Out of the park again, Adrian. I, too, have shunned the Barbie movie, but just two days ago caught a long thread among women I generally respect on FB in defense of the movie. And there was no nay-sayer there who didn't feel the wrath. (As an aside, for the sake of full disclosure, the last new release film I saw in a theater was "There Be Dragons," which I decidedly did not like. So I am a confirmed non-viewer of contemporary films who prefers to fill my thoughts with what I KNOW is true and good and beautiful. I do that because I need daily doses of such as a tonic every single day to keep me from falling into the sewer that is our society. What if occasionally the sewer water isn't quite as filthy as it is most of the time? That doesn't mean it would be good to take a swim in it. Tony and I often say that a healthy dose of native skepticism saved us from a LOT of the lies of our own youth. And even the crazy 60's and 70's we grew up in was counter-balanced by a largely sane-living populace. Now we don't dare lean even slightly toward the sewer because the solid ground is already sloping that way from being steadily eroded from under our feet. Thanks for the review and the solid perspective from which you wrote it.
my daughter saw it with college friends and had to lie and say she liked it. that's what we're dealing with. if she'd been honest (she told me it was terrible) she would have lost her friends and probably been fully excluded at school as well. so at least around here, you kind of have to pretend to like it or just do as I do and say "oh gosh I'm so busy I'll watch it soon I swear." all of which is creepy. the Left right now is really feeling their authoritarian oats.
I feel bad that your daughter had to lie about liking a movie. I know it’s hard, especially when you’re college age, to not go along with what your friends are saying, but if you can’t disagree with your friends, that’s a problem, right? Are they really your friends? If you can’t be yourself? I loved the movie, but if my friend hates the movie, we’ll just laugh together at our very different opinions. Have a great day.
I don’t understand what you mean by “had to lie.” She’s under no compulsion besides the fear of loss, which as hard as it is to say and harder even to actually do, she should overcome that.
Spoken like a man, and I mean that kindly. I can recall moments in college being a cauldron of social anxiety. Women can be brutal to each other and the young lack much consideration.
well there are extenuating circumstances in this case let's just leave it at that. the focus on her "resisting" to me is an aside. the scary thing is that "loving this movie" has become a shibboleth!
Thanks! I love that you didn't pull your punches here. I had to listen to two young women about to marry into our family, as they gushed about this nauseating plastic spectacle. I moved away so my face wouldn't start a fight. I am concerned for my son and my nephew.
No, I didn't see it. It looked like a massive pain and waste of time. So I really appreciate your words on it. Even though you do say you didn't see it, going by the critical reactions you cite, you've suffered enough.
Thank you for giving words to the great mistake we are making in many Christian circles where we just tag onto the coattails of the culture, hoping to get a seat at the table with people who are never ever going to admit us to the party, rather than holding our head up and offering "the good, the true, and the beautiful." It's all that Barbie represents that has done us in to start with, folks.
Having already seen the movie (my husband wanted to, "for the memes") I greatly appreciate your measured tone and reasoning. You don't need to see it to arrive, correctly, at the conclusion you make. 0/10 stars.
That being said it was eerily almost post-feminist in its message, where the only solution is for everyone to only care about themselves and eventually everyone is just 'themselves', without any kind of relationship to other people. Akin to the book The Boy Crisis by Warren Farrell (not worth the read), which despite interesting data on the problems boys face today leaves only the conclusion that boys need their own version of feminism(??) Barbie gives this messaging explicitly while rolling old film of little girls and their families. The assault really is on the family, and even a passing stab at nostalgia in old family videos is used to tell both men and women that they are "ken-nough" and must never allow themselves to be defined by others. It is utterly and hopelessly sad. #girlpower
Meanwhile I will happily pull out my catechism and read about those things which Luther wrote I owe to my husband, father, mother, sister, brother, children, employer, employee, government, church, etc. I am, and we all are, people in relation to other people. To be otherwise is to no longer be human.
Beautifully put - thank you, and bless you and yours!
