Greta Gerwig’s movie based on the world’s most iconic fashion doll keeps dancing past one record after another.
My parents have seen this movie three times, I’ve seen it twice, might go again lol. I’m in a deficit of movies marketed toward women that dont revolve around romance, I can only watch legally blonde so many times (who am I kidding, I will watch it a dozen more times at least)
I can only assume that my one downvote is from someone who vehemently opposes the notion that anyone could get tired of seeing legally blonde
Giiirl! Love legally blonde! Before seeing barbie I realized women kind of get like one super great kinda cult following comedy movie a decade. (Not a hard rule or anything) Clueless, legally blonde, mean girls. The stuff we still quote and watch today. My prediction was that Barbie is going to be that movie. After I first saw it I thought maybe not, but I keep thinking about it and like it more and more as I sit on it, the flaws became more acceptable/tolerable. Sorry for ramble I’m just excited to see another woman say it hits that niche for them too!
Yes!! There are flaws with all of those movies, but it’s hard to be choosey when there are so few movies that feel like this. Everything Everywhere All At Once also kind of scratches this itch for me, though in a more broad sense due to the wide range of ideas it covered. I’m super glad to talk about Barbie with other women! It has been great seeing all the women I work with embracing a side of themselves that has historically been shit on.
For me the feeling happened first when I saw Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley was going to be the survivor in the original Alien.
Now, movies conceived and produced by men starring female action heroes are their own trope and don’t have the same impact.
She-Hulk however gave me that joy. I hope Marvel looks at the actual viewership numbers of She-Hulk and the success of Barbie when making a decision on a second season.
When I watched Alien as a kid, feminism was not on my mind. I’ve gotta watch it again! I agree, it’s hard to find female-lead action movies that don’t just feel like “yay, now men can enjoy guns, explosions, fight scenes, and a hot chick!” Kill Bill mostly works for me, minus the foot fetish that Tarantino can’t help but insert, and knowing how he treated her during filming puts a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe I should take that out lol. Woman King was brilliant though, I really want to watch that again. I also have Gunpowder Milkshake on my list, my SIL said it’s basically John Wick but with women, and damn that would really do it for me.
I had several issues with She-Hulk that ultimately made me stop watching. But I’m not here to shit on one of the few shows that scratch that itch for other women. I’m really glad the show gave you that joy :)
Sorry She-Hulk didn’t work for you.
Won’t ask what put you off but suggest seeing it through to the end.
As someone who read the comics it felt very comic-accurate while adding in the clearly feminist perspective of its creator/showrunner. Basically, it took a female action hero created by men and gave her ownership by women.
Yes female action heroes are a trope now. They’ve over-played it, but of course anything from Marvel or DC is going to be shit. These days they’re just movie mills pumping out the same old rehash.
The Alien movies made a female action hero seem natural. They did it right. There’s been a few others that have done it right. More have done it wrong.
I don’t know anything about the Barbie move since I haven’t seen it. I would like to see it but will wait until it comes to streaming. My wife saw it with a group of her friends and said it was cute and weird, but definitely worth the watch. So evidently it’s not in the same caliber as Legally Blonde.
Excuse me those movies are flawless!!! I will hear nothing more of such blasphemy lol
I’m so glad you have that! Where I grew up I was sort of the weirdo that liked barbies, none of my other friends were into them. So I didn’t have anyone to see the movie with or talk about with after that would really get it. The person I went with was a good sport at least.
My b lol, you won’t hear any more slander from me. Dang, I wish I could send you some of my coworkers to talk to! Meaning they would be missed, they’re awesome women and you would love chatting with them.
I actually joined mastodon recently so I could listen to/chat with more women who share my views. I’m finding Lemmy still a bit dominated by men, a bit too much like Reddit in that regard, but on mastodon I’ve been slowly finding exactly what I’m looking for. I’ve found some great recommendations for movies and books by women, POC, and LGBTQ+ people, it’s been really refreshing. I was never on twitter so it’s weird to adjust to, but it’s actually serving a healthy purpose in my life
All of these platforms skew male, white, heterosexual, older etc.
It’s a major concern when AI’s are using them for training data. Or, when studio executives take them into account in decisions about what to greenlight.
Reddit is actually relatively better balanced at 2/3s male. Review aggregator sites like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb are more heavily male.
I’m finding the conversation on Lemmy more civil, but unconscious bias is a thing.
Idk if I could ever get into that Twitter format, hell even Tumblr was hard for me. But I will keep in mind that mastodon might have the community I would enjoy. Reddit had some fantastic women centric subs from serious discussion to hobbies to memes, I think lemmy is too new and niche to have similar women centric spaces active though. I really miss that part. But there might be more women than it seems, a lot of my comment history probably seems male.
I think we should make a sub or whatever they are called where people just post and share women centric places on lemmy, fediverse, and maybe anywhere online. Maybe in meantime can use it to post anything too. Call it womens corner or brunch vibes or something fun lol.
