A couple nights ago I managed to sneak out with only my 15-year-old daughter to catch the Barbie movie in the theater. Since it had already been out for four or five days, I’d seen all the outrage and/or praise for it plastered on socials. I know you’ll be shocked to discover that as a woman born in 1983 who went on to have five daughters of her own — I’ve long been a Barbie fan. Over the years we’ve had countless dolls, sets, a Dream House, and hundreds (thousands?) of clothes and accessories. My older girls even had one of those Power Wheel Barbie Jeeps to drive around in the driveway.
ALL movies ARE; in fact.....MOVIES. But what exactly does that MEAN? That there IS NO 'message', and if so; then what are we watching; and why? If there IS no message; good or bad; right or wrong; then it's all mindless drivel. There is ALWAYS SOMETHING in ANY movie. OR book. OR....ANYTHING; or else they would all be worthless and no one would FEEL bothered to spend time/money on them.
Of COURSE there IS a 'message' in the Barbie MOVIE; there's no two ways about it. It's sort of like the "Rorschach test", everyone sees in a movie what their minds/hearts are already inclined towards. If you are a liberal; your liberal heart and mind will either squeeze every drop of liberalism from it; OR you will LOATHE it if it has NO liberalism in it; and the same is true for conservative hearts and minds.
We will latch onto what we personally like; despise what we personally hate.
For me; when I hear from what I find to be reputable sources saying something about a book or movie and they explain in detail why they believe it's propaganda (And what isn't, these days?), then I'm seriously inclined to avoid it; I 'vote' with my wallet; or lack thereof. I don't want to 'feed the beast' and make it grow stronger. In THOSE cases; it's NOT ever 'just a movie' or book; it's an attempt at manipulating the masses into believing whatever they are pushing. If it's not an ideology I approve of; I don't partake of it. If it is; I will.
So Barbie MAY be 'only a movie', but unless there was ZERO influence towards the right or the left; then it was ALSO much MORE than 'JUST a movie'.
If we want to partake of something; even if we are told 'it has 'this' and 'this' and 'this' in it; and all of those 'it's' mean nothing to us; then YES; we can sit back, relax, and enjoy it as 'just a movie'.
And that's fine; nothing wrong with that. But it's also perfectly fine to/for all of the others that do see all of the 'it's' in it; are bothered by them; and don't want to buy into any of it. Both sides can be 'right'.
I appreciate your review! I've heard positive from my lefties, negative from my righties, and i'm a displaced disillusioned lefty who isn't sure how I'll react when I see it this weekend. :)
Liberals don’t care about women or they wouldn’t be erasing them from women’s sports, locker rooms, dressing rooms, bathrooms, shelters, prisons & all language re what a real woman is....
I can't speak to the movie as I haven't seen it. But I'd disagree that anything is "just" a movie. All movies have views that they are presenting.
This is a review from Neil Steinberg at the Chicago Sun Times. Speaking about Ben Shapiro:
"Really? There are 10 “Fast & Furious” movies; can’t women have even one movie for themselves? That’s the right-wing fascist mindset in a nutshell. Let Bud Light send one six-pack to one trans influencer and the world comes to an end. Purge the impure!"
This is what the Left thinks of anyone who disagrees with them on anything, even a movie. Don't love the "Barbie" flick? FASCIST!
The "funny" part is, this review concludes:
"“No,” my wife said. “It wasn’t really about men. It’s about excluding people. Ken was so damaged. When you exclude people, it damages them.”
Yes, exactly. Damages the excluded and, even more so, the excluders."
I somehow missed this last bit when I was reading it yesterday and emailed the author it. (I blame the heat.)
This is how much they hate us. And in their hatred, they can't even see that they are excluding us by calling us fascists if we don't love the movie?!
Thanks for the review! I want to see it just because it looks fun and nostalgic and PINK! I also want to see it and judge it for myself. Despite the hissing dissents from judgmental party-poopers, I like what I like, and if it’s good, then great! If not, oh well!
Thanks, but I'll wait for the BluRay from my local library. I haven't been a Barbie fan since I was a kid. When I got rid of my Barbie and my Skipper that was the end of it. I was out with my husband (and your middle-of-the road male friends) seeing Oppenheimer. I did not expect to like it because all the advertising made me think it might just be overhyped, but I liked it a lot.
But I don't think Nolan understands women much! They seemed to be there only to prove (as Kyndall Cunningham of the Daily Beast observed) that even physicists are able to get some. Some people claimed that the sex scenes were shocking but I thought they were just plain stupid. And I was already quite familiar with the Oppenheimer story and I thought that poor Jean Tatlock was treated as an airhead and I don't think she was.
"People are trying to use Barbie to further this massive divide that’s already happening in our culture."
Yes, exactly! Activists only want to divide; I don't think they care at all about the issue at hand. Thanks for your review and insight! (I'm waiting until I can see it with my college daughter!)
Well said. Go and watch with zero expectations, except enjoy the company you are with. Besides, no one wants company that's is constantly complaining about how ridiculous or bad the movie is.
