Some thoughts on the barbie movie
The fact that Ken literally destroyed Barbie's entire world and there were no consequences or blame or any attempt at understanding the ramifications of his actions or why the real world isn't ideal, but instead had his situation bettered by the barbies, rewarding him for his absent-minded toddler tantrum really throws me off.
There was no respect there, not for her belongings, not for her professions, and not for her, but there's such a push for a romantic relationship throughout the whole movie, that isn't or can't be resolved, other than Barbie clearly saying she's not interested and that maybe she would be if ken had an identity? and now Barbie has to share her space with him out of --I guess fear of another mutiny? I'm so sorry that Barbie has to experience the tragedy of one-sided attraction from a pushy friend, and it's something those types of people won't pick up on because it wasn't spelled out for them as the betrayal of trust that it can be. I'm also not convince that Ken even liked Barbie, I think he just desperately needed a purpose and social capital.
Also, that Ken had a whole revelation scene of not knowing who he was and it was so built up, but Barbie had the same problem, just kind of shoved into the end of his crisis that he wasn't just "beach"? This is her movie? I still don't care about Ken? He's a dick?
I'm choosing to believe that these are just examples of the hypocrisies of womanhood presented in the rant, because I believe everything is intentional. And I'm glad for how radical it is while pulling punches because it DOES need to reach ears that would be shut from the villianization of Ken, and it has, because I watched it in my tiny cheap local theater in the rural/suburban Midwest. It is important that people who don't consider themselves feminists maybe begin to understand that feminism doesn't exclude men, but benefits everybody. Maybe the lack of a villain makes it harder to explain away, and leaves a more lasting impact on people, challenging black and white thinking and encouraging debate. But idk I was hoping for something radical, not something that I've heard and lived over and over again.
