The far right is constantly warning that if you go woke, you’ll go broke. But when it comes to the new Barbie movie, they couldn’t be more wrong.
Barbie, which follows Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) as they leave Barbie Land to explore the real world, earned a whopping $162 million in its opening weekend, Variety reported Monday. This is the biggest opening weekend of the year, and the biggest opening weekend for a female director ever.
The film had already made $22.3 million at the domestic box office from Thursday previews, the biggest preview haul of the summer. It blew the previous record of $17.5 million (made by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in May) out of the water.
I saw a little of ben Shapipos reaction to it through a leftist streamer.
It was hilarious. He was literally mad that a core message of the movie is that you can be whoever you want to as a woman.
Thats the slogan of the company Ben, idk why you didn’t know that.
Women who think independently is the biggest threat to conservatives on the planet
He doesn’t want to know that. He’d rather tell you what Barbie and, by proxy, other women are.
Now let me start by saying that i recomend barbie very much, that being said, im gonna get ravaged by you people cuz i didnt think barbie was a woke film. Already saw it and while yes its message is feminist, its not shoehorned, doesnt try to pander to audiences with forced diversity where it doesnt make sense, its very self aware, has good writing in that it has well writen characters and they and the plot dont feel like the writers wish fullfilment power fantasy, and the message at end isnt even that left leaning imho since it doesnt dive that much on a certaing thing i thought they were hinting at and seems to be aware of it but at the end it doesnt really take it to light, thought i may be wrong on the end part since thats more on a personal level to me and i wont discus it here due to spoilers.
Does woke mean shoehorned or pandering? I feel like “woke” media is labeled as such because of its fundamental socially progressive ideals, and those negative connotations are added by opponents to try and tear down media that’s been designated “woke”
Compared to all the other movies, games and other media that is given the “woke” moniker, Barbie was very firmly “woke”
It spoke directly about how the US and world is a male-dominated patriarchy, and spent the last act going explicitly over in great detail the negatives for women in their gender roles, especially when dealing with men and male partners.
If any other show had even one of the major plot points or lines from this movie, it would be labeled “woke.”
I’m not going to ravage you, but I am going to point out you seem to have a conceptualization of the term “woke” that’s likely much narrower than how Republicans seem to use it. Being (and acting) self-aware is itself “woke” if you listen to how some of them use the term, which would make Barbie super woke
I unironically call things woke, and have a problem with “woke” movies, and am usually in 100% agreement with the conservative take on this matter. They’re just wrong about Barbie. Barbie isn’t a woke movie. Most of them are getting that “Barbie is woke” because it does a battle of the sexes thing, and it really kicks ken while he’s down (but gives him a satisfying resolution at the end). But since most of these people haven’t seen the film, they’re really just listening to some braindead takes by commenters and political figures. Like they’re seriously unironically taking the 2001 space odyssey parody scene as “anti-mothers” when literally the whole core message of the movie was pro-motherhood. They’re just wrong.
Was gonna say bassed until the motherhood part… what dou you mean by that? I dont understeand, im being genuine about this, i wanna hear ya m8.
one of the core themes and messages of the movie is that motherhood is good actually, despite being shunned by feminists.
That whas absolutelly nowere in the movie, not even with the mother and daughter characters. Dont know where you got that idea. So last part is not based
The entire mother-daughter story arc, the mattel ending, barbie’s ending, it’s pretty much one of the core messages of the movie lol.
Nope
Can someone TL;DR what’s so controversial about this movie? All I know about it is that it’s about barbie, and it stars the lady from wolf of wall street. I can tell that trying to research it myself will not improve my life in any way.
One complaint I have heard is that the resolution of the plot is the girls are back in power, where they could have provided a better message to the kids the film is aimed at by having neither Barbie nor Ken in power over the other
It is narrated, “eventually, the Kens would go on to have the same power in Barbieland that women have in the real world” (paraphrased). It’s basically kind of a joke and, perhaps more specifically, a reminder that positive change doesn’t happen overnight. I think it would be a bit… antithetical to spend the whole movie exploring the issues with a supposedly perfect system and then end by saying “okay we fixed it everything is perfect now”.
