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EARLY ACCESS: Barbie (2023) | Movie Reaction | First Time Watching (Patreon)

Published:
2023-11-27 20:00:05
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2026-06
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I'm (Not) a Barbie Girl... In a Barbie World! Today we check out the blockbuster smash of 2023, BARBIE! Here's our reaction to our first time watching.

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EARLY ACCESS: Barbie (2023) | Movie Reaction | First Time Watching

I'm (Not) a Barbie Girl... In a Barbie World! Today we check out the blockbuster smash of 2023, BARBIE! Here's our reaction to our first time watching.

Comments

Anonymous

knew you guys wouldn't totally hate it! gonna watch the YouTube premiere rn lol

Heida

I understand and respect that this movie isn't for everyone. However, so many people completely missed the point and chose to be offended or cry about how "woke" and "feminist" it is. The movie literally says that the Kens would go on to be treated to how women in the real world are treated. Barbieland is like the real world, but instead of a patriarchy it's a matriarchy. Barbie shows how the patriarchy hurts everyone, including men. It forces expectations on the Kens to act a certain way, they are still unfulfilled and are fighting amongst themselves (if you're gonna argue that it was because the Barbies made them turn on each other, that was just what pushed them over the edge). The patriarchy is not just men, it's society as a whole. Women are part of the problem too. This isn't about hating men or that "women are so much better than men". It's a commentary about how women are viewed as LESS THAN in the real world and how men are told what a "real" man is supposed to be like (into trucks, beer, women, fighting and not in touch with their feelings). Ken's entire existence is based around Barbie, which is how women are often viewed in the real world. The message is that we're EQUAL and WORTHY on our own. Barbie doesn't just exist to look good and Ken doesn't just exist to be Barbie's boyfriend/sidekick. They are enough on their own (or Kenough). Also, Barbie doesn't necessarily treat Ken badly, she just doesn't want to be in a relationship with him and he refuses to take the hint. Men have been taught that women owe them something so when Barbie rejects him he takes it as her being mean to him. But she doesn't actually owe him ANYTHING. When Ken mentions getting a seat in the Supreme Court and President Barbie shuts him down, that was simply to parallel where women in the real world had to start. Never did the movie imply that it was right of the Barbies. I like how the ending isn't pretending all the problems in Barbieland are solved (as was said of the real world in the beginning), instead it shows they still have more work to do (like we do). And if people are more triggered and upset by how the Kens are treated in the movie rather than how women are being treated and have been treated in the real world (and we're not just talking not having a seat at the Supreme Court) then it went completely over their heads. Sasha's rant is a subtle nod at the ironic duality of Barbie existing as both a feminist icon and a symbol of capitalism, patriarchy and unrealistic beauty standards. If Barbie were an actual woman, she would be 5'9" tall, have a 39" bust, an 18" waist, 33" hips and a size 3 shoe. Barbie calls this a "full figure" and likes her weight at 110 lbs. At 5'9" tall and weighing 110 lbs, Barbie would have a BMI of 16.24 and fit the weight criteria for anorexia. She likely would not menstruate. If Barbie was a real woman, she'd have to walk on all fours due to her proportions. Slumber Party Barbie was introduced in 1965 and came with a bathroom scale permanently set at 110 lbs with a book entitled "How to Lose Weight" with directions inside stating simply "Don't eat". It took until 1980 for a Black Barbie to be launched, and even then, she still had Eurocentric features. The first wheelchair Barbie was released in 1997, only to almost completely disappear just a few years later. It wasn’t until 2016, less than 10 years ago, that Mattel introduced Barbies with different body types. It took 57 years for these iconic dolls to be anything other than slim. Even this movie is centred around a thin, tall, white, blonde, cis woman. One must admit the sheer irony of Mattel funding a critique of Mattel which created big profits for Mattel. There was up to 15-20% jump in sales on Barbie related items after the movie came out. In this day and age it’s impossible to escape unethical consumerism. But at the very least, be aware of what these companies are doing. Mattel, like all billion-dollar companies, do not operate ethically. They employ underpaid workers in horrible working conditions, they produce a lot of plastic and they exploit the feminist narrative as long as it will make them money. They don’t actually give a damn about feminism. The scenes that take place at the Mattel headquarters is a commentary on performative equity—words and policies that companies put in place that claim they do equity work, but don’t actually result in any measurable improvements or impact for equity-deserving groups. Instead, performative equity often just further cements systemic issues and maintains the status quo. Some people are confused by the ending but I think it's genius. Because, aside from the fact that they have emphasised that she is a doll and therefore doesn't have a vagina, going to the gyno is just a part of being a woman/having a vagina. It's so mundane and something we don't really think about. It symbolises Barbie transitioning into a human/adult, similar to girls going go the gyno for the first time representing that transition from girl to woman. Director Greta Gerwig said she