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  • The Three Instances of Monoculture in 2023 Were Helmed By White Women: Taylor, Barbie and Britney

    The Three Instances of Monoculture in 2023 Were Helmed By White Women: Taylor, Barbie and Britney

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    As the halfway mark of 2024 occurs, further reflection on where society was this time last year can’t help but come to mind (and, for a start, there was no Israel-Hamas war yet at play). At this moment in 2023, the world (and the United States in particular) was waiting for Barbie to arrive in theaters, in addition to the masses being obsessed with the Eras Tour that Taylor Swift had embarked upon in March (another thing that also still hasn’t changed in ’24). That said, it was already shaping up to be the summer of white women—in theaters and at stadiums. But then, when mid-July approached, Britney Spears entered the ring as well (to quote “Circus,” “All eyes on me in the center of the ring”).

    The announcement of a release date for her much-anticipated memoir, The Woman In Me (a nod to her 2001 single, “I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman”—hence, re-releasing Crossroads as the only attempt at promoting the book on Spears’ part), was given on July 11th. It would go on to sell over two million copies by January 2024 (just a little over two months after it came out on October 24, 2023). So it was that the dominance of Taylor, Barbie and Britney signaled the continued reign of the white woman over pop culture. Thus, it was simultaneously shocking and not surprising at all that Time’s 2023 “Person of the Year” was Taylor Swift (gracing three different “Taylor’s versions” of the cover). Even though, by that time, the Israel-Hamas war had commenced, and many were outraged that Palestinians or journalists risking their lives in Gaza to document the horrors weren’t chosen instead.

    But hey, if America has taught the world anything, it’s that “candy” is the best distraction from reality. That said, the accompanying Time article on Taylor Swift was written by Sam Lansky, who asserted, ​​“She’s the last monoculture left in our stratified world.” This free and blithe admission of Swift’s “supremacy”—or whatever other superlative you want to attach to it—came at a time when, theoretically, it had never been less acceptable—in the media—to be white. And yet, 2023 was, for all intents and purposes, the Year of the White…women. With society having clearly pivoted toward the donna bianca as a more acceptable source for reverence than the white man.

    Of course, don’t get it twisted, the white man is still very much the one with all the power. Or, as Bland White Executive in Barbie puts it, “We’re doing [patriarchy] well. We just hide it better now.” If banning abortion in fourteen states in 2023 was a way of “hiding” it at all. In any case, white feminism has remained the most tried-and-true, effective method for promising the masses that “something” is being done about the patriarchy. Rest assured, however, it’s not. All that’s really being “permitted” to happen is for white women to work within that system and profit from it themselves. Because, as it is said, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

    Even the sacrificial lamb that is Britney Spears has found herself to be a beneficiary of this system. And yes, she “deserves to” profit from it after being abused for decades on end while her father, Jamie Spears, acted like her pimp as he whored her out against her will, making millions for himself and the rest of the Spears family members on the payroll during her needless, highly corrupt conservatorship. It was only after essentially “boycotting” the forced labor she was made to endure (namely, by walking out on the televised announcement of a second Las Vegas residency called Britney: Domination) that more people jumped on the #FreeBritney bandwagon. Because what “sensible” woman wouldn’t want to make more money if she could? Unless, of course, she wasn’t getting any of that money at all. Yet Spears has, to be fair, vowed never to be part of the specific system that caused so much exploitation in her life: the music industry.

    Instead, she pivoted toward the literary world in 2023 with the release of her much-dissected memoir. Immediately selling 1.1 million copies (this includes all formats) in its first week of release, Spears’ book was able to quickly claim the title of “highest-selling celebrity memoir in history.” Though, of course, if Swift ever decides to release one, it’s probably game over for Spears on that front.

    And, speaking of Britney and Taylor in the same sentence, three weeks after The Woman In Me’s release, Spears happened to post a side-to-side photo comparison of herself with Swift in 2003 and 2008, respectively, as she praised Swift’s success that year with the reflection, “This is way back when but kinda cool… During my Oops Tour, I got a knock at my door. My good friend at the time was the assistant to my manager who was trying to become a manager himself. There was a knock, and then he said, ‘I have a girl named Taylor who wants to come in and sing for you.’ I was like of course!!! He walks in, and she sings a beautiful song with her guitar. I was like wow wow she’s unbelievable!!! We took a picture, and she then became the most iconic pop woman of our generation. Kinda cool she plays stadiums, and I prefer her videos over movies any day. She’s stunning!!! Girl crush.”

    So yes, for the “legendary Miss Britney Spears” to bow down to fellow millennial Swift (and mind you, bowing isn’t as easy as it used to be for “geriatric millennials” like Spears), it truly is a testament to how much power she’s managed to amass in the years since Spears was omnipresent…both on and off the radio. Indeed, after that photo of Swift and Spears was taken in 2008 at the MTV VMAs, Spears seemed to have forgotten ever meeting her at all…until now. Because power (read: fame and fortune) is the only thing that even the most “good-hearted” of women really respond to. And Swift is nothing if not powerful.

    Hell, all-powerful, if her ability to work outside the limitations of the WGA and SAG strikes for the release of her concert film was an indication. And yes, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour was met with plenty of unprecedented presale demand at the online box office. The kind of demand that only Barbie could invoke just months before. Indeed, perhaps the only other blanca to briefly topple Taylor’s dominance in 2023, during the “Summer of Swift,” was none other than Barbie, de facto Greta Gerwig. To be sure, Swift and Gerwig profited immensely from railing against the patriarchy that summer…while simultaneously elevating the system that keeps it in place. All as they “bit the hand that fed them.”

    Except that the hand hasn’t really been bitten at all. Quite the opposite, actually, as Swift and Gerwig have made the men who run their label and studio, respectively, extremely rich(er)—thereby further contributing to the continued success of the very system they’re decrying…even if only in theory as opposed to in practice. Swift herself appears to be aware of this, albeit on a faint level. This much seemed clear when she told Time, “[Women have] been taught that…girlhood, feelings, love, breakups, analyzing those feelings, talking about them nonstop, glitter, sequins!… We’ve been taught that those feelings are more frivolous than the things that stereotypically gendered men gravitate toward, right?” The interviewer, Lansky, agrees. Because obviously, Swift is going somewhere with this. And the point she wants to make about girlhood/womanhood “suddenly” being more commodifiable (as if it wasn’t already from the moment Madonna burst onto the scene and her Maripol-styled look went on sale at Macy’s in the Madonnaland section) is this: “What has existed since the dawn of time? A patriarchal society. What fuels a patriarchal society? Money, flow of revenue, the economy. So…if we’re going to look at this in the most cynical way possible, feminine ideas becoming lucrative means that more female art will get made. It’s extremely heartening.”

    That’s one word for it. Of course, another word is suspect. Extremely suspect. For when we take a look at that “female art” (and, by the way, why is Swift the only one who gets a pass on saying “female” these days?), it remains not only decidedly white, but decidedly patriarchal as well. Because, in the end, constantly failing the Bechdel test in “female art” doesn’t exactly do much to “smash the patriarchy,” instead reinforcing it by placing all this weight on male attention and approval.

    Gerwig, too, has her own sins to atone for when it comes to fortifying the very system she condemns. It can be no wonder, then, that both women are so laudatory of one another (as Spears is of Swift), with Swift commenting of Barbie, “To make a fun, entertaining blast of a movie with that commentary, I cannot imagine how hard that was, and Greta made it look so easy.” Likewise, Gerwig has gushed of Swift, “I’m just a sucker for a gal who is good with words, and she is the best with them.” At the very least, she doesn’t extrapolate entire lyrics from songs of the 60s and 70s like her “Snow on the Beach” collaborator, Lana Del Rey. Which probably makes Swift worthier of Gerwig’s assessment that she’s “Bruce Springsteen meets Loretta Lynn meets Bob Dylan.” Though Swift would more likely prefer to see herself as a composite of Joni Mitchell and Shania Twain. Again, more peak examples of white female hegemony. Though, in Mitchell’s defense, the content of her songwriting tends to get more political than the extent of “You Need to Calm Down,” “The Man” and “Only the Young.” As they did for supposed LDR foil Joan Baez.

    Some would argue the sixties were simply a “more political time,” therefore gave rise to more political influence in music. But honestly, “the times,” as they are, couldn’t be more fraught with political, let’s say, “intrigue.” And yet, people have never seemed more terrified of asserting themselves in any way that might be deemed political. That Swift, knowing the extent of her power at this juncture, and still staying silent on a matter like the genocide in Palestine, is still choosing silence tells one everything they need to know about “power” in the twenty-first century. Because “speaking now” would also open her up to being “cancelable.” Something Swift insists, in the abovementioned Time article, she nearly was by Kimye back in 2016, when Kardashian released select recordings of Swift’s conversation with Kanye about the lyrics he intended to use for “Famous.” (As The Tortured Poets Department later taught us, she still had more bad blood with Kim to air via the oh so subtly titled “thanK you aIMee.”)

    Many were surprised by Swift returning to this moment that happened “so long ago” (because seven years ago is practically a century in the pop culture cycle). But it makes sense. Swift can at last freely kick Ye while he’s down after that series of anti-Semitic rants that genuinely did get him canceled (until the inevitable reanimation years from now à la John Galliano). She can rail against Ye and Kardashian for being total twats as though to complete the job of white martyrdom that was already started by Ye at the 2009 VMAs. Where the illustrious rivalry between the two first began, positioning Ye as “the bullying black demon” and Taylor as “the innocent white girl.” It didn’t feel like a coincidence to dredge up this old racist stereotype as Barack Obama entered his second term, and it would become increasingly clear that America wasn’t really all that “down” with a Black president—hence, the about-face on the political spectrum that transpired with the 2016 election.

    With Donald Trump and Joe Biden (Obama’s vice president or not) taking control (sort of) in the years that followed Obama’s presidency, the notion of monoculture did start to revive itself, even as the nation became increasingly divided. And it crested in 2023 with three white women. One of whom has been part of monoculture since the late 90s.

    And whereas Spears’ career nearly was taken away from her by the sexist machinations of Justin Timberlake as he played into the time-honored trope of painting a woman as a whore when he wanted to discredit her, Swift was never in any real danger of losing favor with her fans. Though she insists that, after Kardashian released the misleading aspects of the recorded conversation, “My career was taken away from me.” An odd statement to make considering that she went on to release Reputation soon after, another multimillion-selling success. In fact, this is something Lansky himself calls out in the article, remarking that “when Reputation’s lead single ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ reached No. 1 on the charts, or when the album sold 1.3 million albums in the first week, second only to 1989, she did not look like someone whose career had died. She looked like a superstar who was mining her personal experience as successfully as ever. I am tempted to say this. But then I think, ‘Who am I to challenge it, if that’s how she felt?’ The point is: she felt canceled. She felt as if her career had been taken from her. Something in her had been lost, and she was grieving it.” When, however, are women of color in the mainstream (or in general) ever allowed that same luxury?

    The white women taking centerstage right now are aware that their jig could be up at any moment, if things ever actually do change in terms of what constitutes what Swift deems “female art.” For there lingers around this art an inherent mea culpa for taking up so much space in an already highly competitive niche: making a (very handsome) living off music, writing or film (the first and third categories both overlapping with writing at the center of the Venn diagram). Thus, it’s not a coincidence that Lana Del Rey finally apologized (if only in lyrical format) for what she now perceives as her greatest Achilles’ heel—her skin tone—singing in “Grandfather Please Stand on the Shoulders of My Father While He’s Deep-Sea Fishing,” “A fallible deity wrapped up in white/I’m folk, I’m jazz, I’m blue, I’m green/Regrettably also a white woman.”

    This lyric arrived three years after being called a Karen in the wake of her “question for the culture,” short haircut with blonde highlights and a weight gain that many on the internet refused to ignore. Because, Lana Del Rey or not, there’s nothing the masses despise more than a middle-aged white woman. That said, Swift might be due for her own reckoning with the public upon reaching Del Rey’s age, while Spears has continued to insist that she’s twelve years old (and sometimes younger). Though that, of course, has more to do with the mental schism caused by her hyper-sexualization at such an early age and the according mindfuck that comes with going from “Lolita-inspired sex goddess” to “forty-something.” Better known as: the pop culture equivalent of “crypt keeper,” even to this day. And, at present, that’s largely thanks to the supposedly woke generation called Z, as TikTok and its youth-seeking/-sucking/-centric trends brainwash their minds into even more warped forms of ageism than those who came before them.

    What’s more, Gerwig, who turned forty in August, has intuited that the sun is setting on her own “time in the spotlight” as an actress. Ergo, an overt pivot to writer-director that she commenced in 2017, with the largely autobiographical Lady Bird. Set in her native city of Sacramento, Gerwig appeared to start taking up the mantle from the only other majorly famous white woman from that town (unless you count Molly Ringwald), Joan Didion. In fact, Gerwig wields Didion’s shade-throwing statement, “Anyone who talks about California hedonism has never spent a Christmas in Sacramento” as the opening title card for Lady Bird. With that in mind, it once again speaks to the idea that, so long as a white girl can troll herself—have a sense of humor about her “blandness” and the bland place she came from—she is beyond reproach. Beyond “too much” self-questioning.

