October 5, 2023 – I finally saw the Barbie movie yesterday. I didn’t play with Barbie’s but my sister did. I may have twisted the head off one, but I also have a memory of trying to twist the head off and failing. Not sure which one occurred. Regardless, the whole thing about different types of Barbies didn’t come until later. There was only one type of Barbie when I was a kid. I vaguely remember Skipper. I do remember Ken. Of course, Ken was just a Barbie accessory.

Because of this history, I originally had no interest in seeing the movie. Heck, I don’t go to movies I’m interested in most of the time! But the uproar about the movie and its feminist take changed my mind. I wanted to see it, but I still wasn’t going until we had a chance to take our faux granddaughter for her 13th birthday.

Not sure what she thought about it other than she liked it. She was off to other things. And we didn’t really have the experience of seeing it with an audience. Going on a Wednesday afternoon almost three months after release meant that we had the theater to ourselves. We told our FG that we arranged a private showing. She knew that wasn’t true, but liked it nevertheless.

I liked it. It was funny and clever. The feminism was truthful but predictable. It’s take on bullying seemed broader than an attack on the patriarchy. Which was good. Every element of the movie that could have been obvious or kitschy wasn’t somehow.

I’ve already told you that I don’t go to many movies, so I can’t really comment on the current movie culture but, based on the trailers I see, so much of it is based on explosions and fighting and spectacle. That’s boring to me.

I want to see a character. And Barbie was a character. She had an existential issue (fear of death) and worked through it. And, despite her being made of plastic (which lasts forever), she was very human. I suppose audiences might have liked Barbie solely for all the pink. But maybe not. Her journey to “find herself” was very moving.

Too bad for Ken.

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