Also side note I love how barbie movie discussion and your post just got all the girls chiming in! We are here! We are here! Lol
the number of women here might be higher than you think, I for one am putting the minimum amount of personal info in the fediverse and many other women do the same
very true! I do think there are proportionally more women here than Reddit, just based on personal observation, but I have no way of knowing the numbers. With mastodon a lot of people put their gender in their bio so I can easily find women to follow and give myself a really woman-dominated feed, even if mastodon in general is still dominated by men.
It felt odd, marketed as a female movie, It had a female lead, women that talk to other women, but half way through I commented to my partner that this feels like a movie about Ken.
My only take away as a dirty male is I can t wait to see it again for Ken, but when it’s streaming.
I’ve seen this opinion from a lot of men, about 80% of the top comments on the Reddit mega thread were about how Ken “made the movie”. I’ve talked to a lot women about this, and every one of them has essentially said “of course they think it’s about the man”. It’s a bit frustrating, honestly, to see this opinion everywhere. I do not see how he could be seen as the focus of the movie. I loved Ken of course, but you missed a big point of the movie if your main takeaway is how great Ken was.
Badly worded, my main take away to see it again, I do see past Ken. And like you say, if you’re witnessing people saying that Ken made the movie then that’s the exact problem I’m conveying.
Thanks for the clarification. I think the reason so many men think the movie is about Ken is due to them ignoring the feminist themes in the movie, rather than a fault of the movie making Ken too much of a focus. He was absolutely hysterical, but the humor felt superficial—the focus was still on how a matriarcal or patriarchal society is severely flawed.
I agree it was a lot of Ken.
It was a female movie, we had the sort of history of progress that barbie either helped bring or at least reflected the change of times. We had our relationship, memories, references, inside jokes, and love of barbie. It is also a VERY feminist movie. I’d argue the best depiction of what feminism is about I’ve seen. It shows how the patriarchy hurts everyone too, and the answer isn’t a matriarchy. It was just done in a way it could easily be ignored if someone wanted to just enjoy the surface level fun. What bothered me about it was the Mattel dicksucking corporate bs I suspect was forced to be included and portrayed a certain way. They did a decent job trying to make it work but if felt obvious and gross to me.
Especially the “Haha we had a female CEO once but not anymore, but it’s okay because we support feminism as long as you make money!!!”
Yes and then they just bumble around because they HAD to introduce them and then just like… comedic pointless bumble around? Meh. I don’t wanna get spoilery with other problems I had with Mattel. I am still super excited to see it again though! Either on streaming or in theaters with someone who hasn’t seen it yet.
My parents have seen this movie three times, I’ve seen it twice, might go again lol.
Wow. Marketing on Lemmy has been a resounding success.
Yes, my 50 year old parents went because they frequent lemmy so often 🙄 I went again for the reasons I described, there are very few movies that feel the way this movie does. Comments from randos != marketing
Edit: OR is this a joke that completely went over my head, because you’re MargotRobbie 🤔
That’s Academy Award nominated character actress Margot Robbie to you.
Since I can’t promote the movie right now, I’m trying to shitpost my way to an Oscar this time. Maybe lightning will strike twice.
If you’ve never seen it, watch ‘A New Leaf’ with Walter Matthau and Elaine May. May directed it. It’s a rom com for people who really hate rom coms.
If the movie is still making $6 million on a Tuesday, this movie is going break a lot more records.
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I enjoyed it, but I’m not paying that ticket price again.
Go on a Tuesday. Most theater chains have Discount Tuesdays, in which showtimes are way cheaper (even at night). Where I live, it’s only $5!
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I can’t remember how many years it’s been since I went to a movie theater before going to Barbie. That’s not a value for me.
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The movie is awesome, but it gets me down thinking about how many shitty toy “but with grown-up humour” movies we’re going to get after this, just because now every studio in the world is going to join the bandwagon.
Mattel already has over 40 movies in the docket: https://comicbook.com/movies/news/mattel-toy-movies-in-development-barbie-hot-wheels/
Barbie was meant to be their flagship to usher in the flood. “We’ll start off with a bang to get people thinking that the rest of our toy movie offshoots will be worth watching,” is what I take away from it.
Off-topic, but that site should be embarrassed to state that Tom Hanks voiced Buzz Lightyear.
Is this real life?
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/YTMwOkhdgxs
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
This has been in the making since the Lego Movie, Barbie isn’t the first toy movie to become popular
Sure, but the first Lego movie came out, what, almost 10 years ago? And Lego isn’t owned by Mattel, so it isn’t an exact comparison. Regardless, I feel like Mattel’s approach to shoveling advertisements in the form of movies is going to be far more over the top and exhausting than Lego’s, but who knows, maybe it’ll be pretty tame in the long run and the bulk of their movies will be canceled.
