Barbie trailer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was so much better than I expected! The whole cast was great, but Ryan Gosling was exceptional and exceptionally funny.

For those who saw it….Please tell me you laughed at the depression barbie and the Pride and Prejudice rewatch. I was crying with laughter.

I’m one of the ones who didn’t like it (sadly, I was really hoping to love it), and those bits just made me roll my eyes. But to be fair, right around then I was debating whether I should just leave and cut my losses or not. So, by then I’d pretty much written the entire thing off.

I didn’t end up leaving, but in hindsight I probably should have.

I felt this way about the last Hunger Games movie I saw in a theatre. What didn't you like about the movie?

Where to start? It was cynical and heavy-handed. The forced inclusivity was painful and manipulative. There are so many examples of performative and tokenized diversity that were just awful. For instance, Mattel has never and would never make a truly fat Barbie like in the movie (their 2016 “curvy” Barbie is maybe a size 6 and they barely advertise it); in reality, the company probably contributed to the eating disorders of thousands of particularly Gen X girls, yet they put fat Barbie in the movie — who still gets no good lines, just in as the tokenized fat friend. Body diversity that is just there for the sake of driving more profits to the corporation that probably did more than most others to suppress bodily diversity is just profoundly cynical. I don’t need to pay Mattel to lightly diversity-wash itself and then go back to its piles of cash built on selling body image disorders to girls. I didn’t go to the movie intending to pay Mattel to be part of its own advertising campaign that above all else is design to cleanse its own image (but of course, not change what they actually sell and do). Yet that’s what I did, what all of us who bought tickets did.

Moving on: the movie trailer was funny. The movie itself was drained of nearly all humor, even managing to make the clips in the trailer fall flat. Even Ryan Gosling couldn’t save the movie from the endemic tedium. I almost could have dealt with what I wrote in the paragraph above if it had been funny. But it was profoundly unfunny.

The plot was barely existent. I realize it is a movie about Barbie but still, I like a movie that assumes its audience isn’t completely devoid of functional brain cells.

I will say this: the costumes and set design were very good. Towards the end, I stopped trying to listen to anything and just watched the sets and costumes. (although I couldn’t avoid the awful ending because that dominated the screen). I enjoyed it more when I stopped listening and just looked at the visual design.

Are you not up on Mattel and Barbie and the way they evolved the product? Not aware of any of the backstory to the film’s making? Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie are in the driver’s seat here, not Mattel.

How has Mattel "evolved" the product? Isn't she still a stick with boobs?

Mattel doesn't care about having a negative impact on girls. Look what they've done to the American Girl brand! AG used to be driven by works created by women specifically to educate and inspire girls, and Mattel has turned it into the Barbie Lite Parade of Tokenism.

Are you the same person who didn’t like the movie because it included a fat barbie? I’m sorry not every actress in the movie was a thin white woman and that not all dolls are thin and white. This must be very difficult for you. Mattel and the filmmakers are in the business of making money and appealing to only thin white women—a declining segment of the population—is not in their best interests.

Dear God. You didn’t understand the point about the fat Barbie at all. Wow. And I am not the person you are responding to, I’m just blown away by your lack of reading comprehension.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the first time I’ve seen anyone say the film was cynical. In fact, pretty much ever critic has said the opposite - it works because Greta Gerwig is so very not cynical.

This is actually part of a trend with critics I’ve noticed in other contexts. I think movie critics themselves are so seeped in cynicism that they can’t actually recognize a deliberately cynical movie when they encounter one. Movie criticism used to be done mostly by people who truly loved movies, but a lot of those critics have retired or moved on. The critics these days don’t seem to be able to actually enjoy a movie. Even if they give a good review, there is no joy in the experience. I think many critics are somehow afraid to show any happiness in the experience of cinema, and the pure joy of movies has been crushed out of a lot of reviewers. I used to read a lot of reviews. I didn’t always agree with them but what I felt I shared with the critics was a love of movies. But that’s been missing from reviews for awhile; I stopped reading.

Barbie is both cynical and manipulative, but if you make your living being profoundly cynical yourself, you can’t recognize it. In fact, packaged and cynical “joy” like Barbie provides is probably very appealing to most current critics.

Right. Greta Gerwig, the filmmaker behind Frances Ha, LadyBird, Little Women, and this film, is just a cynic. Film critics can’t recognize this, but you, a random DCUM poster, are smarter than everyone else. That is so DC

What is so DC is how much you are freaking out at the idea that someone, somewhere doesn’t agree with what you clearly believe is the only acceptable Official Opinion on the movie.

So someone on the internet doesn’t like a movie. Get a grip.

