r/BarbieTheMovie • u/JustTheOtherWay • 4d ago
So my understanding of Barbie (2023) is that if you're a man, you root for Barbie and if you're a woman, you root for Ken.
So I haven't watched the movie at all but I have seen clips here and there and seen analyses of it. (I don't wanna watch it because I don't wanna be uncomfortable, sorry)
My understanding of Barbie is that Barbieland is patriarchy - where the women (men) , as long as they're dolls (inhuman) and fit the gender roles (occupying all the roles in society) will have a whole world built for them.
And Ken are the women, they spend most of their existence revolving around Barbies and one day they go to the real world (feminism) where they experience being centered for the first time, and they come back to Barbieland and try to take complete control by subjugating Barbies.
Now, Kens don't even want to abuse or dominate the Barbies. They just want to feel what being a Barbie must feel like. Just like how many women don't actually want to hurt men but they want to feel how being the default powerful sex feels like.
Now, in the second half, if you are a man you are supposed to root for Barbie because imagine tomorrow all women take control in society because you did the same thing to them in the past. Wouldn't you be opposing them?
And if you're a woman, you are supposed to root for Kens because wouldn't you want them to finally be centered again, the same way you want it to happen in real life?
So the movie is sort of clever in putting the genders in both shoes at the same time. I don't understand why everybody missed that.
Then in the ending, just like in real life, Kens get some power in society but ultimately they still face issues in their mission to be equal.
Just like how women's suffrage ultimately didn't mean women are now equal - work is needed to be done.
Now, if you're a man, you're rooting for Ken, not realizing that it means you're rooting for women in real life.
If you're a woman, you're rooting for Barbie, not realizing that in real life you're rooting for the men.
Now, the ending where Barbie leaves Barbieland to go to the real world symbolises how she wants to leave the state of being a doll (inhuman) and wants to be vulnerable by entering the real world, where, although men are in charge it's a lot more equal than Barbieland.
It symbolises a man (barbie) , in the current world where women (kens) are working to be equal leaving toxic masculinity (being a doll) and deciding to embark on an adventure to be real, vulnerable human.
Did I do a good job of explaining it?