Fwiw, Peachy Keenan said the original version screened to preview audiences was even more of an assault and really put everybody off, so corporate came in and forced Gerwig to add in that family montage
The Mystic Sisters (Orthodox Christians twins) here on Substack did a good review of Barbie... One of the biggest takeaways seems to be is that they felt like it was written by childless 30-something women for childless 30-something women. I never liked Barbie even as a kid, so its draw to nostalgia does nothing for me.
Great thoughts, once again. I went to go see it so I could form my own opinion, and I was very disappointed (though not surprised). I was surprised to see the woman who ran for governor on a conservative platform in CO write a glowing review of it on Substack.
I have many thoughts on it, but I’m not sure I quite understand the Christian/conservative defenses of it. I mean, it began with bashing baby dolls heads into the ground. The pregnant Barbie kept being referred to as “discontinued.” There was a dad in the movie a couple of times and they basically made him seem like a politically incorrect dummy. They acted like the end was some amazing gesture of equality in Barbie land but there wasn’t.
And all I see when anyone dares to not say how much they loved it and “cried for days” (if you cried for days over any movie you need something else to do), is that you are either a man or a woman who internalized mysoginy. Oh okay, I’m glad I am not allowed to think for myself unless I come to the same conclusion as the majority.
I love your column, but I saw the movie because I wanted to, and I loved it! I don’t have anything to prove by loving it, but it was fun, and I felt girl power, which frankly felt good! It was fun, it was a movie, it was parody, did I mention it was fun? I told my best friend, that if she wants to see it, I want to go again! My boyfriend even liked it, but probably not as much as I did. After all, he is a man. I’m not sure why Barbie has become such a big deal. And believe me I’m not trying to please anyone! I just wanted fun, and that’s exactly what I got! And BTW, I am 60 years old with two adult children. Lastly, I will just say that I don’t know how anyone can write a whole critique, discussing a movie you haven’t seen, based on what others have said. Isn’t that kind of like being told to believe the science? Because someone told you? I think we all need to form our own opinions rather than just believe what we have read from others. And I also wonder why being a Christian, or conservative, or liberal has to define what you think of a movie. Why does having a certain label or some certain set of beliefs have to dictate whether or not we’re allowed to like a very enjoyable, extremely silly movie! Just my opinion. I do love reading your posts. Usually. 😊
Apart from everything else, I will never, ever see it simply because of the trans barbie thing. As you know, I've written about the trans stuff a great deal here, it's really important to me, I think we are destroying the lives and futures of countless innocent children, I just can't be calm about it. If they did a line for line, scene for scene remake of one of my favorite movies, Bringing Up Baby say, except the supporting cast were all trans, I wouldn't go see it, because I think the moral choice of 'platforming' trans actors as successful celebrities for children to look up to is so unspeakably monstrous and destructive it makes me ill. So that's how I feel about that : )
The reason I wrote about it is that it's basically the last straw, from the perspective of someone who has a much more old fashioned appreciation of great art, with this constant trend of whenever some movie comes out, some conservatives feel compelled to say "so and so is truly a conservative movie" or "the real reason why xyz is a conservative movie." I agree with you that being liberal or conservative in the political sense should not have anything to do with it - I certainly don't like The Quiet Man because of some political points about the IRA it may or may not make. And that's why I hate hate hate it when National Review or whoever keeps publishing pieces like 'the real reason Taylor Swift is secretly a Burkean' or something. You think I'm joking but I'm not, it's been going on for decades - see that Mark Steyn column I link to in the beginning of my piece, he was lampooning the same phenomenon. And yeah, I'm 100% comfortable dismissing gangster rap as not my cup of tea without listening to all its artists in depth. If these guys would just have said what you said, that it's a fun silly movie, don't worry about it, I would not care at all. What 'triggered' me is when the movie became popular I kept reading prominent conservatives I truly respect say ridiculous things like the movie is a super deep conservative denunciation of liberal values. It's like, gross, people, stop trying to sit with the cool kids!
