Barbie vs Stanley Kubrick 💋
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- Опубліковано 25 бер 2024
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Hi, Film Bro Barbie! Let's talk about the many references to the work of Stanley Kubrick that pop up in the Barbie movie! Greta Gerwig uses his films, particularly 2001: A Space Odyssey, to comment on all kinds of stuff! Also, Kubrick LOVED the cinematic grammar of commercials!
Thanks you to@Princess_Weekes for lending me her voice!
Chapters:
5:26 The Curvy Monolith
8:37 Barbenheimer: But for Reals
19:33 Evolving Past Stanley Kubrick
30:33 Barbie in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
33:32 Mubi Ad
34:22 Closing Thoughts
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Movies referenced:
Barbie (2023)
The Stepford Wives (1975)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Dr Strangelove (1964)
The Shining (1980)
Zoolander (2001)
2001: A Space Travesty (2000)
The Curse (2023)
Clueless (1995)
Fifty Shades Darker (2017)
Lolita (1962)
Man of La Mancha (1972)
GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)
Little Women (2019)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Twilight: New Moon (2009)
Ladybird (2017)
Soarlis (1972)
Frances Ha (2012)
Select footage and photos curtesy of Getty Images
Select footage and photos courtesy of Storyblocks
Additional music and sound effects by Epidemic Sound
Vintage Barbie Ads sourced from these UA-cam channels:
/ @thetapekeeper
/ @barbiecollectors
/ @annainca
/ @inferiorcommercials
/ @jemz.archive .
No Name
/ @nostaigiajunkie
This video is part of the Maggie Talks About Movies series - Фільми й анімація
Now I'm digital Barbie. I live in the computer beep boop
Meep morp, zeep
13:16 ever since i was a child i hated shirts with logos
First other person im hearing that actually says " why would you be an advertising bilboard for a company " and i love it !
Bzzz click click beep!
So, are we saying "Self-actualize, Martha!" from now on, or was it a one-time thing?
I'm a rock...
I was following until the suggestion that Ben Shapiro is an adult.
He's a bitter baby who still has grudge against 'liberal' Hollywood because of his failure as screenwriter
Consider the category “mmm adult baby” 💪 🚽
@@chaosvii I think the technical term is "man baby".
@@chaosviiWell, he's an aged baby, at least. 😆
@@chaosvii haha, I understood that rmeference!
After a lifetime of dudebros badly explaining Kubrik at me there is something almost emancipatory about hearing MMF's genuine insights on the topic.
Its feels like intellectual pegging.
I just wish I could be (intellectually) pegged by MMF more often!
It's almost like dudebros have no fucking idea what they are talking about and should never be trusted.
Definitely not a theme...lol
It's so rewarding when a movie reference reinforces the themes rather than just referencing a classic just cause you can.
We had a Shakespeare professor who told us once, "The Tragedies were used to help the audiences attain catharsis, but it was the Comedies that helped teach audiences things they didn't already know... by building upon that which they might have already suspected, but didn't have words for." That was kind of the feeling our family had when watching Barbie.
I recall a (rough) quote from (I think) The Illuminatus! trilogy; "When you hear the truth it makes you laugh. When you understand it, it makes you cry."
Even as a het-cis male, that story about your sister hit home.
I remember being into Mighty Max and wanting Polly Pockets as well because they were compatible and why wouldn't my male figures want to visit the zoo or other such options not available in the "boy toy?" Every Mighty Max came with Max, but Polly Pockets would give me new characters to play with.
That my father and grandfather were appalled by this was purely confusing at age 4-5.
That also blew my mind. They literally fit together. No reason to not mix and match
Yes! They're exactly the same, and they're freaking cool!
I have a giant GI Joe collection, but there are only 6 women figures. 494 men, 6 women. There are literally more pets in the Joe universe than women.
Cis gay here but never played with "girly" toys, but I always wanted to play with Polly Pockets because I always thought the compactness was interesting and sparked my curiosity in engineering. Too afraid to ask for them lol
As an 80s - early 90s boy, I always enjoyed watching JEM way more than GI Joe. I could sense the military indoctrination a mile away, which even as a 7 year old felt subconsciously gross to me. Aside from that, JEM had cool music videos with catchy songs, so there was really no contest. I was teased mercilessly.
As a trans woman I can't express how much I love you for offering to play Barbies with your sister.
Came here to say the same. I had a neighbor who let me play
As a 12yo my brother bought me a GI Joe for Christmas and (I really would have preferred a Barbie) and my military grade dad blew up and demanded he return it to the store. A doll, regardless of it's provenance was verboten. I kinda wish my brother never mentioned it to me, he even showed it to me and I cried like crazy before he returned. it.
@@berliozophileBut GI Joe isn't a "doll", it's an "action figure." 😉
Totally jealous of her sister. Mine wouldn’t share her Barbies even though I wanted to play, so my parents bought me a Ken. I didn’t want to play after that.
@@Aquatendo Not Kenough?
I can really recognize that childhood moment where a child clearly wants to play with a certain kind of toy that they are discouraged from playing with due to their genitals. I'm glad your sister is able to be herself instead of being miserable.
Yeah, for me, it was a Doctor Who toy. Specifically, replica of Sarah Jane Smith's Sonic LIPSTICK. Ma winced at the prospect. I got The Tenth Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver, instead.
