Barbie

I truly am so GLAD that i rewatched this again after the rest of the world did because honestly it made the experience so much better with catching all the little details i missed before i was in my first watch trance. i know a lot of people did not like this film as much as they were anticipating, or just found the whole thing cringy or whatever but what the second rewatch has made me realize is how much this movie is not a teaching lesson for the audience. We are literally watching Barbie come out of her bubble for the first time, watching her adapt to a new world that is the complete opposite of what she’s used to. We are watching the Barbies learn what we in the Real World™ are fed in constant rotation. So when i hear Gloria’s monologue i don’t cringe at the regurgitation of the same Feminist™ bullshit that has been spewed at us for years in media. I see Barbie as my younger self realizing for the first time (!) how fucked the world is skewed towards women, i see myself in high school in my “social justice warrior” phase, enraged with every injustice i was learning about day in and day out. In the same way all of those cringe tumblr quotes about feminism helped me cope day to day - Gloria’s monologue does the same for Barbie. We are sharing that first heartbreak with Barbie, not learning about Feminism 101 with Barbie, but reliving those first heartbreaking moments when you realize how messed up the world is. idk i just feel like everyone is debating about this whole “teaching moment” and the cringe factor of it all when i just think it has nothing to do with the audience at all, we are merely spectators, sharing that moment with Barbie.