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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Ladybird, Little Women, Frances Ha, Mistress America &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; Barbie

It’s a shame the mindless masses are getting their first exposure to Greta Gerwig through this movie. She’s much, much better than this vapid overwrought tripe. [/quote]

Margo Robbie approached HER, not the other way around. She was convinced to do this vs it being her brain-child. I think there’s a big difference between the two. Having said that, however, there are no “rules” saying she can’t choose to do something fun and blockbuster-type that still carries complex, layered messages. She’s casting a wider net and good for her![/quote]

What about this movie was complex? Just because you agree with its message doesn’t make it complex. It’s like a hawkish Republican in the 1980s saying Red Dawn is complex or saying Maverick is complex. When you have a main character going into a long screed about how difficult it is to be a woman there is no complexity about it at all. Obvious propaganda does not = art, no matter what side does it.

If this was all Greta Gerwig was capable of I wouldn’t be so critical of the movie. But she is way better than this. [/quote]

It’s not perfect, for sure, and I thought the monologue could have been better - though I also think America Ferrera may have made significant changes to what Gerwig originally wrote.

But a lot of the movie is actually quite layered and thoughtful. For example, Allan is coded as queer. He doesn’t fit in with the Barbies; he doesn’t fit in with the Kens. But as a white man, he benefits from the patriarchy and is complicit in upholding it. His initial rebellion is just to flee, but he finally decides to act as an ally. Underneath that very funny spade fight scene is a nuanced look at one aspect of patriarchy.

I even think the rejection of matriarchy as a solution to patriarchy is a pretty pointed statement. There’s a whole feminist trope about how much better everything would be “if women were in charge.” When I was younger I bought into that somewhat. But it is a very simplistic and black-and-white worldview. Gerwig makes it clear that Barbieland isn’t a place of equality for the Kens or for Weird Barbie and the other discontinued Barbies.

At any rate, I’m a Gerwig fan and loved Frances Ha, Lady Bird, and Little Women. I think she did amazing things with this movie. It’s not just reaching the billion-dollar mark in less than a month. It’s the whole conversation that everyone is having. I said early in this thread that I thought Barbie would be a pop-culture phenomenon based on the trailer. I had no idea how big it would be. [/quote]

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