I may be trying too hard to impose order on philosophical incoherence, but I did see find a message. It is: be a mom! The 2001 A Space Odyssey takeoff at the beginning had all the little girls ominously smashing their baby dolls, driven to metaphorical infanticide by the possibility of, well, looking like Margo Robbie in a swimsuit. But then Stereotypical Barbie cycles through the dawning awareness of death and the meaninglessness of her plastic, consumerist existence, encounters the "patriarchy", and watches it infect Barbie-land only, to be mitigated by the power of maternal love in the form of America Ferrara, whose only motivation is a better relationship with her daughter. The final montage is mostly children, begin loved by their parents. That is everything. The last scene is a visit to a gynecologist -- usually the first thing a woman who is ready to get pregnant does.
Yeah, I think this is the most plausible version of a trad read on the movie. My only reservation about it is it doesn’t square with some of the other scenes (why does she have to abandon Ken to “find herself” if motherhood is gonna be her final fulfillment?) and I suspect we may be misreading the significance of the gynecologist as an emblem for the girlboss Left. In reality most people do associate gynecology with natal care, but on the Left “the gynecologist” has also become an emblem for “bodily autonomy,” STD testing, abortion, etc. It’s possible she’s having a baby, but if so who’s the dad? I thought it was more in the pink-hat mold than the maternal mold--like, look, she has private parts now, that makes her a real woman! But again, I do think the text is too scattered to really interpret convincingly one way or another. You may be right about the intent.
Well said! We can always count on you to elucidate our jumbled thoughts in a way that not only makes sense, but also sounds erudite and comprehensible. Thank you.
I have debated for some time whether or not to watch this movie. I mostly rewatch movies I know to be “classics” or the old westerns from days gone by. I suspected the Barbie movie was a hot mess and so I never bothered. But hearing that Ryan Gosling once again turned in a stellar performance, how could I have doubted, compels me to take the plunge. Thank you.
So, I bit the bullet and watched Barbie and it is as you explained, a hit mess. Some context, I am a 62 year old woman who has been married for 38 years. I have children and grandchildren and the larger part of my life has been given over to my family. The one bit of truth I saw was Rhea Perlman’s Ruth saying that as mother’s we stand back so our daughters can move forward and see how far they’ve gone, or something like that. I would have also added “our sons.”
But this is a movie whose consistent coherent thought is to marginalize and denigrate men. And that is my biggest complaint. Where would the world be without men to do the difficult and icky work? But the worst scene was the only father in the film, who was nonstop treated as irrelevant, who was trying to learn Spanish for his Hispanic wife and daughter (because her white half doesn’t count) being mocked and told he couldn’t say something because it was appropriation.
If you are looking for any type of coherent theme it is this, men are irrelevant, goofy, and useless, unnecessary, and unwanted. Kind of a sad and pathetic way to look at humans.
I may be trying too hard to impose order on philosophical incoherence, but I did see find a message. It is: be a mom! The 2001 A Space Odyssey takeoff at the beginning had all the little girls ominously smashing their baby dolls, driven to metaphorical infanticide by the possibility of, well, looking like Margo Robbie in a swimsuit. But then Stereotypical Barbie cycles through the dawning awareness of death and the meaninglessness of her plastic, consumerist existence, encounters the "patriarchy", and watches it infect Barbie-land only, to be mitigated by the power of maternal love in the form of America Ferrara, whose only motivation is a better relationship with her daughter. The final montage is mostly children, begin loved by their parents. That is everything. The last scene is a visit to a gynecologist -- usually the first thing a woman who is ready to get pregnant does.
Yeah, I think this is the most plausible version of a trad read on the movie. My only reservation about it is it doesn’t square with some of the other scenes (why does she have to abandon Ken to “find herself” if motherhood is gonna be her final fulfillment?) and I suspect we may be misreading the significance of the gynecologist as an emblem for the girlboss Left. In reality most people do associate gynecology with natal care, but on the Left “the gynecologist” has also become an emblem for “bodily autonomy,” STD testing, abortion, etc. It’s possible she’s having a baby, but if so who’s the dad? I thought it was more in the pink-hat mold than the maternal mold--like, look, she has private parts now, that makes her a real woman! But again, I do think the text is too scattered to really interpret convincingly one way or another. You may be right about the intent.
Yes, but...what IS a woman?
Well said! We can always count on you to elucidate our jumbled thoughts in a way that not only makes sense, but also sounds erudite and comprehensible. Thank you.
Grace and peace, Jane
You're so kind. Thank you!
I have debated for some time whether or not to watch this movie. I mostly rewatch movies I know to be “classics” or the old westerns from days gone by. I suspected the Barbie movie was a hot mess and so I never bothered. But hearing that Ryan Gosling once again turned in a stellar performance, how could I have doubted, compels me to take the plunge. Thank you.
So, I bit the bullet and watched Barbie and it is as you explained, a hit mess. Some context, I am a 62 year old woman who has been married for 38 years. I have children and grandchildren and the larger part of my life has been given over to my family. The one bit of truth I saw was Rhea Perlman’s Ruth saying that as mother’s we stand back so our daughters can move forward and see how far they’ve gone, or something like that. I would have also added “our sons.”
But this is a movie whose consistent coherent thought is to marginalize and denigrate men. And that is my biggest complaint. Where would the world be without men to do the difficult and icky work? But the worst scene was the only father in the film, who was nonstop treated as irrelevant, who was trying to learn Spanish for his Hispanic wife and daughter (because her white half doesn’t count) being mocked and told he couldn’t say something because it was appropriation.
If you are looking for any type of coherent theme it is this, men are irrelevant, goofy, and useless, unnecessary, and unwanted. Kind of a sad and pathetic way to look at humans.