    And while Spears spent about two hundred and eighty-eight pages “self-questioning” (or at least self-examining) in her memoir, she’s never much bothered with being “political.” She’s enjoyed the privilege of her white womanhood that way. In truth, mocking Timberlake in The Woman In Me for his blaccent and general white-boy-posing-as-a-Black-man antics (think: Seth Green in Can’t Hardly Wait or Jamie Kennedy in Malibu’s Most Wanted) in the late 90s and early 00s belies the reality that she’s guilty of her own appropriations, flirting with Asian and Indian cultures throughout the early 00s like a persona—in much the same way Madonna did during her Ray of Light era. Spears also had an especial fetish for hip hop culture, donning her baggy jeans and Timablands to fit the mold, or trying to emulate Snoop Dogg’s look in 2004’s “Outrageous” video.

    After shifting to the “hip hop sound” that grew increasingly popular in the 00s, Spears’ work with The Neptunes on her third album, Britney, evidently paved the way for working with R. Kelly on In the Zone. Specifically, on the aforementioned “Outrageous.” And yes, it was outrageous for Spears—or any other woman, really—to work with Kelly after 2002, when video evidence of his already well-known sexual abuse of underage women came to light, making it glaringly public that he was a depraved asshole. Alas, Spears’ taste in men rivals only Eva Braun’s on the shittiness factor. But, as it is said, a girl’s father sets the tone for the future men she’ll gravitate toward.

    It was only after being oppressed to the most extreme degree by patriarchy that Spears finally became an unwitting benchmark for feminism, where once she was accused of setting it back decades with her scantily-clad style and “we should just trust our president in every decision that he makes” politics. Not to mention her “I Was Born to Make You Happy”/“I’m A Slave 4 U” rhetoric. With the advent Swift and Gerwig, who were both, like Spears, forced to operate (a.k.a. “play the game”) within a male-dominated system in order to succeed, they’ve appeared to take Spears’ apolitical, pandering-to-the-male-gaze form of monoculture and transformed it into something more “palatably feminist” for the later twenty-first century.

    Ironically, however, all three women are classifiable as “holdovers” from the toxic (no Britney pun intended) 00s, filled with its unmistakable brand of misogyny that was so clearly internalized and radiated back by the women who came up during that era (famous or otherwise). That the most noticeable three instances of monoculture in 2023 were embodied by such women doesn’t exactly scream “harbinger of change!” And, halfway through ’24, that remains apparent. Because, ultimately, all monoculture seeks to comfort and uphold the status quo we’ve known since cognizance. No matter how bad, phony or low-key buttressing of white men the messaging behind it truly is.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Margot Robbie recreates iconic Barbie-inspired looks on the red carpet

    Margot Robbie recreates iconic Barbie-inspired looks on the red carpet

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    Since kicking off the “Barbie” promo tour in June, Margot Robbie has channeled many iconic looks inspired by Mattel’s bestselling doll.

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    OTRC

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  • See 65 years of Barbie style at Phoenix Art Museum’s new exhibit

    See 65 years of Barbie style at Phoenix Art Museum’s new exhibit

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    Phoenix Art Museum just became a dollhouse.

    The institution opens its latest blockbuster show on Wednesday: “Barbie: A Cultural Icon” tracks the doll’s fashion evolution and delivers plenty to do and see, including dolls and outfits from every era; real clothing that inspired Barbie outfits; taped interviews with designers and other video content; and interactive photo ops including a Barbie car and a Barbie Dreamhouse.

    The museum is hosting a “Pretty in Pink” Valentine’s Day event to celebrate from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday night; the $30 ticket gets visitors a pink carpet, DJ and dancing, complimentary sweet treats, valentine-making presented by Cut+Paste PHX, a scavenger hunt, a library pop-up and no-host bar with specialty drinks.

    The show’s curator, Karan Feder, has had a long career in the world of glam fashion. After working as a Hollywood designer, she moved to Las Vegas and got involved with the Liberace Museum, helping to preserve the costumes of the piano legend. After that, she moved to the Nevada State Museum and spent eight years developing their costume collection, including acquiring the entire remaining costume stock from the Folies Bergere, the cabaret show that ran at the Tropicana Las Vegas for 50 years.

    Then COVID hit, and Feder’s attention was drawn to the iconic doll.

    We spoke to Feder about the development of “Barbie: A Cultural Icon,” what people can expect from the exhibit and why, after 65 years, Barbie is just as popular as ever.

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    Barbies from the 1980s in “Barbie: A Cultural Icon.”

    Jennifer Goldberg

    Phoenix New Times: How did you begin to develop this exhibit?
    Karan Feder: One of my colleagues at the (Nevada) State Museum was — still is — a fantastic collector of vintage fashion, and part of the vintage fashion he collected was Barbie fashion. He wasn’t collecting Barbie dolls; he was collecting Barbie fashion as legitimate fashion.

    I thought that was just the most interesting thing — I had never actually thought of the Barbie doll just from the perspective of fashion before. It always intrigued me, but I never had time to deal with it. And so I took up this project at the beginning of COVID, and I thought, I wonder if there’s a way to tell a story about the Barbie doll just from the perspective of fashion?

    So this exhibition tells a narrative, explains Barbie’s evolution in fashion, in her closet, from ’59 to today, and along the way, we see life-size examples of pieces that the Barbie team may have been looking at, either extant samples or photographic examples from the culture that the Barbie team was influenced by.

    That’s what this exhibit is all about. It’s really about talking about the history of our American culture through a perspective of Barbie fashion.

    I read that Barbie clothing designers actually traveled to Europe to see what was happening in fashion over there. Is that true?
    In 1959, when Barbie is born, there’s a single designer, Charlotte Johnson, and she was charged to reflect culture — not to get ahead of culture, not to create trends, but Barbie reflected current culture. So in order to do that, she would look at what people on the streets were wearing and she’d go shopping at boutiques to see what people were selling.

    But the company also sent her to Europe to shop the runways, to see what was going to be happening next season. Because there’s a downtime for creating and designing these Barbie dolls. It’s at least 12 to 18 months, so Charlotte was designing something today that wouldn’t be seen until at least next year. So they were looking at European haute couturiers.

    The trends she doesn’t follow are very interesting, too. Barbie never really had a punk outfit — the original ’70s punk, she never went there. She never really embraced Japanese minimalism; it was never really on her radar, so that’s interesting.

    Now, all bets are off. Barbie wears whatever she wants constantly. She looks however she wants. For me, the tipping point is 2000. Certain rules were followed in terms of fashion generally, where we as consumers were dictated to. We were told what was going to be in for this next season, this next year, and then pretty much we adhered to it. There were always silos of folks who did their own things, but this was how the world went ’round. That isn’t how the world goes around anymore.

    click to enlarge

    Barbies inspired by the 2023 film.

    Jennifer Goldberg

    How did interest in the exhibition change when buzz around the “Barbie” movie began to pick up?
    It’s been absolutely fascinating to watch this evolution. The book I developed since the exhibition (“Barbie Takes the Catwalk: A Style Icon’s History in Fashion”), I was pitching the book before any of the buzz about the movie was out, and I got rejected constantly, and the rejection note was, “Well, Barbie really is not relevant anymore,” and that was the constant rejection: No one cares, no one’s thinking about Barbie.

    And I was like “No, you’re absolutely wrong.” There’s a Barbie sold every six seconds out there in the world. It’s the most recognizable brand in the world. No one got it. So the “Barbie” movie, it did change things. It’s made the selling point of this exhibition easier. And I have to say that Margot Robbie has made the selling of a Barbie fashion exhibition easier, too. The fact that she looked at Barbie fashion and said, “I want to wear that,” sort of proves our point about the significance of the fashion that Barbie has been showing us since 1959.

    It makes it even more fun, I think, because most people who were going to end up at this exhibition saw the “Barbie” movie and I think it’s going to be fun for them to come across some of the actual outfits that inspired (“Barbie” costume designer) Jacqueline Durran’s work in the film. I think those will be fun discoveries for folks.

    Who will enjoy this exhibit?
    It’s a multi-generational exhibition. Because Barbie has been around for 65 years, a mother, a daughter and a grandmother can all go to this exhibit and at some point find a little Barbie outfit they remember from their own childhood and just be in awe of it again. It’s like, “Oh my God, I remember that thing. I haven’t thought about that thing in 35 years, but there it is and I remember playing with it.” And that’s really fun to see, that it sparks this really great discussion among generations and they have this singular thing in common.

    Why do you think Barbie is still so popular 65 years after her debut?
    To be honest, I think it’s the fashion. There’s something magical about little teeny zippers that magically, perfectly close a dress on that Barbie form. For me, it’s magic. And it’s the miniature quality, the cuteness quality of things, I think that’s built into us as human beings.

    But for me, it’s the fashion, because there is, across the generations, conflicts with the Barbie form that pop up in certain periods of time. So some people may fall off, some generations may fall off from being a Barbie fan based on the Barbie form, the physical form, but there’s nothing to argue about with the fashion. Because we trek through 65 years of her history, you will see every single Barbie form that has ever been put out there, but this narrative is about appreciating the fashion and how significant was that Barbie has always kept up with the fashion of the times. And what does that tell us about our culture, the American culture, and what does it tell us about the legacy of Barbie?

    The fashion is what it is, and it’s always fantastic and magical. I think that’s the common denominator.

    “Barbie: A Cultural Icon”: Through July 7. Phoenix Art Museum, 1625 N. Central Ave. Cost is included in general admission, which $28 for adults, with discounts for students, seniors and older children. Children ages 5 and under are free. Visit the Phoenix Art Museum website for information and tickets.

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    Jennifer Goldberg

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  • So The Academy Clearly Didn’t Watch Barbie

    So The Academy Clearly Didn’t Watch Barbie

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    Every year, Awards Season is special for one reason: we all come together in outrage against a very specific group of voters, and publicly shame them until we grow bored. The Golden Globes and Emmys are great predictors of who will be ultimately nominated for an Oscar…but this year, it appears that the Academy stopped watching movies altogether.

    When I woke up yesterday, I was bombarded by thousands of Tweets calling for the evisceration of the Academy after the 2024 Oscar Nominee list was revealed. It’s your modern-day mob mentality — and get your pitchforks ready, because there were quite a few notable snubs.

    • Hunky Charles Melton for May/December
    • Leonardo DiCaprio for Scorsese’s 10-hour epic Killers Of The Flower Moon
    • Greta Gerwig as Best Director for Barbie
    • Margot Robbie as Best Actress for Barbie
    • Dua Lipa’s “Dance The Night Away” for Barbie
    • Saltburn, in general.

    Okay, so I was already up in arms about the lack of nominations for Jacob Elordi and Charles Melton. But nothing was more offensive than the glaringly obvious
    Barbie irony: the Academy chose to honor “I’m Just Ken” by Ryan Gosling in a movie created by women, for women, about the struggles of feminism in a male-dominated society.

    This is no hate to Ryan Gosling, who has owned his Ken-ergy in the best, candid way possible. He has supported his cast and uplifted its women during every single press event, red carpet, and personal statement. But the fact that they chose to nominate the one song about men taking over is laughable.
    Commenting on the lack of nominations himself, Gosling took to social media to say:

    “
    But there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film…To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement,”

    Sure, Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For” was nominated considering it’s a beautiful, haunting ballad that perfectly fits the film. But the Oscars have proven they’re Billie stans before by honoring her
    James Bond ballad. What about the two women who made Barbie possible? Who revived cinema and brought millions of moviegoers to the theaters dressed in pink? Who created a whole movement surrounding celebrating women after years of being told we should bring each other down?

    Barbie was a statistically bigger first-week success story than its release-day twin, Oppenheimer, and the biggest film of the year. Yet, no nomination for the director and face of the film. It’s almost like the Academy realized this movie was about them…

    Here’s the worst part: you don’t have to let them win if you don’t want to. To not even recognize Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig’s work and impact on the
    2023 cinemascape is like saying Taylor Swift didn’t dominate the music industry this year. It’s just a lie.

    So I will end this the way Taylor Swift would, with lyrics from “The Man”:

    “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can

    Wondering if I’d get there quicker

    If I was a man”

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    Jai Phillips

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  • Ryan Gosling & America Ferrera SLAM Oscars For Snubbing Margot Robbie & Greta Gerwig: 'They Made History'! – Perez Hilton

    Ryan Gosling & America Ferrera SLAM Oscars For Snubbing Margot Robbie & Greta Gerwig: 'They Made History'! – Perez Hilton

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    Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera are just as upset as the rest of us over this year’s Oscars nominations!

    Ever since the Barbie movie came out, everyone believed Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig would get nominated at the Academy Awards this year. Not only was it a massive success at the box office, arguably saving the movie theater business after the pandemic kept audiences away, but their work on-camera and off-camera created a film that deeply resonated with people worldwide. So the two women seemed like a shoo-in to get noms!

