing, don’t take your younger kids to see this.
I knew from seeing the Beach off(Beat off reference?) joke in the trailer that wasn’t appropriate for younger kids!
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BlackTron
Member
You went to "the hood" just to say this and reported back within three hours?
Well, I guess there were women there, and it makes sense that THEY would like it, so the whole story Checks Out™
Good on you for being a fully grown mature person above the whole "boys vs girls debate"
SJRB
Gold Member
Razvedka
Banned
"Women are diminished".
No real world stats back up that claim, certainly in the United States or west at large.
Edit: or I should more accurately say, the majority of the real world stats that serve as 'indicators' for how well a segment of the population is doing basically all favor women.
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BlackTron
Member
Youtube grifters proven to be morons. You win one free Internet
Fake
Member
SARAH VINE: The mother and daughter's verdict of Barbie
SARAH VINE: Monday evening, 6.15pm, Leicester Square, London. The place is packed with tourists, office workers, pickpockets, a cacophony of sights and sounds.
'They can fly now? They can fly now.'
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Exactly this ^
The poor girl simply can not run...i mean she doesn't know how to fucking run.
Serious miscast in an otherwise decent flick.
VaultBoy101
Member
Looks like a lot of fun, but I'm the type that can enjoy a movie for the acting, the art design, and the world as it exists within the movie without getting my knickers in a twist over "messages," real or perceived. And the fact that some are labeling it as "woke" makes me more interested, not less. (Seriously, has there been a more over-used word this century? It has lost all meaning at this point).
SJRB
Gold Member
FunkMiller
Member
I feel like I'm the only cunt who's completely uninterested in a movie about a girl's doll.
FullMetalx117
Member
Hood not far in any major metroplex - in the gentrifying downtown area I’m in, one street over
BlackTron
Member
I grew up with a younger sister in the house who always fought me over control of the TV. When she started renting tapes I got exposed to a bunch of "girl movies" I never would have given a chance but because they were on, I "got it". Like the fore-mentioned Clueless. Now I'm curious to know if this movie could be as much dumb fun as the 90's, or so bad I even need to shield my niece from watching it.
FunkMiller
Member
He definitely wasn't in the movie.
Madflavor
Member
You're far from the only one. My wife invited me to see it with her friends. I was on the fence, but as soon as I heard the full plot I bowed out. I don't want to listen about women's problems for two fucking hours
Ulysses 31
Member
No equal rights for the Kens till women have equal rights in the real world.
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Hugare
Member
WowSARAH VINE: The mother and daughter's verdict of Barbie
SARAH VINE: Monday evening, 6.15pm, Leicester Square, London. The place is packed with tourists, office workers, pickpockets, a cacophony of sights and sounds.www.dailymail.co.uk
'They can fly now? They can fly now.'
Pretty great review. And written by a woman calling out the movie's agenda
So, this is the plot summary (spoilers):
-Barbieworld is a magical place where Barbies are in charge and do all the work, while Kens sit around looking pretty and seeking approval from Barbies (a role reversal of the traditionalist vision of men holding all the power and women being housewives)
-Barbie and Ken go to the real world, which is a deeply misogynistic patriarchal place where all the men are evil oppressors and the women are victims
-Ken discovers "the patriarchy" in Los Angeles (LA...not Saudi Arabia?), realizes he has been living a lie and returns to assert control over Barbieworld. He puts the Kens in charge, forcing the Barbies into submissive roles.
-A girl from the real world has a speech about feminism, which inspires the Barbies to rise up and defeat the Kens, restoring the matriarchy to Barbieworld, since Ken is shallow and self-centered and more interested in looking cool and masculine than doing all the work.
-Barbie rejects Ken romantically and tells him to stop being emotionally dependent on her (a coded message to the female audience, no doubt), then leaves to live a new independent life in the real world.
Not sure why you need to present such a warped view of the real world as a prerequisite for these recent feminist films. But maybe I'm wrong and the modern world is Basically The Handmaid's Tale.
-Barbieworld is a magical place where Barbies are in charge and do all the work, while Kens sit around looking pretty and seeking approval from Barbies (a role reversal of the traditionalist vision of men holding all the power and women being housewives)
-Barbie and Ken go to the real world, which is a deeply misogynistic patriarchal place where all the men are evil oppressors and the women are victims
-Ken discovers "the patriarchy" in Los Angeles (LA...not Saudi Arabia?), realizes he has been living a lie and returns to assert control over Barbieworld. He puts the Kens in charge, forcing the Barbies into submissive roles.
