Ashley Westfall

This was a beautiful set with a good cast, fun music and huge potential. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. I watched at the previews and thought it was going to be a cute coming of age story for a girl who was struggling with growing up, feelings of inadequacy etc, who collides with a Barbie in the real world. I thought she would project her insecurities onto the Barbie who would in turn show her the ideas that Barbie intended to promote, and that that those ideas are available for the girl to claim and embody in reality. Barbie would learn about the value of changing, aging and struggling. They would both grow stronger and more self actualized in the process ultimately causing them both to become more"real". I thought it was going to be an inspiring and uplifting girl power type movie sprinkled with lots of pink and cute nostalgic toys. When I left the movie I felt bad. I think I felt bad for a myriad of reasons one of which is because the portrayal of men in the film. They were all very stupid and superfluous and had no altruism at all. That isn't my experience of men. Another theme was that we are living in an absolute patriarchy where women are unable to thrive versus the world Barbie inhabits which is an absolute matriarchy where men are unable to thrive. It seemed like a bad move to suggest that men have been in power and it's terrible so it's our turn now to make things terrible. If the goal of feminism is to enact revenge, that's not a goal I want to get behind. IF you were taking the position that women are better than men, wouldn't it be a better message I say that when we get the power it's better for everyone, including men? I think we should steer away from pushing other people down to promote ourselves and instead look toward a collaborative future. We all need each other. There was an overall preachy feeling to the movie and I think that people will know when something feels off. It's easy to like the movie because it's entertaining, but there are points of unease that are hard to name. A friend I saw the film with had said that she felt like she was expected to agree with basic premises and then they built upon that, like since A is true B must follow. But the truth is that A isn't true. So there's dissonance there. That said, there were some very cute dance routines and funny parts in the movie that I enjoyed. I would let my daughter see this movie because I think it's important to be exposed to different ideas and then to have a discussion on how we feel about those ideas and which parts we want to keep and which parts we can disregard. Overall I'm glad I saw it but I wouldn't encourage anyone else to pay theater prices for it. Just wait for the stream. I consider myself a feminist, but I'm the kind of feminist who thinks it's okay to love and respect men while expecting love and respect in return. I think that's the majority of people And I feel happy about that.