I sort of had this with Beyblades, but to a much lesser extent.
@@professordetective807saying it like this really gives the Screw-Driver a whole other meaning
when i was
This moment really resonated with me, too. When I was 9 years old, my female friends were all into Sanrio characters-Hello Kitty, the ducks, the frog and etc.-and I was afraid to go into the Sanrio store at the mall because I assumed it was too "girly." Then my best friend (who not incidentally ended up coming out as a trans woman years later) rolled her eyes at me and told me to just do it because who cares? In retrospect I know she was just fed up with my handwringing, and a boy with a more toxic peer group might've had a harder time, but I remember that being such a freeing moment. I loved my Ahiru no Pekkle rubber stamps.
oh shit, i didn't know barbie had beef with kubrick.
Thanks for picking up on the blink-and-you'll-miss-it pox blankets remark.
I (indigenous American) watched this with my asian gf (who always picks up on even quasi-racist remarks in movies) and was surprised when this otherwise fun movie casually used the genocide of the indigenous.
Imagine if a family movie was like "Or the Jews going to Auschwitz, they had no defenses against the gas!"
Its honestly frustrating at how easily people use indigenous Americans (US and Canada) as the heel of a joke or punch down (cuz we ALL own casinos!! HA HA HA GET IT?!?)
No one has immunity to Cyclon B.
Aren't there any family friendly films with nazi references? Calling an antagonist a nazi or hitler?
That line, as casually as it was delivered, was in no way meant to be funny though. It was delivered in the middle/end of a well-made point-ladden rant about what happens when people in/with power/knowledge exploit and abuse those people without. Which I think is an important message I agree with.
Even Indiana Jones said, 'I hate Nazis'.
I don't know if it's better but the line does specify the 1500s, so I don't think it's a reference to small pox blankets being used for genocide since that happened in 1785 during the siege of Fort Pitt. I took it to be an allusion to the introduction of small pox devastating populations across what is today Latin America and how that is often thought to have made the establishment of the Spanish empire much easier.
@@raptorama7I’ve thought about it, and I don’t think it’s better.
Canada is horrendous to native people...ongoing genocide. I live on Georgian Bay and see it first hand nearly daily.
Great video as always, Maggie! As a heterosexual cis white man, Barbie gave me a lot to think about. Something interesting that I noticed was that last year, insecure men are getting angry over a Disney Princess movie and a Barbie movie. I've been wondering why they care this much about movies that are made for little girls and women but not for them.
Then I remember that in Barbie, Ken feels angry at Barbie for not paying attention to him, so he invades Barbieland and makes it into his own "Kendom".
He and the rest of the Kens could have just found his own place, but instead invaded Barbie Land for themselves. I think it symbolizes that as men, we take out our aggression and anger on women by trying to dominate them and take their space. We shame them for their taste in movies, we shame them for their taste in music, we shame them for their way of being, we shame them for basically everything. We force them to become our own idealized version of them. To the point where they forget who they were, because we took their identity away from them. Because we’ve been taught that the only way to build ourselves up is to tear others down. Including women.
To my fellow Ken’s out there, there’s nothing wrong with wanting your own “Mojo Dojo
Casa House". We all want that. But we shouldn’t have to tear down Barbie’s Dream House to build it.
This is exactly it
How did Ken invade Barbieland? He was a part of it. Ken was made to have nothing but be there for the gaze of Barbie. They did not even have equal representation as well. Notice the snip at the end which ignores that there are 4 women on SCOTUS but not one Ken is on the Barbie Court. Oh but they will give them some minor spots. Minor?
To recap. The Ken doll made by Mattel was not made for boys but as an accessory to Barbie. He got no house, no car, nada. Again, his SOLE purpose was for the gaze of Barbie.
Now let us reverse this and it is now Ken is the prime doll and Barbie is made for his gaze. Ken has a house, a boat, a car, etc. It is Kenland. Kens now rule and Barbies drool.
Would you see this as BS and sexist? Would you object to a Kenland where the Barbies are subservient to the Kens and have no power or possessions?
If Barbie followed Ken to the real world and learned of women's liberation, then came back and changed Mojo Dojo
Casa House to Barbie Dreamhouse, would you be telling the Barbies to go off and create their own land, or would you demand the Kens give them EQUAL representation and to SHARE. When a Ken tells them they cannot be a member of the Ken Court as women are not equal in the real world, would you stand and say BS, there are FOUR female supreme court justices in the real world and then tell that Ken to take his minor roles and shove them up is no holed arse?
@@DevinMacGregor you were so close to getting the point… You clearly know Ken was created for Barbie. They live in BARBIEland. Kens are essentially accessories. The whole point of Ken’s arc was for him to find meaning and figure out who he is outside of being Barbie’s boyfriend. By overtaking Barbieland and trying to win over Barbie’s attention, Ken is still trapped in the role created for him. So yes, Kens should find their own places, where they can finally enjoy horses because patriarchy is not all about horses so it sucks anyway.
And you know how long it took for women to get into the Supreme Court? For how long women were denied education and the right to own properties? Equal Credit Opportunity Act was only passed in 1974. Kens could start in minor positions of power in one day by simply asking President Barbie? Must be nice. The narrator even spelled it out: “Well, the Kens have to start somewhere. And one day, the Kens will have as much power and influence in Barbie Land as women have in the Real World.” You’re bemoaning the injustices Kens suffer, not recognizing women suffered the same or worse in the real world (Kens don’t and will never have to deal with abortion rights issues. They may be ignored by Barbies, but they are not subjugated to serving Barbies. At least Ken does beach). Patriarchy hurts everyone. We have to actively work to break down this harmful system. That’s the point.
