Susan Signore-Smith

I enjoyed the scenery more than the theme. Margot Robbie is absolutely gorgeous...the "Perfect Barbie." The first 10 minutes of "Hi Barbie...Hi Ken" greetings continued ad nauseam. The next 20 minutes had my husband and I wondering if we should leave. But, since our daughter said we would enjoy the movie's theme, we persisted. There were several unnecessary, over the top features in the movie, such as the time travel sequence. However, my main issue with the theme was portraying the "Kens" as overly submissive, and the "Barbies" as a benevolent Matriarchy. This distorts the reality of our current human existence, in which not all women are submissive (except for those living in theocratic dictatorships) and few, if any, men rule as a benevolent Patriarchy. Patriarchy is pervasive among the majority of human societies and the Patriarchy's unwillingness to give up one iota of power and control is growing stronger and stronger. That four White Catholic men, one Black Catholic man and one White Catholic woman pre-ordained a future that puts women and their families at risk... medically, economically, emotionally, educationally, etc. when they decided that abortion was no longer our Constitutional right. This puts forth a society in which women's personal decisions and agency are no longer possible. It puts forth that reproductive healthcare decisions are no longer prescribed by medical professionals, but by right-wing politicians that have no license to practice medicine, no knowledge about women's bodies, pregnancy and the risks that often occur. And, it denies women’s rights to privacy, bodily autonomy, freedom of conscience, equality, practice one's own religion, non-discrimination. Sorry for the abortion rant, but I think this example sets the tone of our current existence. The Barbie movie missed the point in that their Matriarchal society was not initially portrayed as our current Patriarchy. She could have returned to living society and have seen the real living horrors many women experience under Patriarchal societies. We didn't need the mother search, and the silly executives. We needed a Barbie who shows us what a benevolent Matriarchy would be in contrast to our current Patriarchy. Do you think the little Barbie fans, all dressed up in pink understood the dialogue? I sure don't.