I agree. It was very clever how they did that. But there are definitely some railing against the message of it all. The horror, the horror. Fortunately that silliness didn’t catch on as much as I’d expected it would.
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I think it’s interesting that the Barbie brand took a hit for decades for being an unattainable ideal for women to reach (from an appearance standpoint) and now she’s the new symbol of feminism - I guess due to her acceptance of Birkenstocks 
I remember articles back in the day claiming that if a real woman had Barbie’s measurements, she’d topple over forward due to the breast size.
Was it Barbie that raised the awareness or America Ferrara’s speech as a real-world woman?
I also appreciated that they had “plus sized” Barbies in Barbie Land, but were there actually plus sized Barbie dolls back in the day or current day (besides the pregnant Midge)?
FWIW - I liked the movie but just found these things interesting.
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I saw Oppenheimer two nights ago and was surprised that it didn’t feel that long. Very interesting movie and makes me want to learn more.
While we were waiting to go into Oppenheimer, people were going into Barbie. Totally sold out, and everyone wearing pink, still!
My D was avoiding Barbie, as she rarely sees a movie. She decided to go because she had to understand the cultural phenomenon. She enjoyed it, but didn’t love it. My son loved Oppenheimer and is seeing Barbie with his gf this week.
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“Curvy Barbie” came out a few years ago, but it’s not exactly plus sized. How does 'Curvy Barbie' compare with an average woman? - BBC News
Here’s a study that examined girls’ attitudes towards the curvy Barbie, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1740144518302584
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Interesting article
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Finally saw Barbie and I enjoyed it much more than expected. I thought the writing was witty and original.
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I took my mom and niece to see Barbie yesterday. My niece absolutely loved it, and was laughing much of the time. My mom, who has mild dementia, not so much. I think she thought it was going to be very light, and it’s not, some of it is intense. I think she was overwhelmed, making me realize that if she can’t really enjoy a movie like this, she shouldn’t be going to the movie theatre. She asked if she should see Oppenheimer……NO! Not one minute of light movie viewing there.
This is the third time I’ve seen the movie. The first time, that line about how mothers stand still so daughters can look back and see how far they’ve come, I thought was sweet. The second time, I thought,”Uh, nope”. Third time I wanted to scream, “No, we mothers forge ahead to make things easier for you, and then cheer you on as you blow on by us”. I don’t think they thought that line through. Besides that, it was still entertaining the third time.
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I feel like your mother and, frankly, didn’t care for the movie. There weren’t enough laughs. It was a heavy topic, yet filled with a lot of nonsense. Wish it had ended with mutual respect, but it didn’t. My husband said he liked the movie, but he may just be saying that, if you get my drift.
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We saw Oppenbarbie as a mid-week “Early Bird Special” for retirees that began at 10:30 in the morning. Definitely worth making it a theater experience rather than streaming it at home. I mean, I hope I’m not spoiling anything by revealing that in one of the movies they tested the first atom bomb! Nolan managed to squeeze a surprising amount of suspense out of it. And as far as that goes, make yourself a little list of all the cameo appearances of stars you haven’t seen in twenty years, virtually unrecognizable in supporting roles.
Oh, Barbie was good too.
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I think you and my mom didn’t like it much for different reasons. I believe that dementia made it confusing and too loud for my mom, and she didn’t understand what was funny, while my niece and I laughed a lot. Almost every single scene Ryan Gosling was in was hilarious, his nonverbal skills are amazing. I think I laughed much harder the second time seeing it by myself, maybe worried what my husband would think (he enjoyed it immensely).
If you didn’t think there was a lot of laughs, maybe you were not in the mood, or missed some of it? I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed that much at a movie, except for maybe Airplane.
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I didn’t expect to like Ryan Gosling, but he was really terrific. I also thought Barbie really benefited from being in a full theater with Gerwig fans, Barbie fans, and quite a few women for whom the whole thing resonated.
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Your comment, “Wish it had ended with mutual respect, but it didn’t” really captures what I had been feeling but could not articulate as succinctly as you did.
It still seemed very, “them v us,” (men v women) at the end. Giving specific example of this, I fear, would be considered a spoiler.
I did enjoy it, and it was fun wearing pink and doing pics in the movie theater’s Barbie Box. However, I think the ending could have allowed for more growth of everyone. Plus, most of the funniest bits are revealed in the movie’s trailer. I also felt it was 15-20 minutes too long.
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I know someone who’s a mom of boys and she was not at all happy with how males were portrayed in the movie. She said it overshadowed any enjoyment she might have had with Barbie of it all.
That’s interesting. I’m the mom of male young adults, who both loved the movie and didn’t come away from it feeling attacked.
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It certainly wasn’t the most favorable portrayal of men, but it wasn’t as male bashing as I expected. Men characterized in unfavorable ways is not a new phenomenon of comedy. A hallmark of stereotypes being funny is that they contain some semblance of truth. I’m not a fan of people killing comedy because of being overly sensitive, and I don’t want to be that way myself.
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That’s rather sad. It’s a movie, it’s not real life. Everything doesn’t have to end up fair and perfectly equal. Jeez, how many movies have we all seen with women portrayed as victims, and men as the heros? And one can look around the world and still see massive discrimination towards women who are treated as property with very few rights. Now that’s something a person ought to be disturbed about, not a make believe movie.
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Going to see Barbie next week at the “bougie” theater nearby. Assigned seats and wine for purchase. 
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Are you going to wear pink??
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Heck yeah! Lol! Found my pink purse and pink vintage Valentinos with bows. 
Mr. B is NOT dressing up as Ken.
That’s unfortunate. It might actually be a good movie for her boys to see (if they are of the appropriate age) and discuss. Could be a teaching moment.
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