-A girl from the real world has a speech about feminism, which inspires the Barbies to rise up and defeat the Kens, restoring the matriarchy to Barbieworld, since Ken is shallow and self-centered and more interested in looking cool and masculine than doing all the work.
-Barbie rejects Ken romantically and tells him to stop being emotionally dependent on her (a coded message to the female audience, no doubt), then leaves to live a new independent life in the real world.
Not sure why you need to present such a warped view of the real world as a prerequisite for these recent feminist films. But maybe I'm wrong and the modern world is Basically The Handmaid's Tale.
SJRB
Gold Member
This bums me out.
I was 100% on board with a satirical comedy with some wink-wink and some nudge-nudge but the movie going full-blown ultra feminism is such a disappointment.
Same, always down for a good satire, but this sounds like it's not for me. Of course, a plot summary doesn't include the humorous bits, but apparently "the patriarchy" is mentioned 10+ times, and the WSJ critic described it "like a grumpier than average women's studies seminar."
I'll probably wait for streaming.
For real. I was looking forward to the satire and fun aspects of the world and what they could do with it. In addition, something I could take my daughter to. Really disappointed to hear that summary from EviLore, assuming it is accurate.
Agreed. If "Barbies do all the work" but that consists of fashion shows, playing beach volleyball while serving ice cream, and, as a joke, the barbies all scatter when a spider shows up and the Ken's all nod and say "Time to earn our keep", then that is FUNNY even if the context can be stripped away. The plot sounds atrocious but I can see how it might be being spun to reflect poorly on the end result. I can make technically accurate but VERY biased summaries of lots of things.
Saber
Member
Yeah. I could totally see this movie as some sort of silly cheese fun movie about Barbie(and Ken to an extent) conflicting with the real world(both good and bad points about the world).
But this one seems like a full political movie with a very explicit message and clear intention.
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IDKFA
I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Can Barbie be the new Iron Man in a Mattel universe?
Ynon Kreiz, CEO of toymaker Mattel, talks about the future of the Barbie brand.
www.bbc.com
If this is successful then get ready for the Mattel cinematic universe.
Who doesn't want to see Barbie driving into battle with Skeletor in a Hot Wheels car while He-Man in on the sidelines shouting "YAS QUEEN".
Cinematic perfection.
Power Pro
Gold Member
I kinda wanted to see this because I was done for some fish out of water comedy, with quirky characters and funny situations...but man.
I don't know how to put this without coming across as an incel or something, because I don't hate women. I hate feminism, or any ideology that puts one group above another. This is not the idea that we should be pressuring on people, but it's the one that Hollywood seems to be in love with. I feel like I'm being actively targeted because I'm white by certain movies, and because I'm a man because of movies like this. Is this the mindset we want to keep imprinting on the masses? I thought equality was the way forward, but instead it seems like a segment of people, especially those in California want to flip things around, at least in their head, ignoring all the progress that has been made, and act like certain people are still more oppressed when the truth is they're not anymore.
If you really want to talk about societies where women are not treated as equals, fucking California is not the setting for any sort of believability. Oh, but we don't dare point fingers at middle eastern countries which are the places who have the real problems with mistreating women, because we don't want to offend the Muslim community.
Ya know what would have been a real subversion for this movie? Appealing to everyone, boys and girls. I feel like the argument for my opinion not matter would be "why do you care, this is a movie made for girls". Which, okay fine...Barbie was marketed to girls for a long time. Ya know what this reminds me of though? Kinda like how a lot of nerdy things were marketed to boys for a long time. Star Wars for example...you'd see boys playing with the toys in all the marketing since people my age were kids, and what do we hear now? Star Wars needs a girl role model! Boys need move aside and let girls have role models in Star Wars....
Look, I know how this sounds, because I really don't care. Knock yourself out girls, and boys. Play with Star Wars...the problem is, so why can't boys look up to Barbie dolls too then? Why couldn't a Barbie movie be for them too? Why isn't Barbie trying to appeal to boys when a lot of properties who were targeting boys now try to appeal to girls?
Double standards piss me off. It's not the people who played with the toys who are at fault, no one who ever played with certain toys said that the opposite sex couldn't play with them, except for the companies making them who marketed them for a certain demographic. It's like they're blaming the audience for a problem they created.