    Barbie made audiences *feel* way more than “serious” movies.

    But when the nominations dropped earlier today, people immediately noticed two glaring omissions. Margot failed to earn a nomination in the Best Actress category, while Greta was out of the running for Best Director. Naturally, fans of the Barbie movie were disappointed and shocked by snubs. And they weren’t alone in their feelings.

    Related: Jamie Foxx Spotted On Back In Action Set For The First Time Since Health Scare

    Ryan, who scored a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role as Ken in the film, expressed his sadness over the news. He told People in a statement:

    “There is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film. No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius.”

    The 43-year-old actress noted that his disappointment over their lack of nominations in the acting and directing categories “would be an understatement,” adding:

    “Against all odds with nothing but a couple of soulless, scantily clad, and thankfully crotchless dolls, they made us laugh, they broke our hearts, they pushed the culture and they made history. Their work should be recognized along with the other very deserving nominees.”

    While Ryan isn’t happy with how the nominations turned out, he is proud of not only himself but co-star, America Ferrera, who is in the running for Best Supporting Actress this year:

    “I am extremely honored to be nominated by my colleagues alongside such remarkable artists in a year of so many great films. And I never thought I’d being saying this, but I’m also incredibly honored and proud that it’s for portraying a plastic doll named Ken.”

    Like Ryan, America also “was incredibly disappointed” Greta and Margot were snubbed! She told Variety:

    “Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it. Creating this world, and taking something that didn’t have inherent value to most people and making it a global phenomenon. It feels disappointing to not see her on that list.”

    And The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants star took a moment to praise Margot as well, saying:

    “What Margot achieved as an actress is truly unbelievable. One of the things about Margot as an actress is how easy she makes everything look. And perhaps people got fooled into thinking that the work seems easy, but Margot is a magician as an actress in front of the screen, and it was one of the honors of my career to get to witness her pull off the amazing performance she did. She brings so much heart and humor and depth and joy and fun to the character. In my book, she’s a master.”

    Although Barbie made history as one of three films directed by a woman to earn a best picture nod, America just wants to see female directors “acknowledged” for their great work moving forward:

    “It’s as it should be. Women filmmakers telling all different kinds of stories that resonate in different ways in the culture is the goal. I would love to see even even more female-directed movies on the list and to see more female directors acknowledged for making the best cinema of the year.”

    It’s a real shame the Academy didn’t give Margot and Greta the recognition they deserved for their work on this film. Reactions, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF in the comments below.

    [Image via Warner Bros. Pictures/YouTube, Phil Lewis/WENN]

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    Perez Hilton

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  • America Ferrera Shouts Out Selena Gomez, Jenna Ortega in Critics Choice Speech – POPSUGAR Australia

    America Ferrera Shouts Out Selena Gomez, Jenna Ortega in Critics Choice Speech – POPSUGAR Australia

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    Actress America Ferrera was awarded the SeeHer Award at today’s 2024 Critics Choice Awards, and delivered an acceptance speech that could rival her iconic “Barbie” monologue.

    The SeeHer Award is a non-competitive special award that was established in 2017. It honours women in film who advocate for gender equality in the industry, and portray authentic, boundary-pushing characters.

    Margot Robbie Presented the 2024 SeeHer Award to America Ferrera

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    Margot Robbie presented the award to America Ferrera. In Robbie’s introduction, the actress and Barbie producer highlighted some of Ferrera’s career highlights, including “Real Women Have Curves”, “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”, and “Ugly Betty”. Robbie also noted that Ferrera became the first Latina woman to win an Emmy for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series when she won for “Ugly Betty”, and remains the only Latina woman who has won in this category.

    “First, and only,” Robbie reiterated. “I imagine being the first in any field can be isolating. I imagine it puts an enormous amount of pressure on you to be perfect, to play it safe, but what I admire most about America is how she has handled that pressure, while never being afraid to speak the truth when it counts the most.”

    America Ferrera Delivers Powerful Speech on the Importance of Representation

    On stage, Ferrera delivered a powerful and heartfelt acceptance speech with effortless charm.

    “I’m just waiting for the teleprompter to show my speech, there it is!” she began, bursting into a grin.

    Accepting the award, Ferrera spoke about her experience being a “first-generation Honduran-American girl in love with TV, film, and theatre who desperately wanted to be a part of a storytelling legacy that I could not see myself reflected in”.

    “Of course, I could feel myself in characters who were strong and complex, but these characters rarely, if ever, looked like me,” Ferrera said. “I yearned to see people like myself on screen as full humans.”

    Ferrera went on to recall her start in the industry, noting that at the time, “it seemed impossible that anyone could make a career of portraying fully-dimensional Latina characters”. She credited the writers, directors, producers and executives behind the scenes who have been “daring enough to rewrite outdated stories” over the years, and “to challenge deeply entrenched biases”.

    She also gave a shout out to Ariana Greenblatt — who plays Ferrera’s daughter in “Barbie” — as well as Jenna Ortega and Selena Gomez, for making their mark in Hollywood as Latina actresses, and playing characters she “could not have seen growing up”.

    “To me, this is the best and highest use of storytelling,” she continued. “To affirm one another’s full humanity, to uphold the truth that we are all worthy of being seen. Black, Brown, indigenous, Asian, trans, disabled, any body type, any gender, we are all worthy of having our lives richly and authentically reflected.”

    America Ferrera Thanks “Barbie” Family

    Ferrera went on to say that she would not be receiving the award if it weren’t for her role in Barbie, and took time to thank Robbie for seeing the “value” in “an entirely female idea that most would have dismissed as too girly, too frivolous or just too problematic”.

    To Robbie, who produced the film, she said: “You had the courage and the vision to take it on. Thank you for gifting the world with ‘Barbie’.”

    Next up was “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig, who Ferrera thanked for her “incredible mastery as a filmmaker” and for proving “that women’s stories have no difficulty achieving cinematic greatness and box office history at the same time”. She also thanked “the Kens” —  Noah Baumbach, Tom Ackerley, David Heyman, and Ryan Gosling.

    Ferrera’s final thanks was to her husband Ryan, who she clarified was “not Gosling”.

    “You see me and my dreams, and you believe and support them as if they were your own. I love you,” she said.

    “This is for every kid yearning to break in — I see you, and you go this,” she finished.

    The 29th Critics Choice Awards are streaming in full on Stan.

    This article was originally published on The Latch. Click here to read the original.

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    Stephanie Anderson

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  • Timothée Chalamet Names Character He Wishes He Got To Play In ‘Barbie’ Movie

    Timothée Chalamet Names Character He Wishes He Got To Play In ‘Barbie’ Movie

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    The “Wonka” star spilled on his scrapped cameo in the Greta Gerwig-directed film.

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  • Not Justin Ken’ing Britney While She Was Having An Abortion

    Not Justin Ken’ing Britney While She Was Having An Abortion

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    There is a very particular moment in Britney Spears’ revelatory The Woman In Me, during which she at last has the courage to rehash having an abortion in 2000. The baby, of course, would have been Justin Timberlake’s. Justin, at that time, however, was riding a bit too high on the crest of his success with NSYNC, and fatherhood would only signal a “death sentence” with regard to his ability to sleep around furthering his burgeoning prosperity. Britney, on the other hand, always knew she wanted to have a family. Repeatedly, this has come up in interviews with her from the very start of her career. 

    So, although it might have been “too soon” for Timberlake, from Spears’ perspective, “It was a surprise, but for me it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated.” Timberlake did not see it that way, he being the one who insisted that Spears “get rid of it.” This, to be sure, is more than somewhat ironic considering how public he’s been about his pro-choice stance. And yes, having the choice doesn’t just refer to the choice to abort, but the choice to carry out a pregnancy. Timberlake did not allow that choice for Spears, bulldozing her into doing what he wanted because it would have damaged his reputation (“If he didn’t want to become a father, I didn’t feel like I had much of a choice. I wouldn’t want to push him into something he didn’t want. Our relationship was too important to me”). And yet, years later, at a rally for Barack Obama, Timberlake declared next to his new girlfriend, Jessica Biel, “Nobody should be able to say what you can do with your body… I give Jess the right to choose where we go to eat all the time. The funny thing is, what the woman chooses is usually right.” First of all, vom, and second, it’s cruelly apparent that he didn’t believe Spears deserved the same “approach.” And gee, how kind of Timberlake to “give the right to choose” to Biel. Which was more than could be said for Britney. 

    It was already bad enough that, as usual, she was pushed and pressured into doing something she didn’t want to do, but, to add insult to injury, Spears recalls that while she was in agonizing pain on the floor of the bathroom, Timberlake thought it would be a great idea to come in and start playing his guitar to soothe her. Or, as she puts it, “At some point he thought maybe music would help, so he got his guitar and he lay there with me strumming it.” Yes, that’s correct, while Spears was doubled over in agony, Timberlake thought, “Hey, let me play my guitar for her. That makes sense. My music is all-healing.” There’s a reason “strumming it” sounds like “stroking it,” because all Timberlake was doing by playing his guitar in that moment was stroking his own ego with a masturbatory flourish. Never mind that Spears was on the verge of total panic because of the pain, and her awareness that Timberlake would not take her to the hospital if anything went wrong in order to guard his “dirty secret” at all costs. 

    Spears was also sure to make it clear that she was unsure about “her” (read: his) decision, and that, even to this day, she questions if it was right, remarking, “I don’t know if that was the right decision. If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it.” She added, “We also decided on something that in retrospect wound up being, in my view, wrong, and that was that I should not go to a doctor or to a hospital to have the abortion. It was important that no one find out about the pregnancy or the abortion, which meant doing everything at home.” Thus, not only was Spears strongarmed into the entire ordeal, she didn’t even get the luxury of having access to more complete, professional medical care for the procedure—all because JT would be “shamed.” Even though, in the end, Spears would have been the one to bear the brunt of the inevitable media backlash had the news actually leaked. For, as she also points out, “There’s always been more leeway in Hollywood for men than for women.” Plus, as we saw in 2002, everyone automatically sided with the false narrative Timberlake painted via “Cry Me A River” and its video.

    Spears’ description of the breakup that ensued not long after her abortion was one characterized by being “clinically in shock.” However, in Spears’ position on the bathroom floor, she might also have been clinically in shock as a result of seeing Timberlake sit down next to her and play guitar in response to her visible physical torment. A scene she illustrates by recalling, “…I took the little pills. Soon I started having excruciating cramps. I went into the bathroom and stayed there for hours, lying on the floor, sobbing and screaming. They should’ve numbed me with something, I thought. I wanted some kind of anesthesia. I wanted to go to the doctor. I was so scared. I lay there wondering if I was going to die.”

    For Timberlake to engage in the peak Ken behavior of playing his guitar in response to that exemplifies the worst kind of toxic masculinity. The kind that assumes it is gentle and caring when, actually, it is entirely narcissistic and self-serving. And so, with just one sentence, clearly drenched with shade, Spears recalls her own Barbie-esque hell. One in which the Ken of the scenario, Justin, seriously thought the thing that would help her most of all was his guitar-playing. 

    Obviously, there’s a good reason for writer-director Greta Gerwig to have so heavily featured this male trope in Barbie. For there have been scores upon scores of women subjected to this same form of musical abuse posing as…what? Romantic prowess? Sensitive boy swagger? Who the fuck knows what’s actually going through a man’s head when he decides that “strumming some tunes” is somehow the fulfillment of the ultimate female fantasy.

    All that can be known for sure is that the least consoling thing to happen while a girl is having an at-home abortion is being “Ken’d” with some guitar. Merely adding to how viable the tagline, “She’s everything. He’s just Ken” truly is. And yet, for whatever reason, it still takes the Barbies of the world too long to understand that they don’t need Ken, it’s the other way around. Or, as Justin would phrase it, “You were my sun/You were my earth.”

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Marketing to WEIRD — Or, Why Weird Barbie Rules!!!

    Marketing to WEIRD — Or, Why Weird Barbie Rules!!!

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    On August 7, Mattel announced a limited-time addition of Weird Barbie, a replica of Kate McKinnon’s character Greta Gerwig’s from the billion-dollar, blockbusterBarbie. The pre-order option is lonnggg past now. And the doll has been out-of-stock since it posted — predicting the success of sales, and the embrace of weird. This is a sign that consumers the-world-over truly welcome doll-diversity!

    What is “weird” anyway? According to Merriam-Webster, weird means of strange or extraordinary character. It can also mean supernatural or magical. This inclusion is a fabulous shift and foretells successful sales of products that embrace beauty beyond the stereotypical.

    Even before the announcement of the Weird Barbie doll, I’ve heard of friends planning to be Weird Barbie for Halloween and we’ve all seen the memes embracing the notion that “we are all Weird Barbie.” If there’s a time for a mainstream company like Mattel to market weird, it’s NOW.

    The $50-dollar Weird Barbie Doll is designed by Javier Meabe. The Mattel website states “Our doll version wears an outfit inspired by one you’ll see in the feature film, a bright pink dress with colorful artwork and puffy sleeves, and green snakeskin boots. She also features short, tousled hair and markings on her face to emulate a doll that’s been played with just a little too much.”