Finally - sorry for the long reply! - to answer your question about why being a Christian has to impact what you think of art, if you're really interested, rather than answer here I can point you to the best book on that subject ever, Saving Leonardo by Nancy Pearcey. Even if you end up disagreeing with her points, it's a fantastic art history and introduction to the idea of worldview analysis - because every piece of art does have a worldview, and as long as you know that going in you're good but if you don't then it can be pretty dangerous as a worldview might get its claws in you without you even realizing it!
Saving Leonardo is the best, you say? Better than The Abolition of Man? (Harrington, who I mentioned in my other comment, has reminded me of The Abolition of Man without even mentioning it, more than once.) And not enough people know that The Abolition of Man is actually framed concerning the relationship of art, human nature and morality. I'll have to get a copy of Saving Leonardo and see what I think!
Ha, I stand corrected! Lewis is in a league of his own. What makes the Pearcey so great is she takes the time and effort to go through lots and lots of real art with real examples, demonstrates how Lewis’ predictions come to life over and over again
Agreed. I saw it. I liked it! Didn’t adore it, but it was fun! And a bit of a Rorschach test, which explains everyone’s conflicting reviews.
I don’t have an eloquent defense of my views, but, can’t I just see a movie for the sake of seeing a movie? If Barbie is going to be the thing that leads me off the precipice into the godless commie abyss below, I think I would doubt the strength and veracity of my Christian faith.
It really wasn’t so bad and it’s definitely not as one-sided as people make it out to be.
It is definitely not a little girl’s movie, but then again if one had a little girl, they might be aware of the massive Barbie movie catalog that already exists.
Another point I would make, replying both to your and Andrea L’s thoughtful comments about how movies don’t have to be Christian, it’s not a big deal either way, don’t get worked up about it, is: exactly! But that should go both ways. If it’s not a problem for a movie to be fun and maybe not be explicitly Christian, ok, fair, but then it should be just as fine for a good, fun, movie to happen to have Christian values. But if we live in a world where fun movies with Christian values are not allowed to be made, while fun movies without Christian values are celebrated… now perhaps you see something sinister is actually going on underneath all the fun…
Returning to Little Women one last time, why couldn’t that have been a fun, good, Christian movie that we all loved? In your view, it certainly could’ve been! Yet Gerwig did the very, very hard work of stripping all the Christian foundation out of the film - a deliberate, difficult move that frankly made the movie worse objectively because characters had no clear motivation. So she’s saying, yes, Christianity is so toxic it can’t be in my movies. Then I’m supposed to believe people who say regarding Barbie, “well, who cares if a movie is Christian or not?” Well, Gerwig clearly cares!
It’s like if you’re a referee who calls every single penalty against one team but then ignores blatant fouls by the other because “hey, we’re just here to have fun and play games.” Sorry, but no. I can’t stand this clown nose on clown nose off double standard, sorry!
Barbie was never going to be a Christian movie. Yes, Barbie does reflect Gerwig’s worldview, but I knew that going in. I would disagree with anyone who claims there are explicit Christian or even conservative themes in Barbie. But I would also disagree that it was so awful that it has no merits. So, you may be right about Little Women and that’s a legitimate criticism of Little Women, but not of Barbie.
So, let’s make the Christian Little Women movie ourselves? I’m not looking to Gerwig to solve this issue. I’ve seen many many contemporary Christian movies and I really hate to criticize them, but… they’re not good? Yes they may be morally upright and aligned with our values, but… a movie is more than a message, it’s also art. Need better acting, need more realistic relatable content, better set design, better dialogue, etc. The closest recently-made Christian movie I’ve seen that comes close to feeling like a movie is “The Case for Christ”. I don’t think the movies are not allowed to be made, but it does take talent and money and yes, artistic direction, to make good movies.
I do not feel convicted to avoid this movie, I thought it was interesting and fun and if that puts me on the bench for now in our ball game, so be it. And I, too, have seen many of the great old movies that you blog about, I know where you are coming from. I think I just take a more pragmatic stance on living in the times we live in.
