|
Finally watched this. Overall I enjoyed it but I was getting whiplash from moment to moment on having a great time and being so bored. Basically, whenever the film slowed down to deliver a direct point on patriarchy I felt like it was overplaying it's hand. I get why - this is a film that will have a big child/tween audience and they want to be direct and make sure the message is delivered, but I think being so direct about it only revealed how rarefied the perspective on feminism in this is. Talking about having to be everything as a woman - I've never actually heard a woman in real life talk this way, or say it is a pressure they feel. Some aspects of it, sure, but I think this is something connected and priveleged women feel acutely due to their circumstances and pressure they put on themselves as much as is coming from the outside world. It also felt pretty out of date, things have improved to the extent that most of the patriarchy criticism isn't relevant anymore except possibly in the circles of CEOs which again, rarefied. Otherwise, the film was good fun and I enjoyed the comedy of the Ken's, although yeah their form of macho is probably about 15 years out of date but that makes sense considering Gerwig and Baumbauch are behind this and are a bit older. That even sort of plays into how the standout moments of the film mostly come from Ken - he gets most of the laugh lines, and the Ken's get the big musical number, while the Barbie's are generally just smart and capable. It's a dynamic straight out of a 90's sitcom, really. I appreciated Ken's general arc from a toddler to a rebellious teen to a young man finding the start of self-acceptance. That came through clearly. Barbie's arc didn't, and the movie even highlights this at the end, having to directly interrogate what her ending is. I do like the line about wanting to be the one who imagines and not that idea, but I think the movie was really struggling to find satisfaction here having to go to a montage of random girls and woman and having the weirdly inserted Ruth Handler character show up. Interesting movie. roomtone fucked around with this message at 14:21 on Sep 9, 2023 |
#
¿
Sep 9, 2023 13:59
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 21, 2024 01:19 |
|
|
also michael cera as allan was really underused. they keep cutting to him but he never says much.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 9, 2023 14:22
|
|
|
stratdax posted:I was bored when Barbie was onscreen but I liked the Ken bits. Also, I've never heard a woman say exactly the things said in this movie about patriarchy, so the point is moot, even though the movie was written and directed by a woman. Anyway, patriarchy doesn't exist anymore. I never said I was bored when Barbie was onscreen. That happens a lot when people respond to something with clear battle lines, things get made up. I pretty much stand by the post otherwise. There are bits of social observation that I liked, ie how Barbie noticed men objectifying her in a vaguely threatening way the second she stepped into the real world. That was brief, funny and astute. On the other hand, Greta Gerwig can personally feel all the things that were in America Ferrera's big speech are true and it can still be a total dud as entertainment and an exageration as a social statement. They also chose to make Ken the funniest character and give him the big musical number rather than Barbie. Not my fault. roomtone fucked around with this message at 00:39 on Nov 4, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Nov 4, 2023 00:34
|
|