+100

Have the people who don't like it actually seen it? The conversation suddenly shifted from people not going to be sucked into the hype and definitely not going to see it to suddenly saying it sucked and they hated it and arguing about the critics opinions. I thought some of you had no intention of seeing it at all?

[Anonymous]

I am seeing the movie tomorrow night. I am a GenXer, and I was never allowed Barbies when growing up. I was also a tom boy — super athletic — and I loved hot pink, but had to hide it. I am looking forward to the movie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the first time I’ve seen anyone say the film was cynical. In fact, pretty much ever critic has said the opposite - it works because Greta Gerwig is so very not cynical.

This is actually part of a trend with critics I’ve noticed in other contexts. I think movie critics themselves are so seeped in cynicism that they can’t actually recognize a deliberately cynical movie when they encounter one. Movie criticism used to be done mostly by people who truly loved movies, but a lot of those critics have retired or moved on. The critics these days don’t seem to be able to actually enjoy a movie. Even if they give a good review, there is no joy in the experience. I think many critics are somehow afraid to show any happiness in the experience of cinema, and the pure joy of movies has been crushed out of a lot of reviewers. I used to read a lot of reviews. I didn’t always agree with them but what I felt I shared with the critics was a love of movies. But that’s been missing from reviews for awhile; I stopped reading.

Barbie is both cynical and manipulative, but if you make your living being profoundly cynical yourself, you can’t recognize it. In fact, packaged and cynical “joy” like Barbie provides is probably very appealing to most current critics.

Right. Greta Gerwig, the filmmaker behind Frances Ha, LadyBird, Little Women, and this film, is just a cynic. Film critics can’t recognize this, but you, a random DCUM poster, are smarter than everyone else. That is so DC

What is so DC is how much you are freaking out at the idea that someone, somewhere doesn’t agree with what you clearly believe is the only acceptable Official Opinion on the movie.

So someone on the internet doesn’t like a movie. Get a grip.

+100

Have the people who don't like it actually seen it? The conversation suddenly shifted from people not going to be sucked into the hype and definitely not going to see it to suddenly saying it sucked and they hated it and arguing about the critics opinions. I thought some of you had no intention of seeing it at all?

I’m the PP who posted about disagreeing with the critics, or at least one of PPs (I think there were a few of us). I saw it. However, I also posted about how I wanted to see it at the beginning of this thread, so I’m not sure that I’m in the group you are thinking about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is actually an ongoing discussion going on these days in movie circles about the homogenization of critics and critical opinions and the increasing gap between critics and audiences.

Here is an example of an article from more mainstream news, but there is also discussion in entertainment trade journals.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-08-28/critics-and-fans-have-never-disagreed-more-about-movies

Interesting. But why too smart a comment for this thread, lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was so much better than I expected! The whole cast was great, but Ryan Gosling was exceptional and exceptionally funny.

For those who saw it….Please tell me you laughed at the depression barbie and the Pride and Prejudice rewatch. I was crying with laughter.

I’m one of the ones who didn’t like it (sadly, I was really hoping to love it), and those bits just made me roll my eyes. But to be fair, right around then I was debating whether I should just leave and cut my losses or not. So, by then I’d pretty much written the entire thing off.

I didn’t end up leaving, but in hindsight I probably should have.

I felt this way about the last Hunger Games movie I saw in a theatre. What didn't you like about the movie?

Where to start? It was cynical and heavy-handed. The forced inclusivity was painful and manipulative. There are so many examples of performative and tokenized diversity that were just awful. For instance, Mattel has never and would never make a truly fat Barbie like in the movie (their 2016 “curvy” Barbie is maybe a size 6 and they barely advertise it); in reality, the company probably contributed to the eating disorders of thousands of particularly Gen X girls, yet they put fat Barbie in the movie — who still gets no good lines, just in as the tokenized fat friend. Body diversity that is just there for the sake of driving more profits to the corporation that probably did more than most others to suppress bodily diversity is just profoundly cynical. I don’t need to pay Mattel to lightly diversity-wash itself and then go back to its piles of cash built on selling body image disorders to girls. I didn’t go to the movie intending to pay Mattel to be part of its own advertising campaign that above all else is design to cleanse its own image (but of course, not change what they actually sell and do). Yet that’s what I did, what all of us who bought tickets did.

Moving on: the movie trailer was funny. The movie itself was drained of nearly all humor, even managing to make the clips in the trailer fall flat. Even Ryan Gosling couldn’t save the movie from the endemic tedium. I almost could have dealt with what I wrote in the paragraph above if it had been funny. But it was profoundly unfunny.

The plot was barely existent. I realize it is a movie about Barbie but still, I like a movie that assumes its audience isn’t completely devoid of functional brain cells.