Anyway, sorry for going off on such a long post. I didn't mean to. It's just this kind of stuff frustrates me. I was debating going to see what looked like a fun silly movie, and now I read that it's propaganda for a segment of bigoted people who are being given a voice through what should be entertainment. Bummer :/
I don't know how to put this without coming across as an incel or something, because I don't hate women. I hate feminism, or any ideology that puts one group above another. This is not the idea that we should be pressuring on people, but it's the one that Hollywood seems to be in love with. I feel like I'm being actively targeted because I'm white by certain movies, and because I'm a man because of movies like this. Is this the mindset we want to keep imprinting on the masses? I thought equality was the way forward, but instead it seems like a segment of people, especially those in California want to flip things around, at least in their head, ignoring all the progress that has been made, and act like certain people are still more oppressed when the truth is they're not anymore.
If you really want to talk about societies where women are not treated as equals, fucking California is not the setting for any sort of believability. Oh, but we don't dare point fingers at middle eastern countries which are the places who have the real problems with mistreating women, because we don't want to offend the Muslim community.
Ya know what would have been a real subversion for this movie? Appealing to everyone, boys and girls. I feel like the argument for my opinion not matter would be "why do you care, this is a movie made for girls". Which, okay fine...Barbie was marketed to girls for a long time. Ya know what this reminds me of though? Kinda like how a lot of nerdy things were marketed to boys for a long time. Star Wars for example...you'd see boys playing with the toys in all the marketing since people my age were kids, and what do we hear now? Star Wars needs a girl role model! Boys need move aside and let girls have role models in Star Wars....
Look, I know how this sounds, because I really don't care. Knock yourself out girls, and boys. Play with Star Wars...the problem is, so why can't boys look up to Barbie dolls too then? Why couldn't a Barbie movie be for them too? Why isn't Barbie trying to appeal to boys when a lot of properties who were targeting boys now try to appeal to girls?
Double standards piss me off. It's not the people who played with the toys who are at fault, no one who ever played with certain toys said that the opposite sex couldn't play with them, except for the companies making them who marketed them for a certain demographic. It's like they're blaming the audience for a problem they created.
Anyway, sorry for going off on such a long post. I didn't mean to. It's just this kind of stuff frustrates me. I was debating going to see what looked like a fun silly movie, and now I read that it's propaganda for a segment of bigoted people who are being given a voice through what should be entertainment. Bummer :/
Ulysses 31
Member
Barbie beats Openheimer (22.3 M vs 10.5 M)
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Let's see how the legs will be now that its message is out in the open and not hidden like it was in the trailers.
Box Office: ‘Barbie’ Blasts Off With $22.3M in Previews, ‘Oppenheimer’ Rakes in $10.5M
If traffic stays this strong, 'Barbie' could open to a gigantic $150 million-plus over the weekend, followed by a sizable $75 million for 'Oppenheimer.'
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Let's see how the legs will be now that its message is out in the open and not hidden like it was in the trailers.
Drizzlehell
Banned
I'm usually too lazy to follow the trends and understand what fuels them so I'm genuinely confused about how this movie gained so much attention. Is this some sort of a post-ironic movement of nerds who just want to make Barbie the biggest movie of the year just to stick it to the man and make a statement about how everyone is tired of the stagnating mainstream movie industry?
Like, I don't get it, how did this movie get so big, lol
Like, I don't get it, how did this movie get so big, lol
Fake
Member
Barbie beats Openheimer (22.3 M vs 10.5 M)
Box Office: ‘Barbie’ Blasts Off With $22.3M in Previews, ‘Oppenheimer’ Rakes in $10.5M
If traffic stays this strong, 'Barbie' could open to a gigantic $150 million-plus over the weekend, followed by a sizable $75 million for 'Oppenheimer.'
I don't get those silly comparisons. I saw little girls going to watch the Barbie movie. Openheirmer is very restrict in that departament, so media love to make those stupid comparisons. A valid comparison would be Barbie vs Spider-man.
We all know that the target audience of those two movies are highly different, so people need to stop falling into those bait title articles.
I wonder if they did the same with the movie 2019 Parasite.
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WoodyStare
Member
One thing is for sure, I don’t think it would’ve been nearly as successful had they kept Amy Schumer in the lead role.
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling (among many of the ensemble) are huge right now. Gosling was enough to get lots of men in seats and he’s apparently fantastic in the film. His casting was an ingenious move.