    Even though the Weird Barbie — like her traditional Barbie cohorts — can’t stand on her own, she comes with the classic Barbie stand to help her to her feet. According to the description, her body is “made to move.” So, yes, Weird can do splits like she can in the movie. (But don’t all our Barbie dolls do that already?)

    What’s sure is that Weird Barbie can stand up in an economy that embraces more than a narrow standard. As of this very moment, she’s sold out! But you can try clicking here. But no guarantees!

    For those Weird Barbie fans wanting merch fast, Mattel offers a groovy “Stay Weird” T-shirt for only $30. This “stylish addition to your business-casual wardrobe” — in a yummy buttercup yellow — features a dynamic image of Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie driving solo in a hot-pink jacket, behind an equally hot, hot-pink wheel.

    Drive us forward, Weird Barbie!

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    Popdust

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  • Charli XCX’s “Speed Drive” Is Her Most Anti-Environmental Music Video Yet

    Charli XCX’s “Speed Drive” Is Her Most Anti-Environmental Music Video Yet

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    Becoming something of a “soundtrack queen” (to rival Lana Del Rey), the chart success of “Speed Drive” from Barbie: The Album has prompted Charli XCX to make a music video for it. And, although Charli has had her fair share of anti-environmental music videos (see also: “2099”), “Speed Drive” might be her most no-fucks-given-about-Gaia one yet. Particularly at a time when any signs of flagrant abuse of Mother Earth have become more political than ever before. Nonetheless, what can anybody really expect from a song that, like Olivia Rodrigo’s “bad idea right?,” favors a bratty 00s-era feel to it? The 00s being one of the best times to exist for anyone who loved a gas-guzzling vehicle (whether Hummers or Bentleys).

    And, talking of the 00s, no one was queen of the “sweet ride” like Regina George (Rachel McAdams) in Mean Girls. With her 2002 Lexus SC 430, Regina couldn’t have given less of a fuck about emitting fossil fuels (ergo, popular girls should be deemed losers for promoting rampant fossil fuel usage). Same as Barbie wouldn’t (and doesn’t) in her pink Corvette. The very one we see being driven by Devon Lee Carlson (who also gets name-checked in the song) as the video, co-directed by XCX and Ramez Silyan, opens on her and Charli speeding down the backroads overlooked by Los Angeles’ Fourth Street Bridge. 

    If the overall aesthetic seems familiar, complete with “industrial L.A. backdrop,” it’s because Charli has managed to continue her Crash era from early 2022 into the present. After all, as she’s admitted herself, “I’ve always really liked singing about cars. For me, there is this intrinsic link between driving and music and feeling like you’re a star when you’re in a car.” But, for as “brightly burning” as one might feel in that “star-y” moment they get from what Missy Elliott would describe as, “Top down, loud sound/See my peeps,” it’s not going to be even half as brightly burning as this Earth amid going up into flames thanks to unremitting CO2 emissions. Which makes one not merely “wonder” (so much as despise) why Charli (and many pop stars/other types of famous people) are so content to keep plugging the notion of how driving is “freedom” when, in fact, it will be the death of everyone. And while, sure, some say death is the ultimate liberation, there are others still who would prefer to last as long as possible without the effects of air pollution/climate change taking years off their lives. This being precisely what continued car usage (and the glamorization of car usage) will do. 

    XCX might have talked about the “intrinsic link” between driving and music, but she glossed right past the intrinsic link between driving and capitalism. As Metric says in the chorus of “Handshakes,” “Buy this car to drive to work/Drive to work to pay for this car.” The vicious cycle that arises when a shoddy economic system creates a need that isn’t actually a need, but a frivolous, detrimental want caused by a made-up life purpose (i.e., working a job you hate [or at least resent] so as to be paid). And yet, because of the expert conditioning we’re all given from day one thanks to advertising and, correlatively, the celebrity-industrial complex, we tell ourselves that selfish desires are needs. Including the desire to superfluously drive around in our cars doing donuts and slamming the brakes arbitrarily after stepping on the gas and letting out another massive, senseless CO2 fart into the world. Which is what both Carlson and Charli seem to enjoy doing with their status as: rich and influential. 

    Before we can get the full, uninterrupted effect of Charli letting her gasses loose, she steps out of the front seat in a white onesie (that seems the best word for it) complemented by a pink and white feather boa. As she starts to get into her “I’m a hot girl, pop girl, rich girl/I’m a bitch girl” type of dance, the world of the music video is shattered by the meta sound of her “Vroom Vroom” ringtone. Indeed, this entire portion is supposed to be meta, what with Sam Smith also being present on Barbie: The Album. Answering her oh so specifically zoomed in on Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, the screen is opened to reveal Smith demanding, “Did you have a chance to listen to the new mix, babe? What’d you think?” She tells Smith, “I’m actually on the set of a music video right now.” Smith replies, “Okay, okay, sorry. I just, we gotta submit it so we can get it out.” Promising to call them afterward, she snaps the phone closed and cuts right back to the gear shift of the pink Corvette as Carlson hits the gas, showing us the “thrill” of the needle on the odometer rising while she does donuts around a dancing Charli. This in between close-ups on the car’s version of fuzzy dice hanging on the rearview mirror: an Android mini collectible. Because what is this video if not an aggrandizement of capitalistic synergy (mostly pertaining to Samsung)?

    While XCX happily mugs for the camera, Carlson’s driving skills cause a huge blast of smoke to trail behind her in the Corvette’s wake. This is appropriately timed to coincide with XCX cockily singing, “Got the top down, tires on fire (on fire).” Followed by a classic “I’m an asshole but there’s nothing wrong with that” defense as Charli flexes, “Who are you? I’m livin’ my life/See you lookin’ with that side eye/Wow, you’re so jealous ’cause I’m one of a kind/What you think about me, I don’t care.” Really? Even if one tends to think Charli is a one-woman promotion parade for using and touting all manner of vehicles that contribute to our collective quietus? It seems like something one should care about, reputation-wise. But, as she’s made clear, she’s too “hot, ridin’ through the streets” and “on a different frequency”—at least from the environmentally-minded who would prefer to stop seeing the deification (and sexualization, à la J. G. Ballard’s Crash) of cars. Those metal monsters who will spell human extinction if AI doesn’t first. 

    To add insult to injury, rubber tires are set ablaze for the purpose of the video, emitting more smoke into the air so that the aerosols can contribute to affecting climate change as well. Even before this moment, it was long ago apparent that Charli is strictly among the camp that views environmental-friendliness not only as a hindrance to “economic growth,” but also, evidently, to her “art.” And as the credits to the video show the “tag” of Charli standing in the middle of the road while a freight train slowly crawls past her and a flaming wheel rolls by, to boot, she confirms that no one actually gives a shit about mitigating environmental damage as much as possible, whenever possible. Not when it makes them look so “hot” to do otherwise. Alas, everyone will be Satan-level hot on a more literal level soon enough. 

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Billion-dollar Barbie: Movie breaks another record for female directors – National | Globalnews.ca

    Billion-dollar Barbie: Movie breaks another record for female directors – National | Globalnews.ca

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    Greta Gerwig should be feeling closer to fine these days. In just three weeks in theaters, “Barbie” is set to sail past $1 billion in global ticket sales, breaking a record for female directors that was previously held by Patty Jenkins, who helmed “Wonder Woman.”

    “Barbie,” which Gerwig directed and co-wrote, added another $53 million from 4,178 North American locations this weekend, according to studio estimates on Sunday. The Margot Robbie-led and produced film has been comfortably seated in first place for three weeks and it’s hardly finished yet. Warner Bros. said the film will cross $1 billion before the end of the day.

    In modern box office history, just 53 movies have made over $1 billion, not accounting for inflation, and “Barbie” is now the biggest to be directed by one woman, supplanting “Wonder Woman’s” $821.8-million global total.

    Three movies that were co-directed by women are still ahead of “Barbie,” including “Frozen” ($1.3 billion) and “Frozen 2” ($1.45 billion), both co-directed by Jennifer Lee, and “Captain Marvel” ($1.1 billion), co-directed by Anna Boden. But, “Barbie” has passed “Captain Marvel” domestically with $459.4 million (versus $426.8 million), thereby claiming the North American record for live-action movies directed by women.

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    Click to play video: 'Has ‘Barbenheimer’ marked the return of movie theatres post-pandemic?'


    Has ‘Barbenheimer’ marked the return of movie theatres post-pandemic?


    New competition came this weekend in the form of the animated, PG-rated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and the Jason Statham shark sequel, “Meg 2: The Trench,” both of which were neck-in-neck with Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” also in its third weekend, for the second-place spot.

    “Meg 2” managed to sneak ahead and land in second place. It overcame its abysmal reviews to score a $30 million opening weekend from 3,503 locations. The Warner Bros. release, directed by Ben Wheatley, currently has a 29-per-cent critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and a B- CinemaScore from audiences. The thriller was released in 3D, which accounted for 22 per cent of its first weekend business.

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    Third place went to “Oppenheimer,” which added $28.7 million from 3,612 locations in North America, bringing its domestic total to $228.6 million. In just three weeks, the J. Robert Oppenheimer biopic starring Cillian Murphy has become the highest grossing R-rated film of the year (ahead of “John Wick Chapter 4”) and the sixth-biggest of the year overall, surpassing “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”

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    “Oppenheimer” also celebrated a landmark, crossing $500 million globally in three weeks. Its worldwide tally is currently $552.9 million, which puts it ahead of “Dunkirk,” which clocked out with $527 million in 2017 and has become Nolan’s fifth-biggest movie ever. It’s now among the four top grossing biographies ever (its company includes “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “The Passion of the Christ” and “American Sniper”) and the biggest World War II movie of all time.

    Paramount’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” was close behind in fourth place with an estimated $28 million from 3,858 theatres in North America. Since opening on Wednesday, the film, which is riding on excellent reviews and audience scores, has earned $43.1 million.

    &copy 2023 The Associated Press

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  • Stop Calling Barbie “Escapist Fun”

    Stop Calling Barbie “Escapist Fun”

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    For the most part, Barbie has held fast to its reputation as an old school work of art in the (im)pure studio system sense of the word. Hand-painted sets, huge backlots and no expense spared for costuming all add up to a movie the likes of which modern audiences haven’t seen in who knows how long…when you don’t count Marvel and DC movies. The big budget allotted to Greta Gerwig’s film is always a rarity for a “women’s movie,” and one that doesn’t “technically” require a lot of special effects. Something Gerwig also offers in spades with subtler moments like Barbie’s convertible overturning, causing her to land with a thud that leaves behind animated pink smoke clouds. 

    Amid the usual backlash that always tends to arrive when something has been oversaturated, the accusation that Barbie is just more capitalist propaganda designed to bolster Mattel’s sales has perhaps only added to the idea that the movie is nothing but “fluff.” Or, that most odious term, “escapist fun.” The cliche that so many critics and “amateurs” (read: anyone with a website) like to use when describing a film that is comedic and fantastical. Therefore, automatically “frothy.” Barbie has proven no exception to the rule, despite its overtly pleading message for the demise of patriarchy. One that many men and women alike are uncomfortable processing unless they can laugh it off (ha ha ha!) and bill it as comedy rather than something that cuts way too close to the quick of reality.

    But Gerwig knows perhaps better than most that the truth is often far more painful than people can deal with “straight up”—it needs to be mitigated with a comedic tincture. And Barbie is sure to offer that in spades (something Mattel is likely happy about to help dilute the “mature thematic elements”). Between reminding audiences of how she drinks from a cup with nothing in it to how incongruous it is to walk around on tiptoes, the “subtle touches” are what contribute to Barbie’s hilarity. 

    Less funny, alas, is Ken (Ryan Gosling) horning in on Barbie’s (Margot Robbie) journey to the Real World (so Barbie can repair the rip in the portal between it and Barbie Land, therefore stop the cellulite she’s now got from spreading further). Not only is that in and of itself a signal of Ken’s (a.k.a. “men’s”) total lack of consideration for what Barbie wants (which is to go it alone), but the general assumption that men make about how their own wants and “needs” should usurp those of women. When Barbie realizes Ken has stowed away in her fly pink convertible (after he interrupts her solo singalong sesh to Indigo Girls’ “Closer to Fine”), she’s not, as he would expect, pleased to see him, so much as irritated by the inconvenience of his presence. “You’ll just slow me down,” she tells him. But he keeps needling and pressuring. And so, of course, wanting to be “nice” (as all women who twist themselves in knots to be “liked” do), she lets him stay along for the ride. 