I wonder if this flick would have been as enthusiastically received if it had been directed by a man. Is it possible the shine is from its having a female director? If a man had directed it I can only imagine the sheit-storm that would have blown his way.
I didn't even make it as far as saying, why should we try to spin Barbie for our side. I don't see why we'd talk about it more than in passing at all! I mean it's a big media consumerist movie about a doll – and not a Raggedy Anne or whatever old fashioned homey creature the word brings to mind, but the one that's the girly girl equivalent of plastic action figures. There's probably a good conversation to be had about what the doll says about modern American culture (and/or corporate products), but I can't imagine wanting to pay attention to let alone debate meaning in the movie.
All that being said, this actually wasn't the only review I read. I also read Mary Harrington's, because who doesn't want the opinion of a lady whose post titles sound like a luddite (not an insult) and whose slogan is "feminism against progress"? https://open.substack.com/pub/reactionaryfeminist/p/barbies-beauty-standards
I opened the link you posted here and went to Mary's substack on Barbie's beauty standards. I felt like I was trying to read an article written in a language like English but one where the meanings had been switched to code. I gave up after a few paragraphs. So, do you think SHE knows what she's saying? Because I sure don't.
Well, maybe I do. Is she saying that sex differences are disappearing as we descend into the hell of a cyborg age? Or is she saying that exaggerated biceps and Brazilian butt-lifts are turning us into caricatures of men and women? Or maybe it's both.
Intrigued, I looked at her other posts. Ok, I think we both see what's sick about current pop trends.
All the woke stuff has made things so much easier for me. I vote/support with my wallet now and as we are all learning a lotta woke is indeed going broke. That’s how we win.
Out of the park again, Adrian. I, too, have shunned the Barbie movie, but just two days ago caught a long thread among women I generally respect on FB in defense of the movie. And there was no nay-sayer there who didn't feel the wrath. (As an aside, for the sake of full disclosure, the last new release film I saw in a theater was "There Be Dragons," which I decidedly did not like. So I am a confirmed non-viewer of contemporary films who prefers to fill my thoughts with what I KNOW is true and good and beautiful. I do that because I need daily doses of such as a tonic every single day to keep me from falling into the sewer that is our society. What if occasionally the sewer water isn't quite as filthy as it is most of the time? That doesn't mean it would be good to take a swim in it. Tony and I often say that a healthy dose of native skepticism saved us from a LOT of the lies of our own youth. And even the crazy 60's and 70's we grew up in was counter-balanced by a largely sane-living populace. Now we don't dare lean even slightly toward the sewer because the solid ground is already sloping that way from being steadily eroded from under our feet. Thanks for the review and the solid perspective from which you wrote it.
my daughter saw it with college friends and had to lie and say she liked it. that's what we're dealing with. if she'd been honest (she told me it was terrible) she would have lost her friends and probably been fully excluded at school as well. so at least around here, you kind of have to pretend to like it or just do as I do and say "oh gosh I'm so busy I'll watch it soon I swear." all of which is creepy. the Left right now is really feeling their authoritarian oats.
I feel bad that your daughter had to lie about liking a movie. I know it’s hard, especially when you’re college age, to not go along with what your friends are saying, but if you can’t disagree with your friends, that’s a problem, right? Are they really your friends? If you can’t be yourself? I loved the movie, but if my friend hates the movie, we’ll just laugh together at our very different opinions. Have a great day.
I don’t understand what you mean by “had to lie.” She’s under no compulsion besides the fear of loss, which as hard as it is to say and harder even to actually do, she should overcome that.
Spoken like a man, and I mean that kindly. I can recall moments in college being a cauldron of social anxiety. Women can be brutal to each other and the young lack much consideration.
well there are extenuating circumstances in this case let's just leave it at that. the focus on her "resisting" to me is an aside. the scary thing is that "loving this movie" has become a shibboleth!
Thanks! I love that you didn't pull your punches here. I had to listen to two young women about to marry into our family, as they gushed about this nauseating plastic spectacle. I moved away so my face wouldn't start a fight. I am concerned for my son and my nephew.