It’s lightly criticizes and gleefully satires the real world’s patriarchal structure, so some people (the vast majority being right-leaning men) are saying it’s anti men and supports misandry. It definitely isn’t and doesn’t though.
Eh, I just watched it. From my perspective I see one major problem: it tries to criticize the same problem from two opposite angles which wind up just kinda undercutting each other, while either angle alone could have been pretty powerful, the de facto conclusion of the two together is basically misandry.
Spoilers:
spoiler
On the one hand, it presents a gender swapped matriarchy in Barbieland, where Barbies run the world and Kens are basically accessories. If the movie had stayed in Barbieland and focused on Ken’s self-actualization in a female-centric society, that could’ve been a poignant illustration of the opposite struggle in the real world, striking MRAs simultaneously with understanding and cognitive dissonance.
On the other, Ken brings patriarchy into Barbieland and the Barbies 1) are immediately brainwashed? (I don’t think the small pox analogy is sufficient to justify the fact that these doctors and supreme court justices just, decided to be brainwashed?) 2) decide these I guess inherently inferior Ken’s need to be overcome by manipulation? I’m sure this could’ve been turned into something, not as poignant or impressive as the gender-swap concept, but something for sure.
But the two taken together give a really mixed message. Gender subjugation is bad, but it’s okay to do it to men because they’re dumb and bad? Except the men here are metaphors for women in the real world, so is it right to subjugate women in the real world because they’d only just fuck everything up? Is the Kendom an allegory for patriarchy, or a gender-swapped allegory for feminism? Does that mean feminism is bad? We don’t ever get to see Ken actualize, we just see Barbie cut him off and he kinda vapidly goes away? And they conclude acknowledging that the Barbies are subjugating the Kens, so it’s not even like they’re saying women are more enlightened and egalitarian, just that men suck and should be subservient. Society doesn’t really improve, they just squashed the Keninist movement.
It seemed like they were trying to say “patriarchy bad”, but tried to do it by satiration through matriarchy, and also just playing it straight at the same time, which just came out as “men bad”. If they chose a lane, it could’ve stuck. But I just left kinda confused about what they were trying to say, other than a general vibe of “men bad”.
Stupid ass movie no matter the theme or message. Astonishing this dribble was ever made.
So you saw the film then?
I can’t speak to whether this is a good movie or not, as I haven’t seen it yet. What I can notice is that the ‘Barbie’ IP appeals to a broad demographic, and every woman I know is planning on seeing this soon.
Strongly suspect Barbie movie’s success is due to good marketing, not alleged ‘wokeness’.
I think its success has more to do with how they’ve broadened the appeal of a Barbie movie by being critical of it in a way that feels honest and appeals to people that like Barbie as well as those that hate Barbie. I am not Barbie’s main demo nor have I ever been a fan of anything related to Barbie, but the buzz got me to skeptically see it opening weekend, and I was absolutely shocked at how much I enjoyed it from start to finish.
Writer/Director Greta Gerwig and producer Margot Robbie should get most of the credit for how the movie turned out, but Matel should get some credit too for allowing these women to embrace the complicated and flawed nature of the IP with the story that they have told.
I know nothing about this movie except that it’s apparently a fun time. Can someone please tell me what makes the Barbie Movie “woke” just for the sake of context?
Because apparently telling children/girls that they can have independence, be anything they want, and recognizing womens struggles is woke
Look man, my wife does whatever I tell her to. She was
groomedraised that way.You know how hard it is to be insecure AND lazy AND have a wife that wants to do crazy shit like “whatever she wants” or even evil communist shit like “get a job” or “talk to others without me listening in” or “disabling the GPS tracker I put on her phone”?
This movie helps drive her in that direction, then what am I supposed to do?
It also lampoons conservative culture of patriarchy.
Haven’t seen the movie, but I’m planning to. I’m sure it’s fine. That said, as neutrally as I can I’ll try to define characteristics of a ‘woke’ movie.
If said in bad-faith, ‘woke’ means: “Something I don’t like because … women. Amirite.” (aka: A dog-whistle)
If said in good-faith ‘woke’ describes a way to write female characters in the laziest way possible. Some of the good-faith criticisms of wokeness:
- Gratuitous use of minority characters that have nothing to do with the plot, and perhaps don’t even make sense.
