This is really interesting to hear, as someone who's still trying to decide whether to go and see it. Reading your post, I realised I had been unconsciously hoping for Barbie to be something akin to The Lego Movie, which was made by anarchists, and it really shows in many aspects of the storytelling. I'm still amazed they skewered the authoritarianism of policing with the Good Cop/Bad Cop thing, especially given that it's another licensed feature, and The Lego Group obviously continue to derive considerable revenue from selling police toys...
I would've loved to see the Kens just being gay - like these overlooked dudes turn out to have been having their own party on Doll Fire Island or something. But it sounds a bit like the ways feminist reimaginings pitched at a mainstream audience in the pre-Me Too era could sometimes be very simplistic and on-the-nose in their messaging and humour.
I loved reading this, Aisling. So the Barbie thing flew over my head as a kid, and I was handed one and couldn't, for the non-diagnosed autistic kid in me, understand what I was to do with it, so I cut the hair off her head. My dad was in the army, and Action Man appealed to me more, so he got me one too. I find Barbie just too much to deal with from a sexualized stereotype perspective; even the recent Down syndrome doll started me on an autistic rant as I found it a bit disingenuous, but I totally get the nostalgia it brings for many. I don't think I will be going to see it personally, but I enjoyed your insight. I hope the thesis is coming along okay. I loved doing my MA, so I'm tempted to do a PhD, but it will have to wait for now.
Ahh such a great read!! I haven't seen it and kind of was on the fence about it. I (and other QTPOC!) have complicated feelings about Barbie, so thank you for this review!
Jul 27, 2023·edited Jul 27, 2023Liked by Aisling Walsh
I agree with *everything* you say here. I couldn’t quite believe how much of (the) Ken(s) we were seeing and how much of the ‘fun’ came from his implementation of the patriarchy in Barbieland. It was well executed and everything, but wasn’t what I wanted and wasn’t why I saw the film. Politically, it was just so - basic. Thank you for your post!
This is really interesting to hear, as someone who's still trying to decide whether to go and see it. Reading your post, I realised I had been unconsciously hoping for Barbie to be something akin to The Lego Movie, which was made by anarchists, and it really shows in many aspects of the storytelling. I'm still amazed they skewered the authoritarianism of policing with the Good Cop/Bad Cop thing, especially given that it's another licensed feature, and The Lego Group obviously continue to derive considerable revenue from selling police toys...
I would've loved to see the Kens just being gay - like these overlooked dudes turn out to have been having their own party on Doll Fire Island or something. But it sounds a bit like the ways feminist reimaginings pitched at a mainstream audience in the pre-Me Too era could sometimes be very simplistic and on-the-nose in their messaging and humour.
I loved reading this, Aisling. So the Barbie thing flew over my head as a kid, and I was handed one and couldn't, for the non-diagnosed autistic kid in me, understand what I was to do with it, so I cut the hair off her head. My dad was in the army, and Action Man appealed to me more, so he got me one too. I find Barbie just too much to deal with from a sexualized stereotype perspective; even the recent Down syndrome doll started me on an autistic rant as I found it a bit disingenuous, but I totally get the nostalgia it brings for many. I don't think I will be going to see it personally, but I enjoyed your insight. I hope the thesis is coming along okay. I loved doing my MA, so I'm tempted to do a PhD, but it will have to wait for now.
Ahh such a great read!! I haven't seen it and kind of was on the fence about it. I (and other QTPOC!) have complicated feelings about Barbie, so thank you for this review!
I agree with *everything* you say here. I couldn’t quite believe how much of (the) Ken(s) we were seeing and how much of the ‘fun’ came from his implementation of the patriarchy in Barbieland. It was well executed and everything, but wasn’t what I wanted and wasn’t why I saw the film. Politically, it was just so - basic. Thank you for your post!