No, I didn't see it. It looked like a massive pain and waste of time. So I really appreciate your words on it. Even though you do say you didn't see it, going by the critical reactions you cite, you've suffered enough.
Thank you for giving words to the great mistake we are making in many Christian circles where we just tag onto the coattails of the culture, hoping to get a seat at the table with people who are never ever going to admit us to the party, rather than holding our head up and offering "the good, the true, and the beautiful." It's all that Barbie represents that has done us in to start with, folks.
Well said. And I agree completely.
Having already seen the movie (my husband wanted to, "for the memes") I greatly appreciate your measured tone and reasoning. You don't need to see it to arrive, correctly, at the conclusion you make. 0/10 stars.
That being said it was eerily almost post-feminist in its message, where the only solution is for everyone to only care about themselves and eventually everyone is just 'themselves', without any kind of relationship to other people. Akin to the book The Boy Crisis by Warren Farrell (not worth the read), which despite interesting data on the problems boys face today leaves only the conclusion that boys need their own version of feminism(??) Barbie gives this messaging explicitly while rolling old film of little girls and their families. The assault really is on the family, and even a passing stab at nostalgia in old family videos is used to tell both men and women that they are "ken-nough" and must never allow themselves to be defined by others. It is utterly and hopelessly sad. #girlpower
Meanwhile I will happily pull out my catechism and read about those things which Luther wrote I owe to my husband, father, mother, sister, brother, children, employer, employee, government, church, etc. I am, and we all are, people in relation to other people. To be otherwise is to no longer be human.
Beautifully put - thank you, and bless you and yours!
Fwiw, Peachy Keenan said the original version screened to preview audiences was even more of an assault and really put everybody off, so corporate came in and forced Gerwig to add in that family montage
Thank you sir, same to you and yours!
Oof. I guess nostalgia is the spoon full of sugar that helps this poison go down.
The Mystic Sisters (Orthodox Christians twins) here on Substack did a good review of Barbie... One of the biggest takeaways seems to be is that they felt like it was written by childless 30-something women for childless 30-something women. I never liked Barbie even as a kid, so its draw to nostalgia does nothing for me.
Great thoughts, once again. I went to go see it so I could form my own opinion, and I was very disappointed (though not surprised). I was surprised to see the woman who ran for governor on a conservative platform in CO write a glowing review of it on Substack.
I have many thoughts on it, but I’m not sure I quite understand the Christian/conservative defenses of it. I mean, it began with bashing baby dolls heads into the ground. The pregnant Barbie kept being referred to as “discontinued.” There was a dad in the movie a couple of times and they basically made him seem like a politically incorrect dummy. They acted like the end was some amazing gesture of equality in Barbie land but there wasn’t.
And all I see when anyone dares to not say how much they loved it and “cried for days” (if you cried for days over any movie you need something else to do), is that you are either a man or a woman who internalized mysoginy. Oh okay, I’m glad I am not allowed to think for myself unless I come to the same conclusion as the majority.
"Cried for days" , is more than likely, a plea for help.
Time to get a life...
Never a liberal, owned a Subaru. Best darn car I ever owned. Of course, it was made in Japan when I bought mine.
Very well written!
My only question is;
Why was this film made?
I'll never watch it...
The film was made to make piles of money and push a feminist agenda, mission accomplished.
I love your column, but I saw the movie because I wanted to, and I loved it! I don’t have anything to prove by loving it, but it was fun, and I felt girl power, which frankly felt good! It was fun, it was a movie, it was parody, did I mention it was fun? I told my best friend, that if she wants to see it, I want to go again! My boyfriend even liked it, but probably not as much as I did. After all, he is a man. I’m not sure why Barbie has become such a big deal. And believe me I’m not trying to please anyone! I just wanted fun, and that’s exactly what I got! And BTW, I am 60 years old with two adult children. Lastly, I will just say that I don’t know how anyone can write a whole critique, discussing a movie you haven’t seen, based on what others have said. Isn’t that kind of like being told to believe the science? Because someone told you? I think we all need to form our own opinions rather than just believe what we have read from others. And I also wonder why being a Christian, or conservative, or liberal has to define what you think of a movie. Why does having a certain label or some certain set of beliefs have to dictate whether or not we’re allowed to like a very enjoyable, extremely silly movie! Just my opinion. I do love reading your posts. Usually. 😊
I really appreciate your kind comment!