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach are two of the hottest writers/directors currently in the business and have been nominated/won multiple awards, so a lot of cinephiles were onboard because of that.
There hasn’t been any kind of Barbie film since Clueless (it was Barbie in all but name), and even before then, I don’t think there was anything (correct me if I’m wrong). If this is the case, it was something fresh for people to see.
Lots of women had Barbie’s growing up, so it has that nostalgia factor going for it from a variety of age groups.
The marketing for it was everywhere for months and still is.
All of this in combination with it being silly/funny - something we don’t get very much of nowadays - definitely factored into its huge success. Also, when everything you’ve seen this summer has been over 2.5 hours and mostly action oriented, something like this at just under two hours probably feels like a breath of fresh air for a lot of people.
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FullMetalx117
Member
I get what you’re saying as I’m also against feminism, masculinism, nationalism, all the isms - but I encourage you to think about it another way:
White men are still the CEOs, still dominant. If they’re not the CEO, they’re certainly on the board seats commaniding the CEO. Whatever white men are made to feel by the media, objective reality in what matters (money) they’re still at the top. It’s only really in the last 20 years momentum has built making fun of them, calling them out, etc.? If you dish, you better be willing to get served as well.
By far and large most media properties are still heavily geared towards man (John Wick, even Oppenheimer, most video games, etc.). Growing up - yugioh, Bionicle, transformers, beybalde, etc. Men have minimum 10x the properties geared towards us versus women.
Males in general compared to women still have easier life, longer biological clock, get to have more “fun”.
With all that said, is it really that bad to let women or minorities have their 10 min at peak knowing you still have everything else? Even kings in the past let the plebeians have their 5 min of feel good moments - they knew it was important to stay in power.
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thismeinteil
Member
With all the garbage Hollywood has been putting out, especially the "message" movies, moviegoers are just looking for some good entertainment, whether mindless or serious. This has let movies that probably wouldn't have done too much, actually explode at the box office. See Insidious and Sound of Freedom.
This movie was deceptively advertised as a fun and mindless family movie. Hell, even I was brought in by the teaser with the nod to 2001, and not seeming to be ashamed of having a pretty Barbie with a nice figure. They kinda lost me with the full trailer with the tired and lazy "they're in the real world, now" these adaptations seem to do, but I'm sure many were fine with it. They let absolutely no hint that it was chock full of feminist messaging get out to the mainstream audience. And while it was definitely deceptive, and I would say cowardly, it was smart. Especially with how Little Mermaid and Indiana Jones performed, or should I say flopped.
Personally, I'm interested in seeing what the 2nd weekend drop is going to be like, now that everyone will know what the movie is really all about.
SJRB
Gold Member
There all sorts of threads popping up on Reddit about how this movie is sticking it to misogynists and how every man who dislikes it is an incel.
If the lefties over at Reddit go above and beyond to point out dumb shit like this, that's an automatic TKO for me, I'm out.
I'm sorry Ryan Gosling, you've gone to where I cannot follow.
If the lefties over at Reddit go above and beyond to point out dumb shit like this, that's an automatic TKO for me, I'm out.
I'm sorry Ryan Gosling, you've gone to where I cannot follow.
Power Pro
Gold Member
That sounds more like a rich people problem, a hold over from old white men having the most power and not letting go of it. That's something all of society has to deal with, and not just women, or other ethnic groups. It's anyone who has less money than those in power.
I'm just tired of hearing how good of a time I've had it because of my race and gender, when my life has never been that way. I grew up in poverty, and had a learning disability that required me to take special courses in high school to graduate. Only white kid in school, so I only ever knew being made fun of and bullied by black and hispanic kids, so I never felt like I was the one getting special treatment. Being less than average in terms of looks, I've always been single, and straight up insulted most of the time I've tried meeting girls. Was called ugly just walking in the halls by some girls a few times, but hey I guess I deserved it for existing.
I'm tired of being told I need to step aside for others when my life has kinda sucked, and one of the only things I've gotten joy out of in my life is enjoying entertaining movies and video games. Now the people in charge of both those industries seem like they have an agenda to tell me how evil I've always been, and I need to ask for penance or something for being born my race and sex, when I've never had the special treatment that they act like I've gotten all my life because some other white dudes with lots of money have gotten at some point.
