#tbh I don't really dig what this Barbie movie is about | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sailorsunspot · 10 months

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barbie spoilers ahead, these are my general thoughts on the movie

DO NOT READ IF YOU CARE ABOUT SPOILERS FOR BARBIE

The GOOD:

Sasha

Biggest note is I don't know why the movie wasn't about her???

I thought she felt really true and honest and a great representation of the unique position Gen Z have been put in.

Her preteen disaffected angst and disillusion felt SO correct, both because at that age you just feel jaded and angst but also? Because she's right to be jaded and angsty in a lot of ways. All the stuff she's been told and promised? DONT work out the way it should

I think they kind of missed the mark on really digging into her and her relationship with Gloria and her relationship with Barbie (which is a proxy for womanhood). Think you could have had an incredible movie talking about all the ways the concept of Barbie serves/hurts women through different generational lenses. Because Barbie was useful to Gloria but was also a cudgel (as it was a major plot point, her making these "wrong" Barbie's as a coping mechanism). And we know how Sasha felt with her iconic Sasha rant, but also, she wound up missing the whimsy and the joy and the inspiration Barbie offers

ANYWAY I love Sasha so much, I wish the movie featured her more, and I thought her journey when it came to getting closer to her mother by protecting her mother's ideals and wants and intentionally trying to make space for other women (she did that with both her mom AND ALSO with Barbie at the end, where she was literally the only character like: "Okay, but what about what Barbie wants???") was extremely well written and touching.

The Humor & Style

Not all the bits landed for me, but I generally loved the pro-camp and playful tone of the movie, and genuinely laughed at several points

Genuinely loved the style and the visuals - 10/10

The Content Editting

Tbh, I thought it was smart that they were like: yep, nope, we're not touching racism/ablism in this movie, we're just cool with it. Because…there's just so much to discuss, and no one story can service all things.

The BAD

Barbie's roll as a protaganist

I think this was intentional, but she was the most passive protaganist I've ever seen? Thoughts on this was she was just kind of like…an object to be projected onto so this kind of tracks with the theming of the movie right - like she was forced to go on her heroes journey against her will, when she returns home, she doesn't "save" Barbie-land, she gives up and it's actually Sasha and Gloria and Weird Barbie that does the saving (both because they want to try and also they come up with the plan). I think the most agency she shows in the movie is going to console Ken (which…will talk on that point more later), until the VERY end, when she chooses to become a real "woman". Really her role is more of the witness in the movie?

The Mattel thing

Originally I hated this and would have cut the entire Will Farrel thing, but my friend brought up some interesting points about how that might've been an intentional dig on the uselessness of corporate structure, etc. I still woulda cut it, but that at least makes it an interesting thought experiment tbh.

The Focus on Barbieland

Yeah I know it's like impossible to solve like…Patriarchy in the real world so in that sense it's smart to limit the scope of the danger to a play world where change can actually happen in a satisfying way overnight but like…

In the end, I feel like i dont know anything about Gloria and Sasha other than what I, a reasonably learned media consumer, can infer from the context? Idk, felt like a missed opportunity to dig more into their actual real life experience with womanhood instead of saving the fake construct idea of womanhood, because then we lack context on why the way Barbieland has "changed" is for the better. Since Barbieland and Barbie as a whole is a proxy for the idea of "woman", it felt like we needed more

The plot is supposed to be a reflection of the internal struggle, also known as the "story". How does saving Barbieland reflect onto the main characters of the story, (Barbie, I guess?) Is it just that she realized she no longer wanted to serve the ideal and

the UGLY:

Very VERY narrow definition of Womanhood

This is partially intentional cause of the dolls, but, lol, you cannot have a feminist movie and not cover things like queerness, GNC, etc. Or I guess you can, but it just comes off as the most superficial white liberal version of feminism imaginable. Disappointing, considering the movie did a good job of saying "we're not touching racism and ableism, not because it doesnt exist but because there's only so much we can fit in a movie" but it at least acknowledged those things with their active presence in the movie.

ESPECIALLY since Barbie = the proxy for womanhood, I guess fuck me i'm not a woman then haha

I KNOW that the cast included a trans actor, but that that means nothing within the context of the story other than, congrats show-runners for correctly identifying women, lmao.