grew up being ashamed of her body and going to the gyno, which I think is true for a lot of women. Also a little touch not many people notice in the final scene is that Barbie is wearing pink sandals, a combination of Weird Barbie's choice between a brown sandal and a pink heel. This shows how she has found balance between Barbieland and the real world. Margot Robbie is fabulous as always but Ryan Gosling just took it to another level as Ken! I also think America Ferrera's performance is very underrated. Some Barbie/Mattel/Ruth facts: Ruth Handler, played by Rhea Perlman, invented Barbie and was co-founder of Mattel with her husband Elliot. Barbie was based on/inspired by a German toy doll called Bild Lilli, a prostitute gag gift handed out at bachelor parties. Ruth redesigned the doll and it was given a new name, Barbie, after the Handler's daughter Barbara. Later, Ken was created after their son Kenneth (plus many other characters). Ruth was in fact arrested for tax evasion, which caused her to resign at Mattel. She was charged with fraud and false reporting to the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission, and was punished with a fine of $57,000 and 2,500 hours of community service. Ruth died from complications of surgery for colon cancer in 2002, aged 85. Her husband Elliot died nine years later, aged 95. Their son Kenneth, who was an American screenwriter, director, and film composer, came out as gay to his parents and acknowledged his AIDS diagnosis in 1990. Ruth tried to help her son get treatment but he died in 1994 at age 50. Their daughter Barbara, whom Barbie is named after, is 82 and alive. Ryan Gosling's Ken is inspired by Sun Lovin' Malibu Ken from 1979. Allan is a real doll from 1964 and Ken's best friend (only friend really). As Allan fights the construction Kens, he quotes the taglines that appeared on his box when he was first released: "He's Ken's buddy" and "All his clothes fit him!" His girlfriend-turned-wife Midge, aka pregnant Barbie, also appears in the movie. She was initially released in 1963 as Barbie's best friend but was discontinued in 1967. Like Allan, Midge enjoyed a couple of resurrections in the '80s and '90s but it came to an abrupt end in 2002 with a pregnant Midge. The belly was a magnet that kids could remove and when they did they'd find a small, removable baby inside Midge. She was discontinued because she was thought to promote teen pregnancy and unwed mothers, in spite of being an adult who was married to Allan. The swimsuit Barbie is wearing in the opening scene (which is a parody of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey) is a recreation of the original 1959 outfit that first debuted in stores. All the Barbies/Kens and the outfits in the movie were produced by Mattel at some point. Doctor Barbie is played by Hari Nef, a transgender woman. The first transgender Barbie was inspired by Laverne Cox (famous actress known for Orange Is The New Black etc.) and released in 2022 as part of the Tribute Collection series honoring iconic women. Sasha and her friends closely resemble Mattel's 2002 "MyScene" dolls, who were introduced to compete with Bratz. Until 2015, with the introduction of Barbie dolls with feet molded to be flat so that they can wear flat footwear, nearly all of Barbie's feet were molded to only wear high heels. Fans were disappointed when it was announced that Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” wouldn’t be featured in the movie. This is most likely due to the legal battle between Mattel and Aqua’s record company MCA Records. Margot Robbie begged Greta Gerwig to incorporate the song which led to the remix by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice titled "Barbie World", using a sample of "Barbie Girl". Because of that Aqua are credited as co-writers and performers on the track. Fun movie/behind the scenes facts: Barbie was a record-breaking box office success. It grossed an impressive $162 million in its opening weekend. The movie crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide on August 6th 2023, just two weeks after arriving in theaters, making it the first movie by a female director to do so. As of November 19th 2023, Barbie has grossed a total of $1.442 billion. Ryan Gosling accepted the role after seeing his daughter's Ken doll lying face down in the mud next to a squished lemon. He then took a photo of it and sent it to Greta Gerwig, saying, "I shall be your Ken, his story must be told." Also, he improvised the "sublime" line as well as the shot where he is wearing two sunglasses. Mark Ronson wrote the song "I'm Just Ken" largely as a joke and recorded a demo for Greta Gerwig not seriously expecting it to be included on the soundtrack. However, she and Ryan Gosling liked the song so much it was made into a musical number. Mark said he was amazed how much Ryan's interpretation of the song improved from the original. Barbieland was created almost entirely using practical effects. The backgrounds were all hand-painted and most locations like the Dreamhouses were real sets. The transition scenes between Barbieland and the real world were also practical, using old-school movie tricks to achieve the feeling of motion, such as crew members turning cranks to make waves move in the ocean. At the end of the movie, the montage of women is footage of the actual cast and crew's family and friends. The shot of the woman applying blush to her cheek is a friend of Margot Robbie's about to get married. The older woman on the bench is played by Oscar-winning costume designer Ann Roth (though she did not design the costumes for this movie). That scene was supposed to be cut but Greta Gerwig refused as she felt that the scene represented "the heart of the movie". America Ferrera's husband in the movie is played by her real life husband, Ryan Piers Williams.