I will say this: the costumes and set design were very good. Towards the end, I stopped trying to listen to anything and just watched the sets and costumes. (although I couldn’t avoid the awful ending because that dominated the screen). I enjoyed it more when I stopped listening and just looked at the visual design.

Are you not up on Mattel and Barbie and the way they evolved the product? Not aware of any of the backstory to the film’s making? Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie are in the driver’s seat here, not Mattel.

How has Mattel "evolved" the product? Isn't she still a stick with boobs?

Mattel doesn't care about having a negative impact on girls. Look what they've done to the American Girl brand! AG used to be driven by works created by women specifically to educate and inspire girls, and Mattel has turned it into the Barbie Lite Parade of Tokenism.

Are you the same person who didn’t like the movie because it included a fat barbie? I’m sorry not every actress in the movie was a thin white woman and that not all dolls are thin and white. This must be very difficult for you. Mattel and the filmmakers are in the business of making money and appealing to only thin white women—a declining segment of the population—is not in their best interests.

Dear God. You didn’t understand the point about the fat Barbie at all. Wow. And I am not the person you are responding to, I’m just blown away by your lack of reading comprehension.

A PP said they didn’t like the movie because a Barbie was fat. They felt it wasn’t canon. Was there some deeper point?

[Anonymous]

I thought the movie was okay. There were some fun parts but most of the best parts were already in the trailers. It was derivative. Similar to Lego movie or Toy Story with a more knowing sense of humor. It was fine. The marketing campaign and merch around the movie is maybe more fun than the movie itself.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this movie going to be a bad idea for someone with or recovering from an eating disorder? Quick feedback much appreciated.

there is nothing specifically triggering about movie if you’d go see another movie starring margot robbie looking beautiful. there is a mention of cellulite but it’s not tied to food and happens more as a spontaneous outbreak like chicken pox or something. there is not much focus on body size otherwise. obviously the women are thin and glamorous.

My DD has a history of ED and I'm pretty worried about her seeing it. There are so many very thin beautiful women in it, and although one of the film's messages is an implicit criticism of a culture where women are valued for being thin and conventionally beautiful, I'm suspect the mere appearance of all these women will make DD feel upset about her weight. And the cellulite jokes in the movie make clear that having cellulite is considered undesirable and gross. So while I really enjoyed the movie, but I do wonder if it will be triggering for my DD (same as any movie that features a lot of beautiful thin women).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was so much better than I expected! The whole cast was great, but Ryan Gosling was exceptional and exceptionally funny.

For those who saw it….Please tell me you laughed at the depression barbie and the Pride and Prejudice rewatch. I was crying with laughter.

I’m one of the ones who didn’t like it (sadly, I was really hoping to love it), and those bits just made me roll my eyes. But to be fair, right around then I was debating whether I should just leave and cut my losses or not. So, by then I’d pretty much written the entire thing off.

I didn’t end up leaving, but in hindsight I probably should have.

I felt this way about the last Hunger Games movie I saw in a theatre. What didn't you like about the movie?

Where to start? It was cynical and heavy-handed. The forced inclusivity was painful and manipulative. There are so many examples of performative and tokenized diversity that were just awful. For instance, Mattel has never and would never make a truly fat Barbie like in the movie (their 2016 “curvy” Barbie is maybe a size 6 and they barely advertise it); in reality, the company probably contributed to the eating disorders of thousands of particularly Gen X girls, yet they put fat Barbie in the movie — who still gets no good lines, just in as the tokenized fat friend. Body diversity that is just there for the sake of driving more profits to the corporation that probably did more than most others to suppress bodily diversity is just profoundly cynical. I don’t need to pay Mattel to lightly diversity-wash itself and then go back to its piles of cash built on selling body image disorders to girls. I didn’t go to the movie intending to pay Mattel to be part of its own advertising campaign that above all else is design to cleanse its own image (but of course, not change what they actually sell and do). Yet that’s what I did, what all of us who bought tickets did.

Moving on: the movie trailer was funny. The movie itself was drained of nearly all humor, even managing to make the clips in the trailer fall flat. Even Ryan Gosling couldn’t save the movie from the endemic tedium. I almost could have dealt with what I wrote in the paragraph above if it had been funny. But it was profoundly unfunny.

The plot was barely existent. I realize it is a movie about Barbie but still, I like a movie that assumes its audience isn’t completely devoid of functional brain cells.

I will say this: the costumes and set design were very good. Towards the end, I stopped trying to listen to anything and just watched the sets and costumes. (although I couldn’t avoid the awful ending because that dominated the screen). I enjoyed it more when I stopped listening and just looked at the visual design.

Are you not up on Mattel and Barbie and the way they evolved the product? Not aware of any of the backstory to the film’s making? Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie are in the driver’s seat here, not Mattel.

How has Mattel "evolved" the product? Isn't she still a stick with boobs?