    This tiny act of “kindness” on her part turns out to unleash the main “Act Two problem” of Barbie: Ken unearthing that patriarchy governs the Real World. A Pandora’s box (or Ken’s box) that, once opened, can only unleash all the same patriarchy-driven ills of the Real World onto Barbie Land. A consequence that Barbie hardly anticipated when she first set out to correct the breach in realms. One, as Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) tells her, that’s caused by the sadness of the little girl who’s playing with her. Only, as it transpires, the girl playing with her isn’t so little. She’s a grown woman and a mom, not to mention an assistant (who dabbles as an illustrator of Barbie concepts) of some kind to the CEO at Mattel (though, in the credits, she’s billed as “employee at Mattel”—for everyone below the executive level is just “employee,” right? No need to get more specific than that). Her name? Gloria (America Ferrera). Her venomous tween daughter? Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt). It’s the latter who cuts Barbie down to size, so to speak, by calling her a fascist who represents everything that’s wrong with the world, and how women are viewed in it. 

    Causing her to cry for the second time since being in the Real World, Barbie can’t believe that “her kind” is seen like this by the women she thought she had brought peace, harmony and equal rights to. Subsequently approached at her lowest moment by handlers (not Ruth or Barbara) from Mattel, she goes with them in their black SUV to meet the CEO (Will Ferrell), who has big plans to put her back in her box (yes, it’s very symbolic of what men do to women in general as well). Barbie, still too trusting and naive after exiting the Garden of Eden, as it were (indeed, Gerwig has turned the Adam and Eve story on its ear by calling out how Ken is sprung from Barbie’s proverbial rib), goes along for the ride. All while Ken watches from afar, now with the diabolical knowledge of patriarchy that he plans to take back to the other Kens in Barbie Land so that it will become the “Kendom.”

    As viewers watch Barbie become unsettled by the subjugation and constantly-looming sense of anxiety she endures as a woman (caught somewhere between being a “real girl” and a Barbie doll, for a dash of Pinocchio influence), it’s almost impossible not to squirm in one’s seat over how familiar it all is. Ergo, not exactly making for much in the way of “escapism”—though one can see how it would be necessary to “Trojan horse” Barbie through that “visual cotton candy” lens. Bountiful in the use of bright colors and The Wizard of Oz-esque sets. For anyone can be distracted from deeper meaning by aesthetic beauty. Which is so often how Barbie has been overlooked as a “being” with more substance than her appearance. “Authentically artificial,” as Gerwig would say (though of her sets, not Barbie). 

    What’s more, Barbie explores, through Gloria, how women are expected to “put aside childish things” like playing with Barbies once they reach Sasha’s age. Already thrust toward the cold, hard adulthood that will stamp out their former comfortableness with exploring who they are through play, and through projections of different selves onto Barbie, or other toys they might engage with. As Ferrera put it, “Growing up is about leaving behind childish things, particularly for women. And not so much men [who] get to have their man caves and play their video games forever. And women, it’s like, ‘Toys away, do the chores, grow up.’ That was really what touched me about Gloria as a character. This woman somehow made it to adulthood holding onto the value of play, and the value of aspiration and imagination is, in a way, counterculture. [Women] can be a lot of things at once…we can be joyful and playful and imaginative and childlike and be a grown woman, professional, taken seriously.” At least, in the world that Barbie sets up. 

    Unfortunately, in the Real World outside of Barbie’s Real World, it’s as Proust (a fitting luminary to quote considering the “Proust Barbie” reference in the movie) said: “There is hardly a single action we perform in that phase which we would not give anything, in later life, to annul. Whereas what we ought to regret is that we no longer possess the spontaneity which made us perform them. In later life we look at things in a more practical way, in full conformity with the rest of society, but adolescence is the only period in which we learn anything.” A fact that Gloria seems to understand only too well. And something that Barbie, as she decides to navigate her way through the bizarre innerworkings of the patriarchal Real World, will also come to apprehend once she becomes a “permanent resident.” 

    So to call Barbie “escapist fun” diminishes what it actually does. And that is put a glaring spotlight on how women in the Real World are still subjected to the same form of treatment found in the era of classic films from which Gerwig culled much of her inspiration for the sumptuous visuals that have branded Barbie with this misleading assignation.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Donate a Barbie Doll for a Free Wedding

    Donate a Barbie Doll for a Free Wedding

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    Press Release
    •

    Jul 26, 2023

    Chapel of the Flowers Spreads Love and Joy by Giving Away 10 Free Wedding Ceremonies in Exchange for Barbie Doll Donations to Positively Kids


    LAS VEGAS, July 26, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Chapel of the Flowers, the renowned wedding venue that has witnessed countless love stories, is delighted to announce a heartwarming initiative to support the local charity Positively Kids. As part of their commitment to giving back to the community and making a positive impact on the lives of children, Chapel of the Flowers is offering an extraordinary opportunity for engaged couples to celebrate their love while making a difference.

    In partnership with Positively Kids, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing healthcare and support services to medically fragile and vulnerable children in the Las Vegas area, Chapel of the Flowers is inviting couples to participate in their “Donate a Barbie Doll for a Free Wedding” campaign. The first 10 couples who bring in Barbie or Ken dolls to donate to Positively Kids will receive a complimentary Barbie-themed wedding ceremony at their elegant and picturesque venue. After the first 10 couples receive their free Barbie-themed wedding ceremonies, any additional donors will receive a special promotion where they will receive Barbie-themed floral, and a pink champagne bottle with Pink Swarovski Champagne Flutes when they purchase any wedding package that Chapel of the Flowers offers. For more information on how to receive a free Barbie-themed wedding please see the full details listed here.

    “We are excited to collaborate with Positively Kids for this wonderful initiative,” said Donne Kerestic, CEO at Chapel of the Flowers. “Love and compassion are at the heart of every wedding ceremony we host, and through this campaign, we aim to extend that love to the children in need within our community.”

    The “Donate a Barbie Doll for a Free Wedding” campaign will not only make a memorable difference in the lives of the lucky couples who participate but will also bring joy and happiness to children facing challenging circumstances. Positively Kids will distribute the donated Barbie dolls to the children they serve, brightening their days and reminding them that they are cared for and cherished.

    Interested couples are encouraged to contact Chapel of the Flowers at 702-735-4331 or marryme@littlechapel.com to reserve their spot in the campaign and schedule their complimentary wedding ceremony. The campaign will run from 07/24/2023 to 07/31/2023, and participants will be able to choose a wedding date anywhere from 07/24/2023-12/30/2023.

    Source: Chapel of the Flowers

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  • Barbie: The Album Might Cut It In Barbie Land, But Not in the Real World

    Barbie: The Album Might Cut It In Barbie Land, But Not in the Real World

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    With a movie as instantaneously revered as Barbie, it’s only natural to expect an accompanying soundtrack that might do it justice. And sure, the Barbie Soundtrack, billed as Barbie: The Album, is filled with its share of sonic “moments,” but there’s nothing that ultimately seems to tie it all together for a greater sense of seamless cohesion. What’s more, the three songs that stand out the most, Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” Charli XCX’s “Speed Drive” and Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?,” only make the other songs sound “throwaway” in comparison (granted, “Speed Drive” has gotten plenty of hate from those who don’t see the brilliance of a woman who compares Britney and will.i.am’s work together to Lennon and McCartney’s).

    Even Lizzo, who is, for whatever reason, usually counted on for a “hit,” kicks things off with a less than auspicious offering in the form of “Pink.” A track that works much more effectively when one is hearing it played against the scenes at the beginning of the movie, wherein Lizzo reworks some of the lyrics depending on the altered scenario from the previous day—when it was all staring contentedly into a glassless mirror and pretend-drinking from a cup. Not to mention giant blowout parties with planned choreography and a bespoke song. That latter being Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night”—the most “Mark Ronson-y” number of the lot. And yes, it bears noting that Ronson, who collaborated with Andrew Wyatt, lived “in Barbie Land for over a year,” as he metaphorically phrases it. Trying to ingratiate himself in “the sugar high of Barbie, but also the crash.” This being part of the missive from screenwriters Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach that appears alongside Ronson’s in the soundtrack’s liner notes. But when you learn that the “Adam and Eve” songs of the record (a.k.a. the ones that Ronson initially made for it) were “Dance the Night” and “I’m Just Ken,” it tracks that such a divergent jumping-off point would lead to some major sonic schizophrenia.

    The hodgepodge vibe makes all the more sense when Ronson goes on in his note to freely admit of the process, “…my main job here was to sit with Greta, brainstorm our dream list of artists and hone it down to what scene we wanted it for.” In other words, they would take whoever accepted from their “dream list” without any thought about whether that would ultimately make for a “meshing” soundtrack. But, as Mattel has shown with its marketing blitzkrieg to synergize with the movie, it’s not about what necessarily “works,” so much as appealing to as many “Barbies” as possible. The more variation there is on the soundtrack, the more potential for its songs to climb different charts. It’s all in the name of bad, dirty capitalism. But at least Barbie the movie plays with that a little more knowingly than its soundtrack, so blatantly designed to be everything to everyone (kind of like a woman).

    Needless to say, there are better ways to embody a sugar high/crash trajectory that doesn’t include 1) Sam Smith spitting misogynistic lyrics as “a character” (though, per Ronson, a discussion of The Feminine Mystique with Gerwig inspired the chorus) and 2) the non sequitur appearance of Karol G’s “WATATI,” which, although the beat slaps, features lyrics that don’t really sync with the message of the movie. For Barbie, in this context, hardly gives off the signal that says, “Papi, let’s go to the club to have a good time/A lot of smoke, Aguardiente to get dizzy.” No, instead, every Barbie—Stereotypical or not—is more concerned with other, more meaningful endeavors in Barbie Land, none of which pertain to seeking out Ken for a good time, so much as having him around as an accessory.

    And perhaps that’s what’s most surprising of all about Barbie: The Album—how little it lyrically ties into a film about smashing the patriarchy. Which infects Barbie Land after Tame Impala’s “Journey to the Real World” takes them through multiple landscapes until finally reaching Venice Beach. On her first pink convertible leg of the journey, however, Barbie opts for singing along to Indigo Girls’ “Closer to Fine.” This making the cut for the Best Weekend Ever edition of the soundtrack…except it’s performed by Brandi and Catherine Carlile.

    Following Tame Impala on the “normal” edition though is the generic sound of Dominic Fike’s “Hey Blondie.” A “number” that comes across as though either Ronson was listening to too many Starbucks-sold compilation albums or Gerwig’s mumblecore Sacramento influence infected the mood for this particular track. Either way, the muted tones of Fike only end up making the listener wish Blondie was singing instead of this dude singing something called “Hey Blondie.” Again trying to “tap in” to the Ken persona, chauvinism rears its plastic head as Fike drones, “Hey, blondie, there’s a million eyes on you/Do you ever get curious?/Hey, blondie, there’s a million minds on you/Do you ever get furious?…/Hey, blondie, oh, hey, blondie/Hey, blondie, could you maybe just slide towards me?/Don’t want anything serious.” It might actually be the least listenable offering of Barbie: The Album. Maybe that’s why they up the “star quotient” again by placing HAIM’s song, “Home,” after it.

    Considering how much of an influence The Wizard of Oz was on Barbie (along with many other classic films Gerwig has been happy to advise people on), HAIM’s “Home” instantly connects to the old chestnut, “There’s no place like home.” Something Barbie realizes rather quickly out there in the “Kendom” known as Real World’s system of patriarchy. Even though “Home” is another one of the more standout tracks on the record, it barely registers when actually viewing Barbie. Instead overpowered by the pop-y, synthetic glitz of “ditties” like Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s “Barbie World” (a.k.a. the ripoff of Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” that proves: ain’t nothin’ like the real thing). Produced by Rostam and Danielle Haim, the song is tinged with electro beats that immediately draw comparisons to the 2012-era vibe Taylor Swift was pulling with Midnights. And when the HAIM sisters croon in unison, “I’m going home/Take me home, just take me home/Take me home,” one can really feel Barbie’s pain in not quite knowing where that is anymore after her foray into the Real World.

    As though to drive that looming sadness, um, home, Ronson places the gloomy, existential “What Was I Made For?” in the wake of HAIM. A shining diamond among most of the other froth, it does serve a useful enough purpose in sonically revealing the cracks in Barbie’s veneer (that crash after the sugar rush assignment at work again). Unfortunately, the mood is totally killed/shifted abruptly again by the next song, brought to you by The Kid LAROI, himself known for an undercuttingly misogynistic song called “Without You.” Which is certainly the polar opposite of his sentiments on “Forever & Again.” And yet, rather than “serving devotion and romance,” it’s giving creepy stalker who wants to keep “his girl’s” blood in a vial necklace (no Billy Bob shade intended). This being manifest in lyrics like, “When it all falls down, and no one is around/‘Til my breath runs out, six feet underground/I’ma be there, this will never end/I’ll always be there, forever and again” and “‘Til my blood runs cold, I won’t let you go.” Except that all Barbie wants is to be let the fuck go.

