Barbie
after scouring the internet for reviews of the barbie movie, i came across essentially two different types of reviews: red-pill conservatives criticizing it as "woke" liberal propaganda that was precipitously anti-men, and people claiming it was a feminist masterpiece that delivered a powerful message about equality across the world.
i find an issue with both of these reviews. the first, obviously is thoughtless rhetoric from men who got their feelings hurt when toxic masculinity was attacked, and instead of processing it critically decided to label it as part of the "woke" agenda so that they feel validated in their beliefs. it's honestly pathetic that their so mindlessly unaware that this behavior of their fragile ego is what the movie pokes fun at.
the second is a bit more complex to deconstruct. while there are some good messages sent from this movie, i find that it's not as feminist or as radical as most people think. although it does bring up concerns of the patriarchy in modern society and talk about the issues that women go through, it lacks any real content about what to do against these issues. the viewers leave the film slightly more aware of the problems of gender inequality, and are left with no real way to combat them. it's not feminist activism, it's just a glorified product of capitalism that provides the audience with a very simplified worldview on the heavily complex topic of gender studies.
the film also does little to address the concerns of barbie's problematic history. the teenager of barbie's real world counterpart, sasha, brings up very real critiques of barbie and mattel as a whole, such as the impossible beauty standards that barbie figures have implemented and the vast amount of plastic pollution as a byproduct of barbies actively destroying the environment. however, these claims are never properly addressed or even brought up again; they're seemingly disregarded as gen z being too woke or hypercritical and treated like the nonsensical angsty ramblings of a teen. the film brings up its own criticisms and somehow that means that their criticisms are magically invalidated, without providing an adequate solution. it's a perfectly packaged version of plastic feminism that barely touches on gender inequality but doesn't go too far as to appeal to the widest possible audience of consumers. the film's meant to be a money-making blockbuster cosplaying as activism, and it works because people love feeling like they had just done great political work, when really all they did was support a massive multi-billion dollar corporation that is choking our planet with its plastic manufacturing.
still, i have to give barbie credit. if not for this film, some people wouldn't have even been aware of the deep-rooted social and systemic oppression that women go through. it educated its audience and did what it was supposed to, in terms of sparking talk of feminism.
now to look at this movie from a non-political standpoint, it was actually quite enjoyable. the jokes and comedic timing was hilarious, the barbies pretending to do daily routines such as eating and driving while actually not doing anything was peak subtle humor. and the soundtrack was amazing, i mean the songs made for this film were bangers: pink, dance the night, barbie world, what was i made for, and apparently 13 more. it was very enjoyable and surprisingly, i didn't grow tired of the fast pacing. i loved the color grading and the perfection of barbie land which contrasts so drastically from the real world.
the barbie movie was not a prime example of political cinema as some portray it to be, but it was entertaining enough to make up for some of that.