ALL movies ARE; in fact.....MOVIES. But what exactly does that MEAN? That there IS NO 'message', and if so; then what are we watching; and why? If there IS no message; good or bad; right or wrong; then it's all mindless drivel. There is ALWAYS SOMETHING in ANY movie. OR book. OR....ANYTHING; or else they would all be worthless and no one would FEEL bothered to spend time/money on them.
Of COURSE there IS a 'message' in the Barbie MOVIE; there's no two ways about it. It's sort of like the "Rorschach test", everyone sees in a movie what their minds/hearts are already inclined towards. If you are a liberal; your liberal heart and mind will either squeeze every drop of liberalism from it; OR you will LOATHE it if it has NO liberalism in it; and the same is true for conservative hearts and minds.
We will latch onto what we personally like; despise what we personally hate.
For me; when I hear from what I find to be reputable sources saying something about a book or movie and they explain in detail why they believe it's propaganda (And what isn't, these days?), then I'm seriously inclined to avoid it; I 'vote' with my wallet; or lack thereof. I don't want to 'feed the beast' and make it grow stronger. In THOSE cases; it's NOT ever 'just a movie' or book; it's an attempt at manipulating the masses into believing whatever they are pushing. If it's not an ideology I approve of; I don't partake of it. If it is; I will.
So Barbie MAY be 'only a movie', but unless there was ZERO influence towards the right or the left; then it was ALSO much MORE than 'JUST a movie'.
If we want to partake of something; even if we are told 'it has 'this' and 'this' and 'this' in it; and all of those 'it's' mean nothing to us; then YES; we can sit back, relax, and enjoy it as 'just a movie'.
And that's fine; nothing wrong with that. But it's also perfectly fine to/for all of the others that do see all of the 'it's' in it; are bothered by them; and don't want to buy into any of it. Both sides can be 'right'.
Since when is a movie “just a movie”? They all have a message, and with this type of budget you can bet the message isn’t a pretty one
I appreciate your review! I've heard positive from my lefties, negative from my righties, and i'm a displaced disillusioned lefty who isn't sure how I'll react when I see it this weekend. :)
Liberals don’t care about women or they wouldn’t be erasing them from women’s sports, locker rooms, dressing rooms, bathrooms, shelters, prisons & all language re what a real woman is....
Well if "Barbie" is "just a movie", then "Sound of Freedom" is "just a movie"
I can't speak to the movie as I haven't seen it. But I'd disagree that anything is "just" a movie. All movies have views that they are presenting.
This is a review from Neil Steinberg at the Chicago Sun Times. Speaking about Ben Shapiro:
"Really? There are 10 “Fast & Furious” movies; can’t women have even one movie for themselves? That’s the right-wing fascist mindset in a nutshell. Let Bud Light send one six-pack to one trans influencer and the world comes to an end. Purge the impure!"
This is what the Left thinks of anyone who disagrees with them on anything, even a movie. Don't love the "Barbie" flick? FASCIST!
The "funny" part is, this review concludes:
"“No,” my wife said. “It wasn’t really about men. It’s about excluding people. Ken was so damaged. When you exclude people, it damages them.”
Yes, exactly. Damages the excluded and, even more so, the excluders."
I somehow missed this last bit when I was reading it yesterday and emailed the author it. (I blame the heat.)
This is how much they hate us. And in their hatred, they can't even see that they are excluding us by calling us fascists if we don't love the movie?!
https://chicago.suntimes.com/authors/neil-steinberg
"Leave the little ones at home" b/c it's not the family-friendly pic it masqueraded as.
Thanks for the review! I want to see it just because it looks fun and nostalgic and PINK! I also want to see it and judge it for myself. Despite the hissing dissents from judgmental party-poopers, I like what I like, and if it’s good, then great! If not, oh well!
I'm a Barbie girl in the Barbie world
Life in plastic, it's fantastic
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation
Come on, Barbie, let's go party
Thanks, but I'll wait for the BluRay from my local library. I haven't been a Barbie fan since I was a kid. When I got rid of my Barbie and my Skipper that was the end of it. I was out with my husband (and your middle-of-the road male friends) seeing Oppenheimer. I did not expect to like it because all the advertising made me think it might just be overhyped, but I liked it a lot.
But I don't think Nolan understands women much! They seemed to be there only to prove (as Kyndall Cunningham of the Daily Beast observed) that even physicists are able to get some. Some people claimed that the sex scenes were shocking but I thought they were just plain stupid. And I was already quite familiar with the Oppenheimer story and I thought that poor Jean Tatlock was treated as an airhead and I don't think she was.
"People are trying to use Barbie to further this massive divide that’s already happening in our culture."
Yes, exactly! Activists only want to divide; I don't think they care at all about the issue at hand. Thanks for your review and insight! (I'm waiting until I can see it with my college daughter!)
Well said. Go and watch with zero expectations, except enjoy the company you are with. Besides, no one wants company that's is constantly complaining about how ridiculous or bad the movie is.