    The devoted male tone persists on Khalid’s (who has also joined Eilish on a project before in the form of 2018’s “lovely”) “Silver Platter.” A song that wants to be in the spirit of late 90s “You know I love you girl” artists like Brian McKnight…by way of Ken. Because, yes, unfortunately the rule on this record seems to be that any male artist with a song on it has to be speaking from the perspective of Ken. Case in point, Khalid begging, “Oh, oh/Give me a chance/To prove that I can/Give you the world/If I was your man, yeah.” Its unrequited love aura is in keeping with the spirit of Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” (which could still never hold a candle to Gosling singing “You Always Hurt the Ones You Love” in Blue Valentine). And yes, Gosling clearly wants to remind people about the triple threat status that got him the gig on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club in the first place, showcasing his acting, dancing and singing talents once again for the role of Ken.

    Nonetheless, PinkPantheress gives Ken the shaft by mentioning some guy named Johnny on “Angel” (as in “Johnny Angel”). And it’s Johnny she’s yearning for when she laments, “Johnny, my baby, did it always have to end this way?/‘Cause one day/One day, my baby just went away/My angel (my angel)/You’re what haunts me now that you’re away.” The song itself seems as though it wants to represent the overall wide-ranging gamut of genres on the album by sounding like an A. G. Cook-produced, Irish strings-heavy wet dream (side note: it’s actually produced by BloodPop®, Count Baldor and PinkPantheress). Its sweet trilling vocals then lead jarringly into GAYLE’s “butterflies,” a “punk-y” cover of Crazy Town’s “Butterfly”—the song no one wanted to be revived. And save for the fleeting lines, “People feel better when they put you in a box/But the plastic’s gonna melt if you’re the one to make it hot,” it’s difficult to understand how this song fits in at all with the rest. Which brings us to Corporate Success 101: Appeal to Everyone.

    Tellingly, there are few songs on the soundtrack that make it past three minutes, with each one perfectly packaged for easy-to-consume TikTok glory. As for the “eclecticism,” its aforementioned purposes are to tick as many “chart-topping” boxes as possible. With Ava Max’s “Choose Your Fighter,” the soundtrack achieves that potential anew as pop reenters the chat with upbeat rhythms produced by Cirkut. Max then gets on the inclusivity horn with lyrics that include, “I know this world can be a little confusing/ No walk in the park/But I can help you solve the riddle/You’re perfect as you are.” This, by the way, is something Barbie realizes when she sees an old woman sitting at a bus stop (who was rumored to be none other that the real Barbie, Barbara Handler…until fans were somewhat disappointed to learn it’s actually costume designer Ann Roth). Max continues, “If you wanna break out of the box [more tired Barbie innuendos]/Wanna call all of the shots/If you wanna be sweet or be soft/Then, go off/If you wanna go six inch or flat [a reference to the blue pill, red pill choice Barbie gets from Weird Barbie [Kate McKinnon])/Wanna wear hot pink or black/Don’t let nobody tell you you can’t/‘Cause you can.” Unless you live in one of the many nations where women are daily oppressed.

    She then bursts into the chorus, “You can bе a lover or a fighter, whatevеr you desire/Life is like a runway and you’re the designer/Wings of a butterfly [nice nod to GAYLE], eyes of a tiger/Whatever you want, baby, choose your fighter.” So we’re mixing video game metaphors in with doll ones now, too? Yes. Because it’s all about synergy. Which translates to sales—for all things Mattel.

    After a very odd sonic safari, we finally reach the end of the rainbow (because The Wizard of Oz and also rainbows are eclectic, get it?). And it concludes with the ultra chirpy “Barbie Dreams,” which might rival “It’s A Small World” for its relentlessly annoying cheer. Sung by FIFTY FIFTY and Kaliii, it doesn’t feel like the greatest choice to close out the album. Indeed, “What Was I Made For?” would have been the correct decision for the denouement. But, if you’ve been listening to the album this long, you’re probably already well-aware that the “best decisions” weren’t always a factor in terms of “placements.” Yet it’s a challenge to have good placements when most of the songs don’t really fit together to begin with.

    As for those wondering why Matchbox 20’s “Push” isn’t on the soundtrack, one will just have to settle for Ryan Gosling covering it on the Best Weekend Ever edition. Because it would be far too big of a lie to call it the Best Soundtrack Ever edition. In truth, Birds of Prey, another movie in which Margot Robbie plays an iconic character, does a superior job of effortlessly melding all the tones and themes of the movie into the soundtrack. From “Boss Bitch” to “Sway With Me,” Birds of Prey hits all the right notes on cohesive soundtracking.

    But maybe what could have tied Barbie: The Album together is what’s really missing from the soundtrack: the pure bubblegum-ness of Kesha, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. The latter two (along with Charli XCX) actually appeared in some form or other on the Promising Young Woman Soundtrack. Itself a sort of Real World Barbie homage. Though Emerald Fennell didn’t know it at the time. Nor could she have known that she would also play the discontinued pregnant Midge doll in the film. Which probably made her too busy to weigh in (no pun intended) on the soundtrack’s direction. Though it might have helped in hindsight… For while Barbie might have revived cinema (at least for the summer), it hasn’t quite delivered on a resuscitation of the soundtrack.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Maybe You Shouldn’t Build That Barbie Dream House

    Maybe You Shouldn’t Build That Barbie Dream House

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    The highly-anticipated Barbie movie is finally out and it’s fair to say it’s one of the most influential films of the year. So it’s not a surprise that Barbiecore is one of the most talked about aesthetics in the home space right now. Pink is back in a major way and people love this bright, cheerful color, especially in the summer.

    Still, the one thing that Barbie never aspired to was going broke, which just might happen if you decide to build a real-life doll house. Here’s why you might want to rethink building that Malibu Barbie mansion.

    The Barbiecore Moment Is Now

    “Barbie is having a moment, and so is maximalism in interior design, so it’s only natural that the two have married,” says Los Angeles broker Lori Levine Harris of Brock & Lori.

    While Barbie has been around since 1959, the popularity of this aesthetic isn’t likely to last quite as long. While you might enjoy an entirely pink home, when it comes time to sell, potential buyers are unlikely to share the same sentiment. “The Barbie Dream Home is not a good real estate investment as it creates a property with a niche appeal, alienating a large portion of the buyer pool who may not appreciate the vision,” says Broker Stephane Guerrier of The Julia Hoagland Team at Compass in New York. “In terms of resale value, prepare to sell it for pennies on the dollar. Buyers who are able to see past the pink hues and whimsy would only be interested in purchasing the home at a steep discount, factoring in the price of what it would take to undo the dream.”

    Any specific aesthetic, whether it’s extremely modern, grand millennial, or Barbiecore ends up limiting the buyer pool and as Harris says, “When you sell a home, generally, you want to be all things to all people.”

    The Barbiecore Vacation Rental Trend

    While Barbiecore likely won’t be popular in the long term—real estate investors are cashing out in the short term with Barbie-themed vacation rentals and Airbnb properties everywhere from California to Tennessee. “The Barbie Malibu Dream Home is a one-of-a-kind amusement park that is perfect for birthday, bachelor, and bachelorette party-type events. The Barbie Dream Home is a themed vacation rental business that is trendy now, but trends fade,” says agent Karen Kostiw of Coldwell Banker Warburg in New York.

    Still, if you’re thinking of doing this, Kostiw recommends making sure it’s permitted in your neighborhood. “Not all markets support a one-of-a-kind themed home. There are areas that have strict building requirements and rental laws that may preclude you from building a themed vacation rental home.”

    Even if it is allowed, a bright pink home might violate your HOA agreement or cause an uproar with your neighbors. “Residents are always particular about the neighborhood aesthetic. If one were to own a brownstone townhouse on 82nd Street on the Upper East Side, I don’t know how that person would feel taking the dog out every morning and seeing a separate property in the center of the street draped in bright pink,” says New York based real estate agent, Justin Diamond of Elegran Real Estate.

    The Exception To The Rule

    However, if you are selling a Barbie-inspired home, there is a chance to find a buyer and if that buyer shares your vision, you could end up making a good return on your investment. But, it’s still a big gamble. Broker Becki Danchik of Coldwell Banker Warburg explains, “The value is in the novelty of it, so if there’s more than one Barbie dream home in the area, it loses its appeal and the potential to be a smart investment. On the contrary, if you have the only Barbie Dream Home in the area, you might be sitting on a gold mine. I would encourage the owner of this property to find a real estate agent who can provide a solid and creative marketing plan because there is a short window of time to capitalize on the market while Barbie culture is at an all-time high.”

    A Little Barbiecore Goes A Long Way

    There are lots of ways to incorporate Barbiecore elements into a home without feeling like you’re hopping on a trend or potentially reducing resale value. A good example of this is a South Pasadena Spanish style house that’s currently listed by Harris. The 1928 home features a pink exterior as well as an original dusty pink tiled bathroom with checkered pink and white flooring. This property garnered a lot of interest from buyers. “The open houses were packed! I would by no means label the house Barbiecore, but the home’s pink elements really made it stand out and resonated with home buyers, who have seen too many white boxes on the market.”

    Still, Harris suggests using this color sparingly. “An entire hot pink home? I can’t say I see this being a home trend with (long Barbie) legs.”

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    Amanda Lauren, Contributor

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  • ‘Barbenheimer’ Makes Noise As Movie Fans Flock To Theaters On Opening Weekend

    ‘Barbenheimer’ Makes Noise As Movie Fans Flock To Theaters On Opening Weekend

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Waves of pink-clad moviegoers passed under cardboard palm trees on the frenzied first day of “Barbenheimer.”

    After a feverish drumbeat propelled forward by a mushroom cloud of memes, the most anticipated day on the year’s movie calendar finally arrived as “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” — two movie opposites brought together by cross-marketing fate — landed in theaters.

    “I think it’s the contrast,” said Lucy Ruiz, 17, as she and a friend made their way into the first showing of “Barbie” on Thursday at the Alamo Drafthouse in Yonkers, New York. “If you want to do both in the same day, it’s like two sides of the same coin.”

    For Ruiz, the second half of her “Barbenheimer” would have to wait. “Maybe next week,” she said of seeing “Oppenheimer.”

    But many are flocking to see both on opening weekend. The National Association of Theater Owners says some 200,000 moviegoers in North America have booked same-day tickets to each movie. The movie of the summer has turned out to be not “Indiana Jones” or “The Flash,” but a double feature.

    “I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this,” says Michael O’Leary, president of the theater association, who compared the phenomenon to a sold-out Taylor Swift concert tour. “But while that’s an amazing special event that captures the cultural attention, it’s not accessible to everybody the way these two movies are. This is a phenomenon open to everyone, regardless of where they live.”

    From left, Gabrielle Roitman, Kayla Seffing, Maddy Hiller and Casey Myer take a selfie in front of an “Oppenheimer” movie poster before they attended an advance screening of “Barbie” on Thursday in Los Angeles.

    As of Friday, it was already clear “Barbenheimer” had morphed into the movie event of the year. The collision of Greta Gerwig’s bright satire of the Mattel doll and Christopher Nolan’s three-hour opus on J. Robert Oppenheimer, the so-called father of the atomic bomb, wasn’t cannibalizing ticket sales for either but fueling excitement for the most jarring and color-clashing of movie weekends.

    Studios forecasts had hovered around an $80 million opening weekend for “Barbie” and about $40 million for “Oppenheimer.” But it’s likely that both will greatly exceed those totals, and maybe even — especially in the case of “Barbie” — double them.

    Warner Bros. said Friday that “Barbie” took in $22.5 million in Thursday previews, the best such tally of the year and a clear sign that the film will easily sail past $100 million for the weekend. Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer” notched $10.5 million in preshow ticket sales, a likewise strong start.

    “Barbenheimer” is poised to be not just a viral trend but a box-office behemoth. For a movie industry that still hasn’t entirely recovered its pre-pandemic footing, it’s a much-needed jolt of moviegoing joy in a summer season where many of the top releases have fallen shy of expectations. Overall sales on the year are running about 20% below the box-office pace of 2019.

    As much as the “Barbenheimer” fanfare has been driven by internet fascination, it’s in many ways an old-school movie weekend. Both movies are roundly acclaimed, original works by two of the best filmmakers working today. “Oppenheimer” has been hailed as a masterpiece; in my review, I called it “a kinetic thing of dark, imposing beauty.” The Associated Press’ Jocelyn Noveck called “Barbie” “brash, clever, idea-packed (if ultimately TOO packed) and most of all eye-poppingly lovely.”

    For some moviegoers, “Barbenheimer” is their first blush with the once common practice of catching a double feature. Jack Robinson, 17, had tickets to see both movies with friends Saturday. He planned to don a suit for “Oppenheimer” before changing into pink for “Barbie.”

    “I used to go to the movies a lot with my family and friends before corona happened. I’m very excited,” said Robinson. “It’ll be interesting to not leave the movie theater. Usually, it’s like bathroom and go home.”

    In recent years, theater owners have often bemoaned not having enough films in the marketplace as streaming made inroads and studios increasingly concentrated their release schedules on fewer but bigger films. But “Barbenheimer” points to the possible reward when a varied group of films collective rise the box-office tide.

    “Barbenheimer” may have momentarily eclipsed last week’s top film, “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” — which, despite Tom Cruise’s lobbying, is losing IMAX screens to “Oppenheimer” this weekend. But having three big movies in close proximity to one other, O’Leary said, “is a good problem to have.”