@@DevinMacGregor feeling more sympathy for fake ken dolls than for real life women is wild. in the context of barbieland, which is an obvious parallel to the patriarchy, the kens are supposed to represent WOMEN to some extent (up until the point they create a violent counter-patriarchy).
all the hypothetical unfairness you're bemoaning is literally part of the point that flew right over your head.
@@DevinMacGregor You were so close...
I loved the Space Odyssey opening because it immediately framed the movie for me as one about Barbie as a Literal Monolith, and cemented the idea of her journeying from an abstract concept into personhood.
Feminism 101 isn't really a negative, in a movie broadly aimed at a culture that still doesn't have that great of a handle on the basics of Feminism. Great video, as usual.
I agree. I mean, Feminism 101 is only bad to people who opperate at levels above the 101 level.
And it's only bad to them because they forgot that something else was *their* version of Feminism 101. Like we *all* start at 101. Don't dismiss a new view of 101 cuz you don't need the 101. Enjoy the new take.
Yeah, especially when you have movies that use subtext to make more poignant points but then people just go "Red pill in matrix is when you hate women"
once I got over the reality that the film would always be inherently limited in how deeply it can challenge social norms just by virtue of being a capitalist vehicle of both Mattel and Hollywood, I was able to really enjoy it as a film. it needed an extra 15-20 minutes of development for some of the plot lines to really hit, but a lot of it was cathartic as much as it WAS Feminism 101, and some of it (the more existentialist undertones) was downright touching. I watched it with my mom and we both really enjoyed it!
@@K.C-2049 why would you expect it to be more than feminism 101?
One of the things that's so frustrating about barbie discourse is how people will watch it and say 'that Barbieland utopia was really bad' like this was a hot take and not literally the text. Like, you don't say?
EDIT: I don't love Barbie btw. Just think discussing my thoughts on it are hard when people are soooo quick to assume Greta is too stupid to understand her own movie
now, what’s said in that comment? that they said is the peak of terrible media literacy.
As the inimitable Garth Marenghi said: "I know writers who use subtext, and they're all cowards."
Honestly has the same energy as people criticising Wakanda in Black Panther for not actually being a perfect African utopia and that they were hypocritical for ignoring the suffering of other black people outside Wakanda and being isolationist…
…when that was literally the entire goddamn point the first movie was conveying throughout the story. 🤦🏻
@@Brianna-eo8nu Ish. The response the movie endorses to solve the problem--'cultural centers' instead of a war of liberation--is a massive crux of the criticism. Wakanda remains a monarchy, its economy remains as it is, the CIA is a good guy uninterested in plundering the last uncolonized country in Africa, and Barbies apparently vote out a system they didnt vote in.
Well, I think you're creating a bit of a strawman. I think the criticism is that even in the end, Barbieland's evolution is to just an oppressive matriarchy, and it wasn't played for commentary. The ways in which Barbieland is portrayed as non-Utopian have to do with the ways the Barbies are still worried about living to unrealistic standards but they are okay with mistreating the Kens all the way to the end of the film.
This is by far my favorite Barbie commentary. The part where you talk about rejecting femininity as a child in order to be treated as a human being kicked me straight in the heart. ❤
MMF's videos always hit me in the feels. Love her work.
Before the video: idk this seems kind of like reaching
5 minutes in: Kubrick is the main influence and subtext of the film
This is one of the best videos on explaining WHY the Barbie movie worked and WHY it's daft to have a list of every Mattel IP made into a movie.
+1
I was a Hot Wheels kid, have a huge collection, they should hire me as an expert consultant.
Barbie is the Iron-Man of Mattel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
@@jesustovar2549Which property do you think will be the 2008 Hulk?
Moral of the story: trust the artists, fuck the IP.
@@tonimashdane33498 hear, hear 📢
"achy but good" is when i cried. _36 yr old cismale_
I was a the singular guy invited to a bachelorette party when we went to see this movie. That scene and America's monologue made me unable to breathe. 10/10 would have feelings again
For me it was "I know it" and the "What was I made for" montage moments.
I'm 62, straightwhitecis, & _I_ cried myself silly, too!
I cried too. The boy sitting next to me turned to me and said something like, "don't cry, it's a happy ending. Barbie got to be a real person like she wanted!" Which made me cry harder. Thank you stranger kid for making me more of a mess in public. 😅
I get it, if I had interviewed Walter Murch I would also brag about it any time I could.
I too would geek out if I interviewed an editor as legendary as him.
Where is the MMFish Murch Merch? A missed opportunity.
@@euansmith3699 To quote a movie edited by Murch, I like to think that Maggie would say this
“I looooove this job”.
@tonimashdane33498 I've been an editor for 20+ years. I've met many celebrities and I usually dont care, but I'd geek out over meeting Walter Murch.
