the intersections of Barbie
Do the people really need another thinkpiece on Barbie? Probably not – but also I can’t stop reading them, so maybe you feel the same way.
I see the world at the intersections – which systems are present, which identities are named, and (sometimes more importantly) which are unspoken, unnamed, and silently threading through. Naturally, Barbie was a rani pink-tinted delight of a solo date last week.
the queerness! hyperfemininity as a trait of queer femmeness! the homoeroticism of the Kens! the entire COLOR STORY! There's a two-second shot in the trailer of Barbie singing Closer to Fine and Ken popping up and singing behind her, and that clip is a queer theory dissertation in and of itself. I had the chance to see the new Indigo Girls documentary last month, and I highly recommend allowing both films to be in conversation with each other, for a profound exploration of queerness. (More on the Indigo Girls and this moment here and here.)
the patriarchy! Don’t even get me started on the intimacy dynamics present in the concept of a “long term long distance low commitment casual girlfriend.” What caught me through the full movie, though, was the very specific and profound grief of watching men who say they love women be seduced by and choose power and control over their own humanity and self-love as well as the women they love. This exploration – that masculinity is different from patriarchy – is one of my favorites – start with Liz Plank, go deeper with bell hooks (affiliate link).
the internalized misogyny! naming the cognitive dissonance as the first step in undoing it! playing into it in order to subvert and regain power! Is that a valid trick? Do we all try it anyway, at one point or another?
the (completely unspoken) racial dynamics! A matriarchal utopia as led by a Black woman with Issa Rae as President Barbie! Is a white feminist utopia actually a utopia or is it just…kind of boring?
the capitalism! (ohmygod the capitalism.) The film’s positioning of Mattel as an Evil Corporation while also existing as a two-hour advertisement for Mattel brought me to an art-under-capitalism moment in a big way. The Mojo Dojo Casa House is an explicit moment of how capitalism is influenced by patriarchy – but then so is the entire film, in its own meta-commentary? Making art and paying the bills and …supporting corporations?
Barbie was like an exploration of and critique of white supremacist capitalist cis-hetero patriarchy wrapped up like candy. I wept through the entire film, couldn’t stop laughing, and immediately wanted to watch it again. Are there valid critiques? Absolutely, as there are of any piece of art, anytime. Was it a surface level exploration? Sure. Is that necessarily a bad thing? I don’t think so. Sometimes it’s a snapshot in time – a reflection back to ‘90s girlhood, a recasting of the stories that many of us grew up, layered with the complexities and nuances of adulthood.
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What did you uncover? Tell me all your hot takes — I'd love to hear.