    “It’s certainly preferable to the alternative,” said O’Leary.

    Parrot Analytics found that global demand for the casts of each film — all of whom have been publicly enthusiastic about seeing their rival movie — grew at virtually the same rate between late April and mid-July. The audience demographics are almost opposite one another. “Barbie” is appealing to a largely female and younger audience, while “Oppenheimer” is most popular with males and those over the age of 30, Parrot found.

    Yet in a much-divided America, “Barbenheimer” has been the great pop-culture unifier of 2023. There is harmony in contrast.

    “I’m doing ‘Barbie’ first and then ‘Oppenheimer’ because I know ‘Oppenheimer’ is going to be something I have to digest,” says Jill Kupnick of Brooklyn.

    Movie theaters are catering to the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon with double feature tickets and plenty of “Barbie”-themed promotions of candy and cocktails. But most are programming their own “Barbenheimer” days. Freelance writer Kelsey Weekman called it “the closest we’ve come to having school spirit week as adults.”

    “I have a friend who has outfits picked out and knows how she’s styling her hair,” Krupnick says. “There’s a level of play involved that you rarely see in more mainstream cinema. It’s more common with Marvel movies or in the fantasy genre than something like this.”

    “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have melded together so much that it’s become possible — despite their vast differences — to confuse one for the other. At the Yonkers Alamo Drafthouse, a sharply dressed man wearing a pink shirt beneath a blazer inquired about showtimes for “Oppenheimer.”

    A clerk courteously answered and then, noticing the man’s attire, asked, “Did you want times for ‘Barbie,’ too?”

    Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

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  • Your Weekend Playlist: New Music Releases Today

    Your Weekend Playlist: New Music Releases Today

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    I write this fresh out of the Barben-heimer challenge, where I spent 5 hours in a movie theater. It must be a world record sitting through that 3 hour Oppenheimer, and the first thing I do when I get home is rush to my computer. I exited the theater on Friday morning just after midnight, so I had a whole world of new music waiting for me.

    We have former One Direction member turned R&B crooner ZAYN making his return to music for the first time since his Icarus Falls album in 2018. Five years later, he’s here with his first single, “Love Like This”, an R&B/pop fusion song that is perfect for summer. This big chapter was opened with an interview on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, where fans welcomed back a normally reserved ZAYN who was ready to open up.

    Not only do we have ZAYN, but the Barbie soundtrack is officially released to our ears…and after seeing the movie, it’s lived up to the hype. This summer has been filled with great music from artists we know and love, and some new ones as well. Here are my favorite new songs released Friday, July 21!

    Various Artists – Barbie The Album  

    If it’s produced by Mark Ronson, then it’s a guaranteed smash hit. Which is why we knew the Barbie soundtrack was going to be chart-topping in its own right…and with a lineup that makes Coachella salivate, it’s a no skip album. Dua Lipa, who is also Mermaid Barbie, has the main single with “Dance The Night”, as well as tracks from industry titans like Billie Eilish, Lizzo, The Kid LAROI, Dominic Like, Ava Max, Khalid, and Tame Impala.

    It has everything – music ranging from disco, to squeaky clean pop, and inspiration drawn from all of Barbie’s iconic eras. It’ll make you want to laugh, cry, jump, and sing, just like the movie.

    ZAYN – “Love Like This” 


    ZAYN found his sound early on with the release of his debut solo album, Mind of Mine. It was everything that he couldn’t do in his One Direction days. After a few years of in-between, including a quietly released Icarus Falls, he’s back. “Love Like This” is perfect for this time of year – punchy in the right places, smooth enough to put us at ease in this sticky heat, and a good beat to get you out your chair.

    It’s a delicious taste of what’s to come from the soulful singer who has a vocal range that even the best singer’s envy, and I personally can’t wait for more.

    Tanner Adell – BUCKLE BUNNY

    Tanner Adell is rapidly rising in the country music scene because she’s unique, she’s edgy, and she can make a killer track. Taking the world by storm with previous hit singles like “Buckle Bunny” and “Trailer Park Bunny”, Tanner Adell has fans buzzing with her recent mixtape, BUCKLE BUNNY.

    In the midst of a country music festival circuit including venues like CMA Fest, Adell is on the brink of combining rap and country in a refreshing way that makes people replay her songs over and over.

    Grace VanderWaal – “Boyfriends”

    Grace VanderWaal can do it all – a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist – she’s one of the most impressive young talents we have. Her newest single, “Boyfriends”, is about lacking those intimate friendships you see projected in movies or in books. It’s about feeling like you’re more of a boyfriend to anyone than a close friend, the frustrating in-between feeling in friendships where you aren’t sure of their loyalties.

    VanderWaal, known for her ukulele talents, is the queen of raw honesty embedded within her lyrics. Her unique melodies, catchy bridges, and emotional choruses can make anyone a fan. “Boyfriends” is the perfect example of Grace’s magic.

    Big Boss Vette – RESILIENCE

    Fans have been waiting years for Big Boss Vette’s debut album. The St. Louis rapper has been making hits forever, but this is her first larger body of work and it does not disappoint. There was a lot of pressure for Vette, who had fans with big expectations, but RESILIENCE is one of those albums you’ll want to have on loop this summer.

    It’s high-energy, with a fitting feature from Gloss Up on “Fly Shhh”. These seven brand new songs have star-quality melodies and hooks that will be stuck in your head forever. It’s the perfect debut album for Big Boss Vette.

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    Jai Phillips

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  • ‘Barbie’ movie: Can viewers look beyond Barbie’s problematic past? – National | Globalnews.ca

    ‘Barbie’ movie: Can viewers look beyond Barbie’s problematic past? – National | Globalnews.ca

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    To say that Barbie has become ubiquitous is not an understatement.

    We’re just short of the Barbie movie hitting theatres (July 21) and it’s been a non-stop Barbie blitz. The trailers for the film have sparked endless memes, parent company Mattel has partnered with more than 100 brands to market the movie, and embracing of the film’s aesthetic has caused #Barbiecore to trend for months on social media.

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    It’s becoming clear that the Barbie movie will likely be a raging success.

    Even if one were to set aside the star-studded cast (Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu, etc.) and big-name director (Greta Gerwig), the intense and over-the-top Barbie bombardment for the past six months shows no signs of slowing down, and most people seem to be more amused than fatigued by the piling on of pink.

    But dark shadows linger over the Barbie brand, and some are baffled as to why the world is so willing to look beyond the doll’s problematic past and gaze at Mattel’s onslaught through rose-coloured glasses.


    Click to play video: '‘Barbenheimer’ craze puts film industry, fans into frenzy'


    ‘Barbenheimer’ craze puts film industry, fans into frenzy


    The problems for Barbie started right out of the gate.

    The first iterations of the doll’s design in 1959 were inspired by the Bild Lilli doll – a racy, buxom doll marketed to German men and sold in adult stores. In her origin as a cartoon strip character, Lilli was known to be a gold-digger with an oversized bust and was often portrayed in sexy clothing, giving snappy comebacks to drooling men.

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    The Bild Lilli doll is based upon the cartoon character Lilli created by German cartoonist Reinhard Beuthien for the newspaper Bild-Zeitung, Hamburg, Germany.

    SSPL / Getty Images

    And while Mattel’s design team softened the face and body of Barbie, she still wound up with unrealistic proportions — a woman of Barbie’s weight, combined with her hip-waist-bust measurements, would not be able to stand up without tipping over, nor would she be able to menstruate, said doctors.

    For this, Barbie’s been accused of perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards and promoting gender stereotypes. And while Mattel, in more recent years, has attempted to deliver more inclusive Barbies — in 2019, the company introduced Creatable World, its first series of gender-neutral Barbies, while three years earlier, it launched Barbie Fashionistas that came in four body types, seven skin tones, 22 eye colours and 24 hairstyles — the company has also played directly into the narrative.

    One of her more scandalous moments came quite early in her history when a 1963 teenage “babysitter” Barbie was sold with a doll-sized diet book titled How to Lose Weight: Don’t Eat. In the 1990s, critics were incensed over a talking Barbie who came pre-loaded with a ditzy declaration: “Math class is tough.”

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    (Simpsons fans might also recall a 1994 episode about Malibu Stacey, the show’s answer to a Barbie doll, who famously proclaimed “Don’t ask me, I’m just a girl!” when her cord was pulled.)

    It’s tough to measure if Barbie has affected children’s body image or self-worth, or if they’ve internalized any of the unrealistic beauty standards of Barbie at all.

    Most studies on the topic have been conducted on small groups of girls and have yielded lukewarm results.

    Some researchers claim that Barbie is just one of many influences in the lives of young girls that prioritize and encourage rail-thin figures in western culture. Others are critical of these studies, saying that research conducted on girls nearing puberty is skewed, as it’s this time in a girl’s life when she becomes more critical of her physicality anyway.

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    Even attempts by Mattel to be more inclusive have backfired.

    In 1997, Mattel released Share-a-Smile Becky, who was the first friend of Barbie to use a wheelchair. It turned out that Becky’s chair couldn’t fit through the door or into the elevator of the Barbie Dream House, leaving her destined to sleep on the porch.

    That same year, a collaboration project between Mattel and Nabisco resulted in a massive recall when it was brought to attention that “Oreo Fun Barbie” — a Black doll with an Oreo-branded outfit and cookie purse — was derogative to the Black community, as “Oreo” has been used as a racial slur.

    Still, those coming to Barbie’s defence, including Mattel itself, will point to Barbie’s progressive and feminist career trajectory over the years.

    Over the years, she’s held hundreds of careers, including when she “broke the plastic ceiling” and travelled to the moon in 1956 (four years before Neil Armstrong), ran for president, and held esteemed jobs like computer engineer, paleontologist and rock star.


    Barbie has held hundreds of jobs over the years.

    Mattel

    But, again, Barbie as a working woman has faced her share of hiccups. As recently as 2010, Mattel faced backlash when a companion book included with Computer Engineer Barbie showed the main character infecting her computer with a virus and needing her male co-workers to help her get the problem sorted.

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    Through a complicated combination of missteps, adults projecting various stereotypes and mores onto Barbie and a surge in alternatives in the doll market, Mattel was left with plummeting sales and interest in the Barbie brand by the mid-2010s.

    “Back in 2014 and 2015, we hit a low and it was a moment to reflect in the context of, ‘Why did Barbie lose relevance?’” Ricard Dickson, Mattel’s president and chief operating officer, recently told CNN.

    Trending Now

    “She didn’t reflect the physicality, the look, if you will, of the world around us. And so we then set a course to truly transform the brand with a playbook around reigniting our purpose.”

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    Mattel told CNN its hope is that the Barbie movie will give its brand a boost. While sales for the doll were up during the pandemic, they slumped again in the first quarter of 2023.


    Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie attend the red carpet promoting the upcoming film ‘Barbie’ at the Warner Bros. Pictures Studio presentation during CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners, at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on April 25, 2023 in Las Vegas.

    Greg Doherty / WireImage

    And while it’s too soon to tell if the movie will boost Mattel’s bottom line, the company is likely gleefully watching the hype surrounding the movie.

    The internet is awash in anticipation of Friday’s release and the reviews are, for the most part, positive. A movie version of the doll has sold out, and on Wednesday it was announced that the film has the most ticket presales since Avatar: The Way of Water.

    The stars and director of the film, too, have painted the movie as a tongue-in-cheek look at Barbie’s history, the brand’s misfires, as well as the rhetoric surrounding the doll since her conception.

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    Gerwig also committed to casting a critical lens on the patriarchy and set the Barbie movie in a world where women are in charge — for example, Issa Rae plays President Barbie, and Barbie Land has all women justices on its Supreme Court.

    “I think in a lot of other hands, a Barbie movie would remain surface level. But I knew Greta (Gerwig) was going to have a lot to say, and I knew she was going to Trojan Horse a lot of… big issues within a very fun world,” Margot Robbie, who plays the titular role, said.

    Mattel’s strategy over the years to make the Barbie brand more diverse and inclusive will also be reflected back to audiences through the casting choices, said Robbie.

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    “I hope people walk away… I hope that they feel good about themselves watching it,” she said. “I feel like there’s some sort of relief in this movie and that the message ultimately is, ‘You’re good. You’re good as you are.’”

    No matter how you slice it, Barbie has always been — and will continue to be — a lightning rod. Debates surrounding her moral and social significance will continue to rage, no matter how many new dolls or movies are put out into the world.

    For some, she will continue to represent all that is wrong with beauty ideals and capitalism, while others will continue to hold her up as a conduit for the dreams and aspirations of young children.

    Just as real women are policed every day for their bodies, their dreams, how they act and what they achieve, so, too, will Barbie.