I have been resistant to seeing Barbie and consuming media responding to it. I'm not sure why I clicked this video but I did and I'm glad I did. As a 41 year old cis het white man I felt skewered (gently, thank you) by your spot-on Kubrick observations and I found myself questioning why I've gone out of my way to miss such a culturally significant film. I think the answer is pretty complex blah blah blah but probably it's that I don't want to be told by a woman that I'm not a good enough feminist and the idea of every person needing to do the work to self actualize is kind of very scary in a world that is often made for my comfort. Anyway I'm going to watch the movie now so thanks for that. And thanks for the fantastic essay. Top tier UA-cam. I look forward to seeing you around here.
Ironically, I found I had to man up and take the roast, but it was both entertaining and thought provoking.
it's really interesting to conceptualise how white men are just not historically accustomed to 'being scrutinised' like...every other group of people on earth. that everyone else has to toughen up against the systematic vitriol the world has in store for them, while you get to live in a fragile, entitled haze of unawareness.
idk wish you goodness in your human journey. but something seems unfair and ironic about everyone having to do emotional labour for white men (yet again) by repressing and minimising our understandable resentment/critique, because of your fear of introspection.
Hearing your formative memory about your sister absolutely warmed my heart. I'm a cis het man who was bullied severely for playing with Barbies as a kid and who threw an absolute fit at 3 years old because I was forced to wear a tux when I wanted a dress. So hearing that affirmation and love for your sibling meant so much.
The ending montage is genius. I remember when Billie Eilish performed "What Was I Made For" on SNL and instead of the montage from the movie playing behind her, it was a montage of home movies and moments from the SNL cast members' lives, which had me, an (ostensibly) straight, cis man absolutely WEEPING
"It's just horses all the way down" that is the best line I heard in quit a while. You always put a smile on my face.
I went into the theatre with no idea what would happen but the minute i saw little girls playing like the monkeys of 2001 i burst into laughter and loved every cinematic parallel in the movie
this vid is so on point that i have nothing constructive to add. so i'll just say: at a recent comic con, i saw a 5 year old boy dressed as Allan and casually saying "Hey Allan" as they went by caused both him and his mom to light up
This video is literally perfectly timed in my life. I watched Barbie two weeks ago with my two boys, and we all went and watched a showing of 2001 (one of my favorite movies) this Saturday for my birthday. In fact, just yesterday I played the Barbie opening on youtube for my boys again to show how Greta parodies the 2001 opening. Get out of my head Maggie!
I remember I had a best friend in kindergarten who was a boy and had the biggest Barbie collection I had ever seen; tons of rare, cool, unique dolls that no one else had (I remember very specifically a super detailed McDonalds one with all the 80s McDonalds characters on the playset, maybe). He loved them, and I thought that it was really cool that his parents saw that love and encouraged his interest. Other kids thought he was weird for loving dolls, but he was unabashedly himself. We lost touch, but I occasionally think of him very fondly. Whatever they're up to, I hope they're doing well.
I never would have made any sort of connection with Tarkovsky unless you had pointed it out, thus furthering my newfound interest in Tarkovsky thanks to this and the "Stalker/Loki" video.
"Cheap meat for the robo-rex to eat."
This is going to stay with me for a long time.
The one for me was "This microscope is COVERED in semen"
That's a powerful story about your sister. It really highlights how ingrained both gender roles are to kids and how early trans kids know they're trans. Or at least that they're interested in "girl stuff" in this case.
Watching the video, not finished, but just wanted to first thank you for shouting out Jessie and my video on the film at the start, and also how much I relate to that story about your sister. My younger sister loved Barbies, I have probably watched Princess and the Pauper 60+ times because she always wanted it on. I knew I could not say I liked or wanted anything like that. I think one of the reasons thos film stung for me was because it echoed the denial of my femininity that those experiences had. Of knowing I was not supposed to like and not allowed to want to play with something like Barbie because I was not supposed to want to be a woman. Not to reiterate Jessie and my points to much, but having the film end the way it did, it not understanding how Barbie's response to the catcalling would result in horrific transphobic violence and other elements showed me that I am still not being considered even in this film's attempt at taking about what women and girls are allowed to want.
Addition: All the stuff about " the less girly I acted, the more people treated me like a human being...the more I felt less like myself." is also extremely relatable.
💖💖 I really appreciate your and Jessie's perspective. I didn't really "see" myself in the film either, but i did see a lot of my family and friends in it, and I think that distance helped me enjoy it more.
@@MaggieMaeFishyeah I cant enjoy the film myself, but as I discussed in the video, I can appreciate it through the eyes of my mom for example. I'm glad she and others got something out of it.
Thanks for making this video! You articulate a lot of thoughts I've had about the irony of the Barbie movie being perceived by many as too frivolous or commercial to be a "good movie", and when it was framed against a "boy movie" about an ACTUAL atomic bomb, Barbie was more controversial.
I was at a small film festival recently where I was the only female director that attended, and when asked by someone what my role was on the film, he was visibly surprised. This isn't to say that I think festivals and awards owe anyone anything, I don't really care about the Oscars, but just in general, in everyday life, it's crazy that people are still surprised when women have thoughts, ideas, skills, or are like.... humans.