Apart from everything else, I will never, ever see it simply because of the trans barbie thing. As you know, I've written about the trans stuff a great deal here, it's really important to me, I think we are destroying the lives and futures of countless innocent children, I just can't be calm about it. If they did a line for line, scene for scene remake of one of my favorite movies, Bringing Up Baby say, except the supporting cast were all trans, I wouldn't go see it, because I think the moral choice of 'platforming' trans actors as successful celebrities for children to look up to is so unspeakably monstrous and destructive it makes me ill. So that's how I feel about that : )
The reason I wrote about it is that it's basically the last straw, from the perspective of someone who has a much more old fashioned appreciation of great art, with this constant trend of whenever some movie comes out, some conservatives feel compelled to say "so and so is truly a conservative movie" or "the real reason why xyz is a conservative movie." I agree with you that being liberal or conservative in the political sense should not have anything to do with it - I certainly don't like The Quiet Man because of some political points about the IRA it may or may not make. And that's why I hate hate hate it when National Review or whoever keeps publishing pieces like 'the real reason Taylor Swift is secretly a Burkean' or something. You think I'm joking but I'm not, it's been going on for decades - see that Mark Steyn column I link to in the beginning of my piece, he was lampooning the same phenomenon. And yeah, I'm 100% comfortable dismissing gangster rap as not my cup of tea without listening to all its artists in depth. If these guys would just have said what you said, that it's a fun silly movie, don't worry about it, I would not care at all. What 'triggered' me is when the movie became popular I kept reading prominent conservatives I truly respect say ridiculous things like the movie is a super deep conservative denunciation of liberal values. It's like, gross, people, stop trying to sit with the cool kids!
Finally - sorry for the long reply! - to answer your question about why being a Christian has to impact what you think of art, if you're really interested, rather than answer here I can point you to the best book on that subject ever, Saving Leonardo by Nancy Pearcey. Even if you end up disagreeing with her points, it's a fantastic art history and introduction to the idea of worldview analysis - because every piece of art does have a worldview, and as long as you know that going in you're good but if you don't then it can be pretty dangerous as a worldview might get its claws in you without you even realizing it!
https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Leonardo-Secular-Assault-Meaning/dp/1433669277
Saving Leonardo is the best, you say? Better than The Abolition of Man? (Harrington, who I mentioned in my other comment, has reminded me of The Abolition of Man without even mentioning it, more than once.) And not enough people know that The Abolition of Man is actually framed concerning the relationship of art, human nature and morality. I'll have to get a copy of Saving Leonardo and see what I think!
Ha, I stand corrected! Lewis is in a league of his own. What makes the Pearcey so great is she takes the time and effort to go through lots and lots of real art with real examples, demonstrates how Lewis’ predictions come to life over and over again
Agreed. I saw it. I liked it! Didn’t adore it, but it was fun! And a bit of a Rorschach test, which explains everyone’s conflicting reviews.
I don’t have an eloquent defense of my views, but, can’t I just see a movie for the sake of seeing a movie? If Barbie is going to be the thing that leads me off the precipice into the godless commie abyss below, I think I would doubt the strength and veracity of my Christian faith.
It really wasn’t so bad and it’s definitely not as one-sided as people make it out to be.
It is definitely not a little girl’s movie, but then again if one had a little girl, they might be aware of the massive Barbie movie catalog that already exists.