    Click to play video: 'TMS Daytime Exclusive: Simu Liu on new ‘Barbie’ film and his Canadian roots'


    TMS Daytime Exclusive: Simu Liu on new ‘Barbie’ film and his Canadian roots


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    Michelle Butterfield

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  • In Barbie, As In Life, Patriarchy Is the Insidious Force Turning Women’s Lives Upside Down

    In Barbie, As In Life, Patriarchy Is the Insidious Force Turning Women’s Lives Upside Down

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    It’s among the few mononyms that invoke an immediate visceral reaction—whether reverent or contemptuous—within people. God. Madonna. Barbie. And, like the aforementioned Italian-American pop star, Barbie, too, is a baby boomer, “born” (just a year after Madonna) in 1959—and yet another girl who would change “the game” for all of womankind irrevocably. And that game, of course, is the one called Patriarchy. The system that’s set up to make sure pretty much everyone without a (congenital) white dick will fail. Or at least have a much more arduous time succeeding. And for those who say that’s just “a copout” “now,” one need only refer to a pointed line in Barbie from a white male Mattel employee: “We’re still doing [patriarchy], we just hide it better now.”

    This admission echoes something Seymour (Steve Buscemi) from Ghost World tells Enid (Thora Birch): “I suppose things are better now, but…I don’t know, it’s complicated. People still hate each other…but they just know how to hide it better.” In Barbie Land, no one hates anyone. Except maybe Ken (Ryan Gosling). The “man” who becomes the surprising (yet somehow totally expected) antagonist as the narrative of Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s script goes on. Because, as it is for many an incel, a latent resentment toward a woman who won’t “put out” starts to brew and bubble to the surface within Ken as he not only competes with the other multi-ethnic Kens for Barbie’s attention, but also deals with the brutal realization that Barbie is never going to 1) let him stay the night at her Dreamhouse or 2) look at him as anything other than ultimately platonic background to her Technicolor dream life. 

    As for the Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) he’s after, she’s starting to feel a few cracks in the pristine veneers of her world. It starts with unwanted thoughts of death as she interrupts her usual nightly dance party with the question no one wants to hear, “Do you guys ever think about dying?” When the reaction results in deafening silence and horrified glances, Barbie saves the mood by rephrasing it as, “I’m dying to dance!” Even on those pointed-toe feet of hers. Or at least, they were pointed—until the thoughts of death came. That turns out to be the harbinger for cold showers, burnt plastic toast, imaginary milk that’s expired and, yes, flat feet. 

    Sharing this news with the other Barbies, they not only shriek in disgust, but also inform her that she’s going to have to see “Weird Barbie” (Kate McKinnon) about this. Weird Barbie is the only one who knows how to fix “weird” things, after all. She’s sort of the Shakespearean answer to the Weird Sisters in Macbeth like that. And also the answer to Barbie’s dose of a The Matrix allusion—except rather than offering her a blue pill, red pill scenario, Weird Barbie offers her a high heel, Birkenstock scenario. The latter, obviously, meant to represent knowing the truth about the Real World—where nothing is nearly as effortlessly glamorous or pretty as it is in Barbie Land. 

    Although Barbie picks the high heel—stay in Barbie Land and know nothing of the Real World—unfortunately, she’s told that the shoes were only meant as a ceremonial way for Weird Barbie to present her with the “illusion” of choice. But actually, she doesn’t really have one if she wants to get her pointed feet back and remove the blatant cellulite that’s started to form on her thighs. Weird Barbie also imparts her with the knowledge that, to “restore order” (a.k.a. “be perfect” again), she must find the sad girl who’s been “playing with her” (“We’re all being played with,” Weird Barbie adds) and reconnect so that the sadness goes away and stops infecting Barbie’s body and mind. 

    “Leaving Oz,” as it were, is no easy feat though. Far more difficult than simply “following the yellow brick road,” let’s put it that way. And yet, there’s no challenge Barbie can’t surmount—even when she’s no longer feeling quite as powerful in her “lusterless” state. “Lusterless,” in this case, being a lot like what Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) in Jennifer’s Body describes as, “My skin is breaking out, and my hair is dull and lifeless. God. It’s like I’m one of the normal girls.” And Barbie was never meant to be “normal.” Even if that’s what “normal” girls have been indoctrinated to believe is normal. She’s supposed to be extraordinary (effortlessly so), precisely because Barbie is Woman. Everything to everyone, everything all the time. And it is in this spirit of how the doll is meant to represent “women” that sets off Gloria (America Ferrera), an illustrator who works at Mattel and rescues B from the execs who want to literally put her back in a box, on a tirade not unlike what Camille Rainville explored with her “Be A Lady They Said” text. 

    A text that, just as Gloria’s speech does, expounds on all the ways in which women are damned if they do, and damned if they don’t. “Be sexy, but not too sexy…” or, to use a portion from Rainville’s statement on how women can never live up to the impossible and conflicting standards (let alone the standards of a “Barbie body”) they’re held to by a merciless patriarchal society: “Be a lady they said. Don’t be too fat. Don’t be too thin. Eat up. Slim down. Stop eating so much. Order a salad. Don’t eat carbs. Skip dessert. Go on a diet. God, you look like a skeleton. Why don’t you just eat? You look emaciated. You look sick. Men like women with some meat on their bones. Be a size zero. Be a double zero. Be nothing. Be less than nothing.” Be whatever he wants you to be at any given moment. And yet, because Barbie Land is actually that rare thing—a matriarchy—the Kens who exist within it have never known anything like what the men of the Real World get to “enjoy” (if subjugating is what you’re into): total power and control. When Ken sees how Real World “functions” upon crashing Barbie’s “Restore Barbie Body” mission, he can hardly believe his eyes and ears. That, all this time, he could have been using his “Kenergy” to “make” Barbie his. 

    The thing he doesn’t account for—as so many men do not—is that no one can really “make” a woman do anything she doesn’t want to (though, not to be crass, the Taliban tries). Not when her heart isn’t really in something. And as we’ve seen happen in many a fairytale/Disney movie, when a woman is figuratively and/or literally locked up against her will (à la Rapunzel or Belle in Beauty and the Beast) by a man who didn’t get the message (she’s not interested), she’ll do whatever it takes to set herself free. And it is Gloria’s speech about the impossible nature of what it is to Be A Woman in Real World that becomes a means to deprogram the Barbies who have fallen prey to Ken’s “message of patriarchy.” With Stereotypical Barbie being the only Barb immune to the rhetoric because she had already been exposed to it in Real World, Gloria compares the way in which the other Barbies become so susceptible to this “plague” to how indigenous people fell prey to smallpox in the 1600s because they hadn’t experienced it before. Luckily, her speech is the vaccine, allowing Barbie and Weird Barbie (along with some questionably named discontinued models) to pluck the deprogrammed ones, Barbie by Barbie, and reinstate Barbie Land to its true status quo (though Stereotypical Barbie herself will never be the same again).

    Of course, the work of having to “teach” Real World men that they can’t always get what they want—women included—is something that Gerwig clearly takes very seriously. After all, she just had a second son with Barbie co-writer/frequent collaborator Noah Baumbach. She must indeed feel the weight of that—the responsibility all mothers have to raise sons who aren’t misogynistic pricks. And yet, it is the mother-daughter relationship that Gerwig addressed with such heartrending efficacy in Lady Bird that appears here again, too. Not just between Gloria and her anti-Barbie tween, Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), but the one between all mothers and daughters, as Barbie witnesses the joy and pain of motherhood when Ruth Handler (Rhea Perlman), the creator of Barbie and a key talisman from earlier in the film, allows her the chance to feel like a human. Like a woman. And yes, some women “just” want to be ordinary. “Just” want to have children. “Just” want to be, full-stop. They don’t need the additional pressures of Physicist Barbie or Robotics Engineer Barbie. Maybe, as Gloria suggests with a new pitch to Mattel’s CEO (Will Ferrell), it’s “enough” (not to be confused with Kenough) to “just” be Ordinary Barbie. In short, being a woman “allowed” the same luxury as men—which is to be merely “mediocre” without risking condemnation. 

    With Barbie, one hopes the very clear message will get across to younger generations of men and women, who can both understand not only the damage patriarchy does, but also the fact that it’s not always an end all, be all “goal” to secure a romantic partner just because that’s what you’ve been told you “should” do. Alas, will Barbie, in the end, be just another “thing” patriarchal-run industries and governments can point to and say, “See, we let women ‘do’ things all the time” simply because they’ve become more comfortable with “letting” women “talk their shit” as a clever means to ultimately still keep them “in check”? That, one supposes, is something that only time and subsequent generations will tell (if they live long enough in this increasingly hostile environment to do so).

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • ‘Barbie’ Is About as Good as a Barbie Movie Could Ever Be

    ‘Barbie’ Is About as Good as a Barbie Movie Could Ever Be

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    Barbie, the hotly anticipated film opening nationwide on July 21, has a lot on its mind. How could it not, when its creators—director Greta Gerwig co-wrote the film with her partner, Noah Baumbach—have been handed such a tricky task? The film, about the preeminent fashion doll, has to serve the interests of its masters, in this case the Mattel corporation, while also cheating out to the audience to convince them that what they are watching is not just some two-hour ad. The film must be extra conscious of what Barbie is—critical of it, even—while also celebrating one of the most famous toys ever made. What choice did Gerwig have, then, but to go weird?

    That’s exactly what she does with Barbie, which is part satire, part earnest fable, and part big-minded meditation on the nature of existence. Those components don’t a cohesive film make—Barbie’s many fashions and accessories often clash—but at least Gerwig has made something worth thinking and talking about. Barbie does not give off the cold gleam of mere board-approved product, even if that is, at root, still what it is.

    Margot Robbie plays Stereotypical Barbie, essentially just the blonde, basic model. She lives in Barbie Land surrounded by other Barbies defined by a single attribute: there’s President Barbie (Issa Rae), Doctor Barbie (Hari Nef), Writer Barbie (Alexandra Shipp), and so on. They live happy days in the company of the Kens, affable dopes cognizant of their second-tier status but not terribly fussed about it. Our main Barbie’s Ken, a beach-bound version of the doll, is played by Ryan Gosling, who takes up a lot of space considering that this is a Barbie movie, not a Ken one.

    In the film’s confused, who-really-cares-about-logic reality, the Barbies each represent dolls that are being played with in the real world, but they themselves can also cross into our realm in their own physical form. This fact is readily accepted by everyone who hears it—be they doll or human. Gerwig does not want us dwelling on particulars, not when there is so much thematic ambition to be addressed.

    Something begins troubling Robbie’s Barbie. She has a dawning fear of death; her feet have fallen from high-heel ready tip-toe. Most alarming, to her anyway, is the cellulite that has developed on her thighs. In search of some sort of remedy, Barbie leaves her comfortable home to find the little girl currently playing with her (again, it’s confusing) in the hopes of cheering her up, thus restoring Barbie’s perfect existence. Ken stows away in the Barbie convertible, and soon both he and his sorta girlfriend are learning terrible things about the world, an Adam and Eve emerging from the garden to find a wilderness riven with sin.

    Barbie comes to realize that she’s got a complicated profile among the humans. She and her kin have not inspired a utopia in which women do amazing things without barrier or opposition, the way the Barbies have long assumed. Instead the dolls have been largely dismissed as sexist relics, talismans of impossible ideals that have no place in modern culture—which, as Barbie also quickly grasps, is not terribly good to women anyway. Her companion, meanwhile, discovers patriarchy, a wondrous system that prizes Kens—I mean, men—above all else. He can’t wait to tell all his fellow betas about it.

    So, yes: Ken gets red-pilled while Barbie embarks on a complicated journey of self, in the process contending with all the expectations and limitations placed on women by the system Ken so naively understands. Barbie’s feminist philosophy—decidedly of the pop variety but not shallow, exactly—carries the film far afield of the brand apologia I had feared. Gerwig mostly just shrugs her shoulders at the toy in question and instead turns her gaze toward more intangible questions of life. She’s so eager to tackle big things that her film goes bouncing every which way, veering wildly between tones. There’s corny stuff, subversive stuff, political stuff. There’s a big musical number. A dreamy poignancy dominates the end of the film, in which Barbie, in some senses, meets God.

    From all that jumble, Barbie extracts only general conclusions. The film features a long, impassioned monologue delivered by America Ferrera (who plays a Mattel employee with a surly, anti-Barbie tween daughter) that lays out the many ways in which women are forever in conflict with themselves and within their societies. It’s righteous, bold-faced point making, but Barbie is not interested in becoming a polemic. Gerwig simply urges her characters, and her audience, toward accepting that the world is tricky and broken but also beautiful, and that the best way to be in it is by simply being yourself, whoever that may be. Barbie pushes its hero, and Ken, into that exploration and then leaves them to it, dropping all the clashes over patriarchy and corporate feminism in favor of a palatable message about individualism.

    Which, sure. What was a Barbie movie supposed to do, solve misogyny? Gerwig knows that her movie can really only tickle and mildly provoke; it’s mostly there to be amusing. And it is, albeit more gently than I think was intended. There are a few laugh-out-loud gags in the film, which I won’t spoil or butcher here, but just as many jokes, if not more, clunk around like cheap plastic. The script is so strenuously wacky that it runs the movie ragged pretty quickly.

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    Richard Lawson

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