Also love a surprise Ursula K. Le Guin reference thrown in! I kinda felt like the movie was at fault before for putting Ken's story and giving him so many of the funny lines, and all the songs, so that he became an audience favorite, but this totally reframes that as him having the more masculine POV storyline, which we see as being the default, where Barbie just has a different, more collectivist arc, less familiar for audiences to recognize.
the framing of barbie's narrative as more collectivist and equally important is nice. and she was really the heart and soul of the movie for me. but we still have to consider that the unconscious need to center, cater to and coddle men's feelings/egos/perspectives is at the root of why ken's character occupied the position he did. i mean C'MON we should have gotten a high femme, feminist remix of barbie girl.
and think about it, even with the effort greta obviously mad to potray the kens in a sympathetic light, men across the political spectrum still felt uncomfortable. imagine if ken wasn't even present at all or if his role was severely reduced or if the impact of his cruelty on her had been more explicitly depicted?
I hope your sister gets to have all the Polly Pockets she wants now. The good ones from when we were little that were actually small enough to fit in a pocket, ideally.
barbie, le guin and solaris in one video??? and also it made me feel very nice feelings and made me think a bit, meaning it's simply amazing
Jesse: Barbie is actually about Stanley Kubrick and his impact on Cinema
Walter: what?
Jesse: Yeah so while the homage to 2001 is very direct, the film is littered with references. Greta uses these references to critque the masculine worldview that cinema has been in and puts a feminie lense on top.
Walter: Jesse, What the fuck are you talking about?
JK, love this video. out of left field but great analysis
Why am I reading this with Jesse and Walter's voices?😂
Before the Barbie movie came out, I thought it was going to be a metaphor for how girls being brought up with Barbie are taught they can be anything (while of course, being feminine), and then they grow up and realize that not only they are restricted in every field (think about how many times you were told a field was "not really for girls"), but also that being feminine is BAD. And then you have to untangle all those ideas and feelings until you find out what is really your thing and how you want to express your gender. And I was right! I really enjoyed your perspective and how you expressed these ideas, loved it!
19:07 - this is a reference to the movie Being There (another Peter Sellers movie) - it plays during the scene when Chance the Gardener goes outside for the first time and sees the "real world"
Yup! It can be both!
@@MaggieMaeFishWhat?! A Metaphor can be about more than two things at once?!!!! 🤯
Barbie sounds like a real dividing line between Boomer/Silent Generation women who participated in Second Wave feminism vs. the Generation X women who participated in Third Wave feminism in the 1990s. When I was a freshman in college in 1990, I remember so many women who would confess to being in conflict with their Second Wave feminist moms over whether they could have Barbie.
can’t believe the curse got a mention it’s genuinely so good
I loved that she shouted it out, but I was so sad that with that single shot alone it's still a massive spoiler
I wont lie when I came to know about how they just threw Frida Kahlo's lifetime's work out the window and just used her image as another product, and made her doll the same 'feminine' and 'attarctive' way other barbies look like and sold it as a celebration for 'women's empoerment', that fucking hit a chord in me. Like wtf? How do you just erase all her lifetime's works on experimentations with gender and expression and the social taboos that come with it like that? Like what are you even celebrating about her at that point? And she was a staunch communist too. You selling her distorted image for profit like that? That is just some GTA level satire.
I know why your sister wanted to collect Polly Pocket. Those rubber clothes were SO satisfying to chew on
It took me way too long to notice the knife pin on Barbie Fish's dress.
Goth Barbie is so edgy! 😍
This was great. I loved the Barbie movie, found it just genuinely hysterical while still never letting you forget what this whole thing is about.
But your comment on that line about the Native American genocide as a kinda awkward explanation of something in the plot also reminded me of how this movie and Poor Things also had a lot in common, but from very different angles.
Pair that double act with the Lesbian Trilogy of Bottoms, Drive-away Dolls, and Love Lies Bleeding, and it's been one hell of a year for women in cinema. And an honorable mention to Lisa Frankenstein, too.
not to mention Justine Triet making the absolute BANGER Anatomy of a Fall.
This actually helped me understand Barbie’s individual character arc a lot more- a major component that was missing for me when I first saw the movie. You compelled me to re-watch, and it was definitely more satisfying the second time.
I love the idea of the Monolith as a "semantic void" with endless potential significance.
so very 20th century modern artist. love it
*grabs all the popcorn*
I'm _here_ for this.
honestly the thing that sold me on Barbie was the 2001 bit at the beginning
So good!
Also: Space Barbie's space suit is killer and I'm tired of pretending that it's not pimp as hell.
The story about your sister hit home for me. I'm not trans, but I was a *very* femme little boy who knew he was supposed to push it back and butch it up.
I also wanted Polly Pockets. So badly, in fact, that I straight up stole one from my cousin and played with it in secret. I was *terrified* that somebody would find out.
Later on, I realized I was gay, and the same cycle happened again. Indulging, but hiding with every bit of effort I had.
It's been almost 20 years, but I still remember that fear. I knew that I needed to be a man, despite the fact that I was in *kindergarten.* But I didn't feel the things I was "supposed" to feel.
"Until next time, save Martha. But she doesn't need saving, because she just self actualized, baby."
Is this a tagline you’ve been using that I never noticed or was it just for this episode? Because either way, that was pure poetry.
Watching this over on Nebula and it's Gr8. The clip of Shaprio suggestively shaking the bomb and the barbie is Top Notch, and I love that you took the time to correct criticism of the ending montage; ppl looking at that and thinking it was "b-roll" is crazy
I love the Kubrik rubric in the thumbnail.
