![]() ![]() How did a serious monologue about the challenges and contradictions of womanhood fit into a movie that also has a lot of dance routines and fun costumes and sparkles? Did Gerwig succeed in reconciling those energies? Lora: You wrote a great article today about America Ferrera’s monologue, which was a striking moment in the film. ![]() That debate is what the film invites you to think about, but at the same time, it’s squarely feminist. Being told that you can be anything is inspirational, but that’s not necessarily truthful. The film wrestles with this glossy idea of feminism that a lot of young girls were sold. They live in this world in which Kens are second-class citizens. Early on, the Barbies believe that they live in a feminist world. Shirley: One of the Mattel executives said that Barbie is “not a feminist movie.” Margot Robbie later responded to the sentiment like, What do you mean? I think it’s a feminist film, and I think it certainly tries to be nuanced about what feminism means. Lora: I’m curious about your thoughts on whether and to what extent this is a feminist film. At the same time, we’re not completely composed of them. We can become very possessive of those things. We often think the things that make us us are the things we play with, consume, watch, and listen to. You can’t talk about yourself without talking about the things that influenced you, and often, those are things that you have consumed or bought. The film invites you to consider all the sides of Barbie. All of that gets wrapped up into this film. ![]() But it argues for Barbie as not just a product, but a protagonist-someone who deserves her own heroine’s journey, and whose function is to represent a brand but also represent the ideal of womanhood to young girls. It’s very self-aware of the fact that it’s a movie about a product. That’s one of the reasons the film is interesting to me. ![]() Shirley: It’s kind of brand marketing for Mattel-and it’s also a work of art from the writer-director Greta Gerwig. Lora: Is Barbie a piece of brand marketing for Mattel, or is it a work of art by Greta Gerwig? The Hollywood strikes are a factor here as well: The Barbie cast packed in as much promotion as they could on the press tour before the SAG-AFTRA strike began last week. And Barbie happens to be very fun to market.Īt the same time, this kind of marketing push, at least for big summer tentpoles, was par for the course before the pandemic. Mattel has been struggling with the Barbie brand for several years and was looking for a way to turn around Barbie’s cultural relevance. I think they’ve poured everything they can into its marketing campaign. Shirley Li: The movie is a big swing for Mattel. Is this kind of marketing campaign normal for a summer blockbuster? Or is there something special about this project? Lora Kelley: I’ve seen Barbie everywhere this summer-on billboards, at a pop-up in Manhattan, blanketing my Google search-result pages in pink. The following contains light spoilers for Barbie. To understand what’s driving the movie’s ubiquity this summer, and to discuss how the film handles feminist themes, I called Shirley Li, a culture writer at The Atlantic. My afternoon screening of the movie in Brooklyn yesterday was sold out, packed with delighted people wearing pink. Over the years, Barbie has been many things: a symbol of unattainable beauty standards, a career woman, an embodiment of the male gaze, an inspiration for young girls. Biden declares war on the cult of efficiency. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |