Who's seen the Barbie movie?

[Pam in CT]

re choose your pill / world

1 minute ago, katilac said:

I didn't peg it as a full-on Matrix reference, but more of, no, you have to choose to know, what kind of a movie can we make if you don't! 

Right.  Even within Matrix, the Follow the White Rabbit instruction sets up the first of several references to Alice in Wonderland, another of many stories with a (traveler choosing between this world v other world ) frame... including the pill scene.

I didn't notice this the first time around, but the pink pump that Barbie chose had a little blue-pill-shaped ornament near the toe, same size and shape as in Matrix.  

 

 

MP = Monty Python

[Acorn]

I thought the walking with Ruth scene made me think of a Harry Potter book. I haven’t seen any HP movies and it’s been years since I read the last book.

[Pam in CT]

6 minutes ago, Acorn said:

I thought the walking with Ruth scene made me think of a Harry Potter book. I haven’t seen any HP movies and it’s been years since I read the last book.

yeah, the Kings Cross (!!! talk about hit-us-over-the-head with the references, lol!!!) scene:

Harry:  Professor! Is this all real? or is it all just happening inside my head?

Dumbledore:  Of course it's all happening inside your head. Why should that mean that it's not real?

[dirty ethel rackham]

I've been avoiding this thread until I could see the movie.  I didn't want to go opening weekend because, well, ... people.  I tried to get dh to go, but he was stalling.  Dd went right when it came out ... her friends had a Barbie party and they all went (guys and girls) dressed in pink.  They loved it.  I was all  prepared to go by myself.  But, this weekend, dd convinced dh that he and I should see it with her and her boyfriend.   Dh and I loved it.  He could not understand why so many people were so opposed to the message.  They could not have been more clear that patriarchy as a system was harmful to women AND men.  Not "men are bad."  

On 8/14/2023 at 7:02 AM, MEmama said:

DH and I saw it and we both loved it. The acting was fantastic, the soundtrack is banger and the messaging on point. Well done, all around. It perfectly illustrated how patriarchy affects us all, that the expectations are placed on men and women and we should be fighting it together. I don't know how they could have made that any clearer.

Kate McKinnon was my absolute fave. As a kid all my Barbies quickly turned into Weird Barbies (I gave them all pixie cuts or punk styles, black nail polish, fun makeup) so there was a lot to relate to there. Michael Cera played his Allan role in the true innocent, sad, misunderstood way only he can. I enjoyed all the cameo appearances, too; I wasn't expecting that.

I pulled out my Barbies from the crawl space and had forgotten that I gave my Malibu Barbies "feathered bangs." 😁  Ken's head was held on by masking tape.  And there were several torsos and legs ... as if Sid from Toy Story got a hold of them. 😂

It was fun showing my daughter all the clothes that my grandma had made using scraps from fabrics she bought on her world travels.  As a kid, I didn't appreciate these haute couture clothes as much as I should have. 

I was so sad to find that my "Growing Up Skipper" doll wasn't in there.  I think it made it into my sister's collection.  As a kid, I thought a doll that grew bOOks was the coolest thing ever, but as an adult, I'm scratching my head about who would have thought of such a thing!  🤣

On 8/14/2023 at 8:53 AM, Soror said:

<snip>

Very few films are original ideas and to have one that is so well done and really educational- wonderful. (This makes me think of the movie Everything, Everywhere All at Once, although the messaging was more subtle and it is certainly not kid friendly. Barbie spoke to me as a woman and Everything...  spoke to me as a mother.)

I totally agree.  My daughter insisted I watch Everything, Everywhere All at Once and I audibly sobbed.  Now, she leaves googly eyes all over the place as little love letters.  Watching America Ferrera's character longing for that relationship with her daughter really got me.  

On 8/14/2023 at 10:51 AM, Grace Hopper said:

Finally saw it this weekend and I really enjoyed it! Pre-release media was focused on Margot and Ryan, but America Ferrara totally stole the show! I loved her character so much. The words she spoke are so important. 
 

To be fair, I think it didn’t slam male issues as much as bring light to them. Young males in my predominant culture really are taught a lot of the behaviors the Kens exhibited when they took over Barbieland. That scene with guitars on the beach made both my dd and I scream with laughter. Our young men need to be liberated from these expectations and teachings as much as women do (yes I know women *suffer* more as a result, but I hope y’all understand what I’m trying to say here). We need to respect and uplift each other regardless of gender.

Aaaaannnd…. Depression Barbie hit a little too close to home. 😳 I actually felt so sorry for original Barbie - her successive peers were created with vocation and purpose - little wonder that she was the one to start questioning her existence. That burden to “be something extraordinary” lies so heavy on all of us today… Americans, anyway. It’s a really cruel expectation that can rob us of life’s simple joys. This film is painted with a broad “feminist” brush but it speaks beyond that.

<snip>

All of this!!

On 8/14/2023 at 10:59 AM, SKL said:

I thought the part about the kid pushing her mom away would go over my kids' heads.  But after the movie, one of my kids said that made her cry!

My daughter said it made her cry, too.  I could feel her pulling away in high school.  She is the reason I went back to school.  When we were looking at colleges, I made too many jokes about how nice the dorms were compared to back in the day and how I wanted to go here.  She told me in front a group of people that I "needed to get my own life."  Ouch.  The truth hurt.  She knew that I was struggling to let her go.  She sees that time through adult eyes and cringes.  I see that time as a painful reality check.  

On 8/15/2023 at 1:12 PM, TexasProud said:

No, I don't think that is it.  It is the fact that they were destroying baby dolls.  As I said, I knew the reference and still found it kinda disturbing.  If I had no idea what the reference was, it would have felt a lot worse. 

I think it was meant to be disturbing.  I got the reference, understood the point she was making, and I found it hilarious and disturbing at the same time.  

On 8/16/2023 at 8:14 AM, Pam in CT said:

again re references flying right on over

Quoting myself because this morning I woke up and sat bolt upright in bed with the sudden realization

OMG lolololol

(feeling very, very grateful to have been tipped off as I would NEVER have worked that out on my own; not feeling condescended to in.the.least)

I totally didn't see many of the references at the time and only got them when pointed out or after thinking about it later.  I thought the men on horses thing was funny, but I didn't get the reference until dh said "coconuts."  Aha!  For dh, Monty Python is his "Godfather"! 😂