Also, I have decided it is fine that so many women want to cosplay as blonde. Let everybody cosplay what they want to. I am currently cosplaying as a man who has forgotten where he put his clippers for the last six months.
The Deodato arrangement of the 2001 theme is also a reference to Being There, and Ken's initial journey is very Chauncey Gardener-esque.
Our nearest relatives don't seem to include things for carrying other things in their toolkits. And yet, they are also 'gatherers'. What they aren't is animals that travel long distances, which is what would have made 'bags' especially useful. The question is when in our evolution tool use arose. Observations of chimps and bonobos suggest it was before we became long distance walkers. BTW, non-weapon simple tools aren't simply 'bags' but include sticks for digging up tubers and rocks to break open hard seeds.
Babe, wake up! A new Maggie video just dropped!
This was delightful! I didn't realise there were so many Kubrick references in the movie. After I heard about how he treats his workers I've avoided his work.
Just watched this on Nebula, came here to throw this a like. 🙂
barbie directed by Stanley Kubrick would actually be a top 10 film of all time
He'd have gotten nominated for Best Director, but he wouldn't have won.
Cut to Stanley chasing Margot around set with an axe to get a good shot of her crying.
Kubrick would’ve ruined it he’s a chomo
Wes Anderson Barbie would be fun to experience.
I think I'd rather see Greta Gerwig's take on 2001.
I thought it was the most Spielberg-like movie anyone, including Spielberg himself, has made in quite some time. And you know who fuckin' LOVED Spielberg movies?
Stanley Kubrick.
Mel Brook's History of the World pt 1 also did the apes and the monolith thing. It, Clueless and Barbie are the only movies I've seen do it. I've not seen the others you mention.
You always say what's lurking in the back corners of my brain. I understood all of the references, just never thought about them until you brought them up. Heading to Patreon....
I remember my 9th birthday party, where one of my friends jokingly said that I played with Barbies, to which my response was, “How did you know?” Apparently he didn’t, he was just making a derogatory joke assuming it wasn’t true, and then my friends were all making fun of me and I was so ashamed. The truth was, though, that I just played with my sister a lot, and we’d combine our dolls, stuffed animals, and action figures to do random shit. What started as a way of bonding with my sister became a point of embarrassment for me, and we just stopped playing after that.
The message of the marketing for this movie seems to be that I needed to see this film because it’s a film one needs to have an opinion on
But I outsmarted them.
I didn’t bother seeing the film and I’ll just borrow Maggie’s opinions instead
Take that Hollywood!
Kubrick references are a joke reference these days too. Even Kung Fu Hustle did their own version of the famous lift doors scene from the Shining.
You’ve grown to be my favorite video essayist. You brought up what I haven’t heard brought up a ton in other Barbie videos. Trans women and Barbie. Your story of you and your sister, meant so much to hear omg. I’m a femme trans girl whose only realized I’m a girl for almost 4 years now. And the way I dress up myself, on numerous occasions has been very hyper femme. How I can see my own femininity is through the visual of a bubbly autistic fairy girl or a pastel princess. But, I’m still pre estrogen. Even tho, I’d like to start, I still don’t have it. And I still see too much of my masculine facial features whilst in my makeup and pink dress. And I hate seeing that still masculine face. And I still see online people putting down femininity. Saying it’s awful and what feeds the patriarchy. In particular hyper feminine trans women like me and in particular Dylan Mulvaney are told by so many that were insulting women with our view of womanhood. When that’s just how I view my own womanhood not womanhood as a whole. I’ve heard the word “Woman face” online whenever I see new hatred in the comment sections of other hyper feminine trans women’s posts. And it makes me cry. Largely cuz thats internalized in me that me being a woman is hurting woman. And it makes me hate myself more. The more I transition, the more I truly see that I’m naturally feminine and it makes me happy, but at the same time, the more I see that I think society as a whole just see femininity as weak. Inferior. Which…when I thought I was a boy for 23 years, things like movies and people made me happy, but I never made me happy. Trying to present like boys that surrounded me, made me feel weak. I’ve actually felt more powerful by embracing my femininity, I now recognize my strength. As you said here, many people have looked at the Barbie movie different ways, I look at the movie (Like I’ve been doing with many movies) as a trans allegory. I don’t look like stereotypical Barbie, but I related to Barbie. She felt that she knew everything about herself and her world. But later in her life looking like an adult, she realizes she doesn’t know anything about herself or the real world. That so far has been my exact trans experience. My favorite scene actually that I never see anyone talking about enough, is the scene where Gloria is doing Barbie’s makeup preparing for her date with Ken, and their talking. And Gloria provides wisdom to her. That portrayed so far my favorite part of my womenhood. The many moments of my various best friends who are women like me, who’ve done my makeup given me their wisdom. Women connecting. It’s my favorite aspect of the animated Barbie movies I’ve gotten to watch as an adult as I missed out on them in my childhood. Wholesome connections between women. That’s what the movie showed me what Barbie actually means to me. She’s a messy friend. Anyways, god I’m so sorry this was long. I just felt to thank you for the video and your story about your sister meant the world. Okay thank you have a good day, week, and life. ☺️
Hang in there! You've discovered who you were meant to be, so don't let anyone put you down for it. And my experience is that there's always a lot more hatred online than there is IRL.