Another point I would make, replying both to your and Andrea L’s thoughtful comments about how movies don’t have to be Christian, it’s not a big deal either way, don’t get worked up about it, is: exactly! But that should go both ways. If it’s not a problem for a movie to be fun and maybe not be explicitly Christian, ok, fair, but then it should be just as fine for a good, fun, movie to happen to have Christian values. But if we live in a world where fun movies with Christian values are not allowed to be made, while fun movies without Christian values are celebrated… now perhaps you see something sinister is actually going on underneath all the fun…
Returning to Little Women one last time, why couldn’t that have been a fun, good, Christian movie that we all loved? In your view, it certainly could’ve been! Yet Gerwig did the very, very hard work of stripping all the Christian foundation out of the film - a deliberate, difficult move that frankly made the movie worse objectively because characters had no clear motivation. So she’s saying, yes, Christianity is so toxic it can’t be in my movies. Then I’m supposed to believe people who say regarding Barbie, “well, who cares if a movie is Christian or not?” Well, Gerwig clearly cares!
It’s like if you’re a referee who calls every single penalty against one team but then ignores blatant fouls by the other because “hey, we’re just here to have fun and play games.” Sorry, but no. I can’t stand this clown nose on clown nose off double standard, sorry!
Barbie was never going to be a Christian movie. Yes, Barbie does reflect Gerwig’s worldview, but I knew that going in. I would disagree with anyone who claims there are explicit Christian or even conservative themes in Barbie. But I would also disagree that it was so awful that it has no merits. So, you may be right about Little Women and that’s a legitimate criticism of Little Women, but not of Barbie.
So, let’s make the Christian Little Women movie ourselves? I’m not looking to Gerwig to solve this issue. I’ve seen many many contemporary Christian movies and I really hate to criticize them, but… they’re not good? Yes they may be morally upright and aligned with our values, but… a movie is more than a message, it’s also art. Need better acting, need more realistic relatable content, better set design, better dialogue, etc. The closest recently-made Christian movie I’ve seen that comes close to feeling like a movie is “The Case for Christ”. I don’t think the movies are not allowed to be made, but it does take talent and money and yes, artistic direction, to make good movies.
I do not feel convicted to avoid this movie, I thought it was interesting and fun and if that puts me on the bench for now in our ball game, so be it. And I, too, have seen many of the great old movies that you blog about, I know where you are coming from. I think I just take a more pragmatic stance on living in the times we live in.
Yes, the bench is certainly thin these days… that’s why I try to spread the word about the old movies.
I truly do appreciate your comments, thank you!
I wonder if this flick would have been as enthusiastically received if it had been directed by a man. Is it possible the shine is from its having a female director? If a man had directed it I can only imagine the sheit-storm that would have blown his way.
Thank you for the link to The Celestial Railroad!
I didn't even make it as far as saying, why should we try to spin Barbie for our side. I don't see why we'd talk about it more than in passing at all! I mean it's a big media consumerist movie about a doll – and not a Raggedy Anne or whatever old fashioned homey creature the word brings to mind, but the one that's the girly girl equivalent of plastic action figures. There's probably a good conversation to be had about what the doll says about modern American culture (and/or corporate products), but I can't imagine wanting to pay attention to let alone debate meaning in the movie.
All that being said, this actually wasn't the only review I read. I also read Mary Harrington's, because who doesn't want the opinion of a lady whose post titles sound like a luddite (not an insult) and whose slogan is "feminism against progress"? https://open.substack.com/pub/reactionaryfeminist/p/barbies-beauty-standards
I opened the link you posted here and went to Mary's substack on Barbie's beauty standards. I felt like I was trying to read an article written in a language like English but one where the meanings had been switched to code. I gave up after a few paragraphs. So, do you think SHE knows what she's saying? Because I sure don't.
Well, maybe I do. Is she saying that sex differences are disappearing as we descend into the hell of a cyborg age? Or is she saying that exaggerated biceps and Brazilian butt-lifts are turning us into caricatures of men and women? Or maybe it's both.
Intrigued, I looked at her other posts. Ok, I think we both see what's sick about current pop trends.
All the woke stuff has made things so much easier for me. I vote/support with my wallet now and as we are all learning a lotta woke is indeed going broke. That’s how we win.
Yup. My dad used to say, “I beg to differ.” And “To thine own self be true.”