- Female protagonists start the movie being fairly competent at, well, everything. The main thing holding them back is a lack of belief in themselves.
- Men, even the ones supporting the protagonist, are generally portrayed as incompetent, ignorant, and biased. They age poorly, and have nothing to teach except to highlight how awesome the female character is. (See point #2)
- A weak story arc. Viewers are expected to appreciate the Strong Female Character as she realizes she’s awesome just the way she is, no real arc happens.
- ON EDIT: All the above are applied to movies based on established IP with existing cultural resonance. Original work is rarely criticized as ‘woke’. (Wish I had remembered to include this in the first place, rather than an after-the-fact ON EDIT.)
There are other points I could bring up, but these are some of the basics. One can have a fun ‘woke’ movie, one can have a crap non-woke movie.
And just so that I don’t get accused of being some closet misogynist, I’m going to provide two female characters that I consider 'woke, and two that are not so that a comparison can be made to illustrate above points:
Woke:
Galadriel - from Amazon’s ‘Rings of Power’
Rey - from Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Well written female characters:
Vi - from Arcane
Ripley - from Alien
Why is it woke when female or “minority” characters are this way but not when white male characters are this way? Your points describe the majority of movies featuring a male white protagonist.
And how is Galadriel not the way she is described in the original IP?
1 what’s gratuitous? More than 12% of the cast? A ratio that normally makes you clutch your pearls at the store?
2 happens in every male action movie ever made but it’s men being awesome. 3 has been every sitcom since the first sitcom (I hate 3 but conservatives have loved those shows for decades). And for 3, in men’s movies, the women were just props. I bet you love Planet Of the Apes. The man is super awesome and perfect and the woman is literally a pointless mute.
4 happens for movies with men, constantly.
Your examples are trash too. So Star Wars would have been just fine if Rey was Ray. Why?
You list Ripley but how is that different? If alien was made in 2019 you’d be saying the same shit
Your definition is if it’s like a man’s movie but a woman
Hello @Saneless I hope this reply finds you well.
Should make something clear: @DrMango asked “Can someone please tell me what makes the Barbie Movie woke”. I’m just doing my best to give a reasonably-neutral answer. I don’t necessarily agree with the attitude. (Although, I think I can appreciate it better than most who aren’t RWers.)
Also: I should have added bullet point #5:
**5. All the above are applied to established IP with existing cultural resonance. ** I regret I didn’t include it in the above list since it’s key to understanding the objections to ‘wokeness’ … but in my defense, this is a Lemmy thread - how much time should anyone put into anything on a minor Lemmy thread? ;-)
With that out of the way:
1 what’s gratuitous? More than 12% of the cast? A ratio that normally makes you clutch your pearls at the store?
It’s not a percentage … it’s when a character is cast based on virtue-signaling rather than what makes sense for the story or original IP. For example: A story set in Kamakura period, Japan shouldn’t have Native Americans in the back-ground drinking steins of beer. A character who is described in a book as a middle-aged British Victorian butler shouldn’t be a 20-something, lesbian, black woman.
2 happens in every male action movie ever made but it’s men being awesome.
Yes, there are examples of male characters being awesome out-of-the-gate. But I would submit that the ones that resonate are the ones that had to grow. These resonating characters & stories are what Hollywood studios are re-working in the laziest way possible. (One quick example: Skywalker had to grow into his role, Rey automatically understands everything.) It just seems that every new movie based on an established IP has to make the Strong Female Character good at anything.
4 happens for movies with men, constantly.
We’re talking about what makes something woke. Weak character and story arcs are a staple of wokeness, but not the only one.
You list Ripley but how is that different? If alien was made in 2019 you’d be saying the same shit
I disagree. Ripley, for the movies time, was an original character. Moreover: She made mistakes, grew as a person, and had a decent arc.
To wrap this up: ‘Woke’ is a synonym for lazy writing when applied to established IP - especially when pointing out the laziness opens one to accusations of misogyny.
Cheers!
When people accept something happening in a male character they do not accept in a female character that is at least sexist. If Rey was male perhaps there still would have been some whining, but the sheer amount of angry men tears online over Rey being too good is in part due to her being a woman.