I've been lucky enough to get on estrogen, but I still haven't gotten very many effects from it. I'm terrified that estrogen isn't going to work on me, either because I'm "not trans enough" or because I waited too late to start.
I love being hyperfeminine and wearing girly pink dresses. Like you, I've been finding more confidence as I embrace my femininity.
I bought my first Barbie doll when I was experimenting with my gender in college. But I gave it away a year later, because I thought, "It's weird for a man to have a Barbie doll." So then I bought a new Barbie doll last year when the movie came out. It feels good, no longer trying to hide it.
@@electronics-girl Thnxies for the reply! It’s happy to hear you bough yourself a new Barbie! I hope they soon make a doll of Hari Nefs character. If they were smart, they’d release that for June
Greta's mom is so based, omg
That’s so revealing about the environment Greta grew up in. A cool mom but not in the Mean Girls way.
My Mom knitted the coolest Barbie clothes for me. I wish i.still had the patterns she used. Very late 60s.
Great video, I feel a bit silly how I missed most of the Kubrick references. I never considered this perspective. After I saw Barbie I was comparing it to Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. 😂
Ngl, as someone who is fascinated by Stanley Kubrick, the Scooby-Doo-logy is one of many cinephiles' guilty pleasures (including me, also let's talk about how beautiful Linda Cardellini is, she ignitiated something on me).
You know you’re a film bro when you always think about the theme from 2001 “Um, it’s called ‘Sunrise’, the opening from Also sprach Zarathustra.” I’m very fun at parties.
Side note, I really appreciate just how wholly the 2001 - A Space Odyssey tribute was done. It wasn’t just playing the music and shot similar, they really went out of their way.
Ok so I'm a 'film bro" who just finnished your video, I'm obsessed with Stanley Kubrick, being that said, I'm not the target audience of Barbie (and what is a target audience anyway?), your insights of 2001, Kubrick and Barbie are so well spoken, better explained than most takes I've seen from other youtubers criticizing Barbie. I would have never guessed the references to Lolita or Solaris, also happens that I rewatched Dr. Strangelove 5 times in fabruary, it's that rewatchable, probably Kubrick's most entertaining film.
Quick story: my mother grew up with Barbies, but as a grown up, she became more interested in science and history, so we went to see Oppenheimer instead of Barbie, she had absolutely no interest in Barbie until she watched in streaming and said it was fine, "Ryan Gosling steals the show", so we're more of Nolan team.
P. S: I grew up with Thomas the Tank Engine and even had toy of him, railroads included. I also grew with Hot Wheels, have a huge collection.
This was the video essay I was waiting for, this was all the thoughts I was having but couldn’t articulate
The crazy thing is that comedy and femininity go hand in hand. Personally speaking one of the most iconic movies portraying toxic femininity is "Mean Girls". This is a comedy. One of the most iconic movies to ever portray toxic masculinity is "Fight Club". It's a tragedy. Comedy has always been looked down on as the lesser form of art, but if done right, leaves you thinking. Tragedy doesn't do that. Tragedy leaves you feeling but not necessarily thinking. Comedy is the perfect realm for portraying femininity. The only obstruction would be our heightened sense of rejection.
Pretty much that. I hate when genres are viewed as lesser because if done right, it can be beautiful thing.
There’s a reason Kubrick did both tragedy and comedy.
Next, we need is a “KEN vs Sofia Coppola”!
And now "how Soffia Coppola would have directed Barbie?" She would have approved The Godfather reference, if that scene was about Ken explaining Star Wars, it would have still worked, BUT considering how Princess Leia was a precedent for strong female action heroes like Ripley or Sarah Connor, breaking the "damsel in distress" role (R. I. P. Carrie Fisher).
Going from Meredith Brooks to wicked witch cackle is *chef's kiss*
1:35 - That just makes the Kens’ stupidity even funnier, tbh.
Calling Kubrick the patron saint of film bros is hilarious 2:19
I always appreciate the analysis of these videos, and I just wanna make a quick comment that is not intended to be argumentative or invalidating:
As a male, I grew up thinking that men had little intrinsic value. Unless you make a bunch of money, you’re pretty much worthless. You’re interchangeable, and you could only hope to be considered valuable in the way that women were. The only possible way to be attractive as a man is to put on a suit. It always felt like the suit was the thing, and not the man. That is my experience, not intended to be a generalization, just a thought that was spurred from the discussion of this movie.
Wow. Where did you grow up that left you with that feeling? I grew up in the western world and it has been drummed into me since birth that I have no value at all except as either a man’s play thing or a man’s servant. Everything about men is validated and uplifted in our society, their values, their interests, their thoughts, their art, their writings, their contributions to society even their inane interests, hobbies and sports whilst everything considered feminine is scorned and devalued.
@@nicolajane7389 Well, you grew up as female, I grew up male.
For example, unless you are a VERY attractive man, it's unlikely you'll get any kind of compliment on your looks unless you are in a suit. Doesn't really matter too much what you wear.
If you ARE stylish, you're as likely to be told you're wearing a costume as you to be either ignored or given any kind of compliment.
If you do what's required of you, it's unlikely you will be given much of a compliment, either. After all, that's what you're SUPPOSED to do.
Even today, if you're in the dating world (not the best place to be as a 50+ man OR woman), you're expected to be "established" which is code for comfortably funded.
If you can't afford trips, a nice dinner for a first date with a STRANGER, and can't plan an entire evening, you may as well not bother.