Similarly, you absolute CAN have a million and one queer "interpretations" of Barbie, of the Kens, of Allen in particular. Still, it's all on the person who interprets it, not actually in the subtext of the story. Yeah sorry in the year of 2023 I dont give properties props for making me do the work for them, that's some tumblr ass bullshit i cannot abide by. Support my reading with the text or it doesn't count.

Literally all you needed was a single barbie who expanded the view of a woman was, a single Barbie who was like "actually maybe i want to wear Ken's clothes" or "maybe I dont want to hang out with Ken maybe I want to hang out with this other Barbie winkyface".

Ken

Why

No seriously, why

Why does even the Barbie movie, made for Barbie, made for girls, have to cater to the opinions and emotions of fucking MEN?

I have a lot to say about this, but instead of railing on this ad nauseam the big things are:

Ken literally never even apologized for intentionally using the patriarchy to intentionally hurt barbie.

Barbie had to apologize to ken??? For accidentally hurting his feeling by not giving him the attention he wanted?

How did they turn this "feminist" movie into such fucking incel bait holy shit

They were clearly doing the "patriarchy hurts everyone" bullshit but like, they literally covered that with Allan???

so it just makes it feel more BS when they, literally in the fucking text of the movie, have to remind Barbie with Gloria saying "hi, stop infantalizing/mothering your babymanchild he stole your home, fucked up your life, ruined your town" and Barbie was like Yeah you right girl and then not 20- minutes later GAVE IN ANYWAY.

I know im a man hating dyke but fuck. when they make THE LITERAL BARBIE MOVIE about making men comfortable then i think i am 100% in the right to be fucking pissy about this

#barbie #barbie spoilers #movie review #spoiler alert im a fucking hater #i actually have a lot of further thoughts on the ken thing #but this succinctly covers the majority of it #i literally fucking HATE the treatment he got in this movie

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ehbunnehsblog · 3 years

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So someone made this post I thought was really cool and I wanted to answer it the person who made the post goes by @buh-beep so please go give that post a like and follow them with all that said here are the questions

1. What is the oldest doll you own?

Probably my Beautiful Crissy doll from 1968 although that may not be the date for that exact doll she is pretty old. She was made by the company ideal.

2. What is the doll you got most recently?

My Bratz Collecters Yasmin from 2018 by MGA. When I lived with my mom she bought her for me I think she gave me a card and we got it. I don't have her or any of these dolls anymore since I don't live with my mother for personal reasons.

3. Favorite Type of Doll?

Hands down Bratz. They have been my absolute fave since I was a little girl and i still love them their fashion, makeup just everything really is iconic and I really believe that they might have the same impact as Barbie once I get older. Now if we talk about favorite lines? That will have to be for another time.

4. Least Favorite Type of Doll?

Pinkie Cooper. It's cute I had one but I was just not interested in the dolls sadly I definitely think it was an interesting idea though and its probably perfect for some people I just never knew where she would fit in with my other dolls. Also when I saw my cousin and his ex they had stuff for me and for some reason I could only take two things home and my mom sorta had me take her home when I could have had a Hannah Montana doll so rip :p

5. How many dolls do you own?

Zero now rip but honestly idk. I had mostly Bratz and sorta collected but now I might genuinely try to collect them.

6. What is a doll you had and wish you still did?

Tan Bratz Passion 4 Fashion Cloe. I still really wish I kept her but I was going through this dumb phase where I just stopped caring about my dolls and we had this science project in school and I did mine on hair dye and dyed her hair using some fruit or something and gave her away. If anyone knows where I can get her (hopefully for cheap) please tell me I really loved her she was also one of my friends absolute favorites.

7. What does your wish list look like?

A lotta Bratz mostly but that would be a very long list so to save you the details two of the series I want are the Tokyo a Gogo dolls, Formal Funk and Flashback Fever.

8. Prettiest Doll you Own?

Honestly have no clue all of them are gorgeous but I think one of my prettiest is definitely Rock Angelz Sasha I would love to own more Sasha dolls shes so gorgeous.

9. Ugliest Doll you own but love anyways?

I don't think I own any ugly ones really just ones that had messed up hair so I don't really have anything to add here. Actually hmm maybe my first edition Cameron and Dylan Bratz dolls they are still cool though.

10. Cutest Doll you own?

Either my Barbie Peek a Boos or my Mindy Mint Chocolate Chip Yummyland doll. I love Bratz but I really wish I saw more cutesy but fashionable dolls I believe they should bring back Yummyland dolls they smell so dang good and because kids love slim maybe they could add a small bottle (in a shape of a drink) that smells nice too? Idk lol.