Mattel doesn't care about having a negative impact on girls. Look what they've done to the American Girl brand! AG used to be driven by works created by women specifically to educate and inspire girls, and Mattel has turned it into the Barbie Lite Parade of Tokenism.

Are you the same person who didn’t like the movie because it included a fat barbie? I’m sorry not every actress in the movie was a thin white woman and that not all dolls are thin and white. This must be very difficult for you. Mattel and the filmmakers are in the business of making money and appealing to only thin white women—a declining segment of the population—is not in their best interests.

Dear God. You didn’t understand the point about the fat Barbie at all. Wow. And I am not the person you are responding to, I’m just blown away by your lack of reading comprehension.

A PP said they didn’t like the movie because a Barbie was fat. They felt it wasn’t canon. Was there some deeper point?

Wow. Massive inability to read?

Go read that post again, slowly and out loud, if you can. Hint: It has nothing to do with canon.

Reading is fundamental

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am seeing the movie tomorrow night. I am a GenXer, and I was never allowed Barbies when growing up. I was also a tom boy — super athletic — and I loved hot pink, but had to hide it. I am looking forward to the movie.

Same here. My mother projected a lot of her own frustration of being a woman in her era on me and didn’t allow me Barbie’s/dolls/scarfs in general, I never owned a dress, wasn’t allowed to grow my hair past my shoulders. She really raised me like a boy.

I am 40 and just ordered another over the board loveshackfancy dress in lilac haha!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this movie going to be a bad idea for someone with or recovering from an eating disorder? Quick feedback much appreciated.

there is nothing specifically triggering about movie if you’d go see another movie starring margot robbie looking beautiful. there is a mention of cellulite but it’s not tied to food and happens more as a spontaneous outbreak like chicken pox or something. there is not much focus on body size otherwise. obviously the women are thin and glamorous.

My DD has a history of ED and I'm pretty worried about her seeing it. There are so many very thin beautiful women in it, and although one of the film's messages is an implicit criticism of a culture where women are valued for being thin and conventionally beautiful, I'm suspect the mere appearance of all these women will make DD feel upset about her weight. And the cellulite jokes in the movie make clear that having cellulite is considered undesirable and gross. So while I really enjoyed the movie, but I do wonder if it will be triggering for my DD (same as any movie that features a lot of beautiful thin women).

I think the tokenizing way the fat Barbie was treated could also be triggering.

[Anonymous]

Full Disclosure: I did not read any of the 22 pages of this thread. Just came here to say my family and a group of friends saw the movie last night. There were 18 of us ranging from 80 to 10. We all loved the movie and thought it was hysterical. Afterwards we gathered in one or our houses backyard for dinner and drinks and inevitabley talked about the movie, its themes, the actors, etc. One person said, "just wait for the anti-woke lobby to start screaming about this movie". LOLOLOL I woke up today and saw a few stories about the opening day and guess what? Shockingly, all the outrage and derision was on full display . God, the far right is SO predictable. Even my teen was like, "what IS their problem?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Full Disclosure: I did not read any of the 22 pages of this thread. Just came here to say my family and a group of friends saw the movie last night. There were 18 of us ranging from 80 to 10. We all loved the movie and thought it was hysterical. Afterwards we gathered in one or our houses backyard for dinner and drinks and inevitabley talked about the movie, its themes, the actors, etc. One person said, "just wait for the anti-woke lobby to start screaming about this movie". LOLOLOL I woke up today and saw a few stories about the opening day and guess what? Shockingly, all the outrage and derision was on full display . God, the far right is SO predictable. Even my teen was like, "what IS their problem?"

You seem confused. Have you not heard all the complaints about beautiful Barbie's stunning figure and skimpy outfits that appeal to men? Or that most of the Barbies have slim figures? And there's not much diversity? Those complainers are not the anti-woke crowd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Full Disclosure: I did not read any of the 22 pages of this thread. Just came here to say my family and a group of friends saw the movie last night. There were 18 of us ranging from 80 to 10. We all loved the movie and thought it was hysterical. Afterwards we gathered in one or our houses backyard for dinner and drinks and inevitabley talked about the movie, its themes, the actors, etc. One person said, "just wait for the anti-woke lobby to start screaming about this movie". LOLOLOL I woke up today and saw a few stories about the opening day and guess what? Shockingly, all the outrage and derision was on full display . God, the far right is SO predictable. Even my teen was like, "what IS their problem?"

It must be so weird to go through life convinced that anyone who doesn’t share your exact same opinions on everything is part of an extremist political faction. Your paranoia is quite something to see. It’s sad you are passing that on to your children, though.

I’m a registered Democrat who campaigned for Biden who also thought the movie humorless garbage.