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It was a good movie and I enjoyed it at the the theater once but there is no way in hell I’m laying to see any movie in theater again, you’ve seen it once, just remember it to enjoy it again lol
There have been 2 movies my wife and I have gotten out of just to buy tickets to watch it a second time. We get so wrapped up in the story or the awe of something spectacular, then watch it again too see everything you missed the first time through. Sometimes the theater brings something you know a home viewing won’t capture, jaws on the big screen in a super dark room (albeit with sticky floors) is so much more thrilling than Jaws in the safety of my living room.
Put a batsuit on her in the sequel and the ticket sales will double.
It’s a rubber suit and gets really sweaty…
I’d rather do the Wolf of Wall Street thing again.
Which is?
Nekkid
I’ll still wear the mask though.
No one cared who I was until I put on the mask.
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I’m at the theaters to see this right now and the theater is packed, never seen a movie that was this packed outside of opening day
Same. I think enthusiasm for films is up this year, the audiences for both Barbie and Sound Of Freedom were the biggest audiences I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been going to theaters for years.
I think people just miss the movies since the pandemic honestly. I missed the movie going experience a lot
That’s wild! I’m stoked to see it but keep waiting for the crowds to die down… Which seems like it may never happen.
Unless you’re waiting for saftey reasons, I say go now. It’s sort of a cultural phenomenon right now, a Moment, kinda like endgame and batman trilogy. It will lose just a bit of magic if you go when everyone is done talking about it imo.
Hmm, the article says the ticket revenue wasn’t adjusted for inflation, so batman actually made over 760 million in 2023 dollars. I haven’t seen the movie but my partner really wants to, can’t wait to see what the hypes all about.
If you can clear your head of the hype going into the movie, you’ll have a better experience.
It’s a good movie, but the hype is killing the expectations.
You won’t know until you see it! 🥰
It’s good. If you’re a man, I’d say don’t take it seriously and you probably won’t end up getting too offended.
There’s nothing about the movie that should be offensive to a man. It is critical of how the patriarchy impacts both men and women. Any offense is directed at the patriarchy itself. If a man finds that offensive, they should evaluate which parts of the patriarchy they so closely identify with.
There’s nothing about the movie that should be offensive to a man.
That’s not entirely true, there’s a lot of rhetoric in the film that implies that men as a whole are trying to keep women down, and also that most men will thoughtlessly catcall, tease, or slap the butt of random women whenever they feel like it. Being portrayed as “bad by default” is a fair reason to be offended.
Thanks for sharing!
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Everyone I know hated it so that’s a surprise! Sounds like it was a bait and switch from the trailer, great job to the marketing team!
Everyone I know (who actually saw it) loved it, where do you live lol
I live in the UK, but I’m not sure why that makes any difference
Well, if you were from a southern US state, I would’ve bet that everyone you know hated it because they’re conservative and think it’s “man-hating”. I don’t know anything about UK geopolitical leanings though.
I think there are a couple factors at play: firstly, this movie is actually pretty silly and weird; although I disagree with the movie’s politics, it’s a good film, and I like it. However, it felt a lot more like a cult hit than a mainstream blockbuster success. I can tell why some people wouldn’t like the film due to it’s weirdness or how much of the plot doesn’t make sense.
But also it’s a highly political film, so there’s a lot of subtext, jokes, and moral messaging that probably won’t connect unless you’re fluent in American politics and the three waves of feminism that have swept the nation.
True, it makes sense that people in the UK would not relate in the same way. I know there are patriarchal issues in the UK as well, but I don’t know how UK people view those issues.
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Shit, I’m a man and I went for Ryan Gosling.
His ending outfit was cool.
Plus those abs have to be airbrushed… Right?
At least spell my name right.
It’s “Academy Award nominated character actress Margot Robbie” to you.
If I am going to a movie just to get my dick excited, I would rather Oppenheimer.
Apparently there are better scenes.
White People trash will always do good at the movies, no one wants to see people of color star in anything these days
So much for Black Lives Matter
White People trash will always do good at the movies
This is so hilariously wrong that it’s hard for me to take this seriously. I don’t know of a recent movie that bombed that didn’t have a predominantly white cast.
As a non-white, an outsider and onlooker on the American sociopolitical scenery, I can attest that I also regard the non-white people as perceptually racist, and sometimes even worst. It’s been many occasions that I observed where they don’t say a word regarding all-non-white-casts movies. But when people made all-white movies (or if none of them won any awards), they will throw tantrums for being left out. Quite typical scenarios.
Yep. That’s not quite as bad as the perpetuation of the archaic “mammy” stereotype which is still prevalent in comedy, or the stereotype of the goofy black guy who does nothing but cracks jokes, has nothing of substance to provide, and is just there to be laughed at and not taken seriously.
I’d rather have an all-white movie than a movie that perpetuates racist stereotypes.
