Barbie: An essay. Accepting Hyperfeminity
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Yesterday I had the biggest privilege to watch Barbie and it really got me thinking that I do indeed have a lot of things to say about it. This purely how I feel and all of my emotions that I am pouring into the screen, some may agree some may not and that is okay.
Phase one : Feminism, Love & War
The theme of the film is indeed feminism but what a lot of people are not talking enough about or overlooking is the fact what a huge impact being girly had been over the years, since the 90's to 2000's the whole plot of girly being associated with being a bimbo really made a lot of women hate or look down upon being a girly girl. To this day even after the release of the film I do feel sorry to say but there are still a lot of people especially women who feel uncomfortable to be girly, they are afraid of being judged for being not smart enough or not being able to be taken seriously.
This whole hate has extended even towards disney princessess. So many parenting books, videos and even women themselves hating on disney princess just because a man saved them when as a matter of fact disney characters go way beyond man saviour. Cinderella just wanted to go to ball and enjoy, despite being in an abusive household she still loved and appreciated people around her she didn't let bad things influence her, if someone says this is toxic positivity then I have to disagree because she genuinely didn't seem delusional. She was smart, witty, cracked jokes, used sarcasm and found peace in talking to animals. This to me at least is mentally strong not toxic positivity. Ariel just wanted to see the human world but she just happened to fall in love along the way, Belle loved the beast because she taught him how to be free from his own demons, she saw, she taught, she gave him the warmth and love he was lacking.
Other thing is people always look down upon love, my question is why shouldn't there be love? One can be independent and yet still be in love. One can dream and still be in love. People these days are so heartbroken and bitter they have shut themselves off of the whole love scene but might I say that love is more than just romantic feelings, love can be between parents and a kid, love can be between you and your dreams/passion/goals, love can be between you and your pet, love can be between you and the stuffed animal toy you have had since you were a baby, love can even be with knowing when you come home everything is same as it was and it can even be when it comes to changes.
I do believe and hope that after the impact of this film people especially women aren't afraid to be girly because a woman who is girly, love shopping, getting nails done, lives for colour pink, does makeup is just as much of a feminist as a woman who opposes the girly girl spectrum.
Ken was one of the most well written second lead character, I cannot stress on this enough. How I see the film is that in the beginning Barbie land was actually never really equal per say because the playout of it was so co dependent, yes, I understand that was the intention but I would love to dive deeper. Barbie land is the opposite of real world so just like in the real world the power disbalance was so real. I was really reminded of those days when all men did was work and women weren't allowed to do anything so they just longed for their husbands ro return from work. They dresses up for them, made plans for them and practically lived for them. I loved this scene so much because it really showed that Greta knows about feminism because indeed feminism means women and men are equal and either disbalance can really cause a huge harm and we saw that when kens were constantly fighting for all barbie's approvals and lived life through their partners.
When ken went to real world, he was exposed to patriarchy and for once when he saw men being valued he ran with it, the whole reason he even did patriarchy to Barbie land was just to get Barbie's attention when he said "it doesn't feel nice does it" and "when I came to know patriarchy wasn't about horses I instantly lost all interest" shows that he did all of that just so Barbie notices him.
In a way, well like my opinion I see both Barbie and Ken as victims.
Barbie has been shammed by extremist over the years because people think Barbie has unreleastic body but no one see the fact that barbies were created to give girls hope, Barbie has all the careers and can be huge inspiration to little girls everywhere that a girl can be beauty and brains. Barbie was never about making little girls feel bad they were meant to see as "bad" all because of extremists.
Ken was indeed just created to be Barbie's boyfriend and indeed lives up to the name "just Ken" but this film really made us feel his importance too! Towards the end when kens finally have a job assigned by president they have somewhere to start and have their own identity. They will be more than just kens and partners.
Both of them had their own journey of self discovery, both of them also had break downs, gave up and kens made bad decisions but they didn't know any better but along the way they really grew up and mentally became mature.
Greta really knows what she did and really captured the prefect ambiance of what needs to be showed. She really gave both characters such depth and love, she really is very talented and I love her for making a film that goes beyond feminism, it is much more than women empowerment. This film not only showed us strong woman power but also showed that patriarchy is taught never learned, people don't know any better, power of influence and accepting women for wanting traditional life as well as accepting who opposes.
I will forever be in favour for this brilliant film. Much love to Greta, cast and behind the scenes cast and of course the colour pink.