FullMetalx117
Member
Very fair points, I didn't think of it that way. It just sucks being a minority anywhere and yeah we're all victims of those in power
kunonabi
Member
Margot Robbie is not huge. She has never been an actual draw in her career. It's everything else that is making the film a draw.
Drizzlehell
Banned
Honestly, it's pretty disappointing to hear that it has THE MESSAGE after all. After seeing all the buzz around it, I was kinda hoping that it would be this guilty pleasure. Like Sonic The Hedgehog, where the premise sounds stupid as hell but somehow it works.
diffusionx
Gold Member
It was made by Greta Garwing. Anyone who didn't know exactly what she was going to make is trying not to pay attention.
That said, there's an old saying, "the trailer is the movie that the studio wishes was made"
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Darkmakaimura
Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
Subjectively I don't know if I'd agree men in current times have it easier than women. Personally I think it's the other way around in our current Western culture but that's just my view.
However, regarding lifespan, I'm almost pretty sure that scientifically women live longer than men in general. Unless I misunderstanding what you mean by biological clock.
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Darkmakaimura
Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
The sounds exactly like what I've gone through so I can definitely relate.
Your post is so on point it's not even funny.
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RavenSan
Off-Site Inflammatory Member
Went with my wife - it was fine. Yes it was 'the patriarchy is evil' - BUT I thought it was funny enough that it was worth my time. Not great, I'm not sure I'd watch it again, but if you can stomach some beat-you-over-the-head-with-feminism bits, there's genuinely some massive laughs. Gosling was perfect.
iorek21
Member
Thinking about it more and the movie just keeps souring for me.
The film’s message is just so out of touch that it makes us believe that we’re living in 1984, jeez.
In a world where the highest paid singers are women, where Kathleen Kennedy just keeps destroying LF without question, and diversity quotas are at its highest, Barbie wants us to think it’s all an illusion. Fuck off.
I’m very curious to see how the General Audience is going to receive this. The hype campaign for Barbie was out of this world and opening weekend numbers already show, but is it going to have the legs of Mario? Not sure…
This movie nears the offensive margin for male audiences. Let’s see if this is just me and my biased view or if there’s some reason behind it.
The film’s message is just so out of touch that it makes us believe that we’re living in 1984, jeez.
In a world where the highest paid singers are women, where Kathleen Kennedy just keeps destroying LF without question, and diversity quotas are at its highest, Barbie wants us to think it’s all an illusion. Fuck off.
I’m very curious to see how the General Audience is going to receive this. The hype campaign for Barbie was out of this world and opening weekend numbers already show, but is it going to have the legs of Mario? Not sure…
This movie nears the offensive margin for male audiences. Let’s see if this is just me and my biased view or if there’s some reason behind it.
Power Pro
Gold Member
I have to kill about 3 hours tonight before I pick up someone from work, so I still might go see this. I like to put on my critic hat, and make educated critiques of movies, and sadly Oppenheimer is too long for me to fit into my free time window.
Like I said before, I just wish this could have been a fun easy going movie with some comedy worth seeing.
Like I said before, I just wish this could have been a fun easy going movie with some comedy worth seeing.
WoodyStare
Member
Huge might have been too strong a word, but she’s definitely one of the more popular A-list stars in Hollywood. In the first 10 years of her career, she’s already worked with Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Damien Chazelle, David O. Russell and Wes Anderson (among many others). She might not have been the central draw to those films, but some of them certainly put her on everyone’s radar, and it helps that a few were nominated for multiple awards.
She was arguably the best thing about DCs monstrosity that was their EU. Birds of Prey didn’t exactly light up the box office, but this was also an R rated superhero film released a month before Covid lockdowns (also in competition with Sonic the following week). I’m shocked it even crossed $200 million given the circumstances.
She’s also shown versatility as an actor (see I, Tonya if you haven’t, great film she was nominated for), and I can’t say she’s given a bad performance. People seem to like her in general. Barbie was perfect casting, and many seem to love her in the role.
It also helps that she’s a total smokeshow.
InterMusketeer
Member
It'd be so easy to morph this story into a more positive, unifying one. Barbie would be horrified to find not all girls have the same experience as her, but ultimately realizes she's no different due to her own oppression of Kens back in Barbie World. Meanwhile Ken would learn that a simple role-reversal and taking revenge on Barbies is not the right way either. Then they start working together to build an equal and free Barbie World.
It's a shame they took the concept and turned it into an intersectional feminist manifesto.
It's a shame they took the concept and turned it into an intersectional feminist manifesto.