11. Biggest Doll you own?

A Barbie doll that is I believe 28" in size after that I would say my Beautiful Crissy Doll and than my Yummyland doll.

12. Smallest doll you own?

All of my Barbie Peekaboos and Polly Pockets. Since Polly came back I think Mattel has the perfect chance to bring back Barbie Peek a Boos. They are pretty small so I kept them in a basket I am used to the size of Bratz I find them easier to hold over Barbie Peek a Boos or Polly's.

13. What doll in your collection is worth most?

Hmm probably Beautiful Crissy tbh I wanted her because when i was in grade 8 i watched these old vintage commercials on YouTube and i saw her and i just thought she was one of the most gorgeous dolls. I don't have her now because again shes at my moms but I don't think I could sell her shes just really cute and I think dolls from that time and older are special and tell a story and show a different time.

14. Doll you will never buy and why?

Lamilly and American Girls. I know these dolls especially American Girls are very popular for a lot of people but I am not really into dolls that are supposed to be like me I like fashion dolls mostly or really cutesy dolls. I think American Dolls are pretty iconic in their own way but I just can't see me owning one and for Lamilly same deal I feel like its trying to put down other dolls and make Lamilly seem superior and I just don't dig it. I don't like Barbie's a whole lot but I dislike like Lamilly I think it's a good message but it just feels meh? Idk other dolls I will never own are Blythe's I have this thing with dolls with eyes like that and I think it would probably spook me a bit.

15. Strangest doll you own?

Pinkie Cooper hands down. Again she just doesn't fit anywhere and shes so odd and really stands out from the others not that that's always a bad thing but as someone who is mostly into Bratz, Monster High and Ever After High she just doesn't go anywhere although she would probably fit in maybe with the EAH dolls. Another is probably the big Barbie like I didn't want her I just got her as a Christmas present one year and yeah that's that.

16. Biggest Doll Related Regret?

Giving away that Cloe doll I will always regret that also almost wanting to sell my Bratz and not bringing my dolls with me when I left my moms and went to my dads. Also I just wanna say my dad is the coolest and one day we had a nice convo about toys and stuff it was pretty rad.

17. What's the most important aspect of a doll in your opinion?

I just want to say I absolutely love this question this is the main reason why I wanted to make this post. I believe the most important aspect is if the owner finds joy in that doll because if you don't we wouldn't have so many people collecting dolls and dolls wouldn't be sold. I think dolls are very important and can build up good skills. Another important aspect is if you can pose the doll and depending on if it's a fashion dolls is if it has good clothes and good fabric all of these are so important but as long as people find joy that's the most important.

18. What's your doll related pet peeve

People are gonna hate this and I apologize but I find it difficult to watch or look at people changing the dolls like not in clothes changing but repaints it's cool and some of them are absolutely gorgeous but sometimes I have a bit of a pet peeve of them mostly because I am so worried that I will never find those dolls because people use them and repaint them. Their aren't many Bratz repaints though so I don't get bothered too much and when they do repaints they make the faces so pretty and I would love for MGA to use some of the screenings some of these people use because they look so good.

19. When did you start collecting dolls?

This might be an odd opinion but I think that anyone can be a doll collector even if they don't mean to be like for me I don't call myself a doll collector but I sorta am? Even though I never meant to be but now I do want to collect but it started with Bratz when I was young but now I want to take it a bit more seriously.

20. Have any doll related stories?

Well I never first fought anyone I was way too young lol but I do have two good stories number 1 is on Christmas a few years back my grandparents before they both passed bought me a Holiday Yasmin doll from 2007 don't know how they found it but they did and I loved that doll but again at my moms rip another one is one Christmas I got two of the same Bratz Cade dolls and for the longest time I thought it was Dylan because the doll looked exactly like Dylan does in the movies and shows lol! I might go into more stories on my dolls because there are a few that I really like.

With all of these questions answered I will once again ask people who see this to go like and follow @buh-beep who made the original post. This was intended for doll collectors I believe personally I don't call myself a collector but as someone who loves dolls I thought this would be fun and it really was if anyone wants to this I suggest it. Its really fun and I like sharing this stuff with you guys.

☆With all that said I hope you liked this post. Please give me a follow i post a lot of stuff like this☆

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