Women may have to compete with unrealistic beauty standards and have to pay for makeup (and learn how to apply it like an artist), and go to a salon for a $100 haircut, but at least in L.A., it's increasingly unlikely to be able to go out on a first date without dropping $100 on your date (and in theory $100 on yourself unless you want to look cheap).
Unless you have literally no shame or scruples and are willing to lie and pretend you "forgot your wallet."
I'm not saying every woman is that way, or that every woman realizes she does this, but men have to compete financially with each other.
Women say they want (and do want) someone who actually thinks about her needs, but in practice, you have to be extremely handsome or very wealthy to get past the "red flag" gauntlet.
@@nicolajane7389 Also, unless you're in sports or in a business that earns a lot of money, it is far harder as a cis hetero man to get validation.
But also, have you ever watched an action movie? Yeah, James Bond is pretty cool, and everyone loves him. But what about almost literally every other man? They are often just killed (hero or villain) without much of a second thought.
I didn't grow up in places like Texas or the south, where maybe boys were told they were great and would grow up to lead, and while I'm of Jewish descent, I didn't have a stereotypical Jewish mom who always said I was great.
Instead, I might get As in things and that was good, but I wasn't in sports really, and I wasn't very good at it.
I'm sure I wasn't told very often that I *couldn't* do things, but that's not the same as receiving praise, and as a teen, I definitely didn't get very much attention from anyone else.
@@nicolajane7389 Also, every single sitcom I ever watched (and I watched a lot of them) showed pretty much every man as being stupid and clueless. Jokes always about being a mess, being stupid, being irresponsible.
Exceptions were people like Andy Griffith, but they were fewer.
@@nicolajane7389 just to be clear, I don’t mean to sound like I’m whining about it or anything. Everybody has struggles, and I’m sure mine are less than other peoples, and I’ve been very fortunate to grow up in a nice place.
My only point of mentioning it was to demonstrate thatpeoples experiences even in the United States aren’t universal.
Uh actually the godfather is about gangsters
On its surface
@djstarsign i think you'll find its gangsters all the way down in fact
@@RychuAlolanThe world of the godfather actually exists on the back of another gangster
Naw it’s actually about medieval robots but whatever.
@@spuriousgeorge7233 ah yes, the Bigger Fredo theory
I related a lot to the anecdote about your sister. I'm a trans woman myself and while I never really cared about Barbie specifically, I remember how I felt about toys and media marketed to girls. A curiosity and a desire to engage, but at the same time feeling like I wasn't allowed to do so. That if I sat down to watch Totally Spies or picked up whatever pink toy was within arms reach, an adult would come to me and tell me I'd broken the rules, that I'd been Bad.
Also when you mentioned your sister, before you mentioned she was trans, I was hit by this sudden feeling of "oh her sister is trans! that explains so much!" The way you've talked about transgender issues --- especially involving transfeminine people --- is with so much more of a deep understanding than almost any cis person I'm aware of.
I want a supercut of everytime you say barbie in this video.
The bag. Wow mind blown. I'm a guy, I like guns and meat and a decent 4x4. I like the power of the gun. Hitting an object far away by the lightest finger press. The gun is power.
The bag. All the things that go into the bag. The bag being more foundational than the spear or club and gun is a wow idea to me. And I like the club spear and arrow. But without the bag, maybe they could not exist?
I'm today years old and almost 50 in human years. And this is the first time I heard the "bag theory". All the people who contribute to that bag. The ones left uncredited.
I quite like it and will think on it.
The holster is a bag. FYI. So is your pants. Which have pockets.
A bag and a club are topologically equivalent.
As a cis dude, I loved Polly Pockets as a kid and played with my sister. Tbh Polly Pockets are a GOAT toy, it's still a marvel to have a little house and little things to play with it. I appreciated your story about your sister. Now as a dad, I am quite mindful of letting my girls play with all variety of toys, not just gendered ones, but also not trying to bring shame to even those. I didn’t like the film as much as you because it was a bit basic in its themes for me but I can appreciate how it touched people to have a big blockbuster film dismantling toxic masculinity and discussing objectification to finally land on subjectivity and self-actualisation. Fantastic video essay as always!
Wonderful video. I love the counterpoint between the casual delivery of your brilliant insights and your meticulous editing of these clips. And I agree that Kubrick’s filmography is largely phallocentric, but that’s why it’s sublime when Alice gets the last word in Eyes Wide Shut. (And then there’s the yonic connotation of those signature one-point perspective shots …)
Every time you do the Mubi promo code I picture a person sitting on the end of a dock with a fishing rod, just **super** excited to catch something. MMMMMM Fish!
Thank you for sharing these stories from your girl hood. My girlhood was atypical, much like your sisters, but I found this all so relatable. You're sister is lucky to have you.
Ahhh!! I found this channel yesterday and have been binging ever since. this video is a wonderful and timely surprise for me 🎉 :)
I just watched Natalie's video last night, GOT_DANG incredible! as was yours! I'm a pansexual man, still battling the remnants of my own misogynist upbringing. When Barbie came out I had no real interest in seeing it. BUT I'm glad I did because it was funny and delightful. Honestly I was sold when the one Barbie made the crack about the Snyder cut 🤣 I recognized the Kubrick homage to 2001, but I didn't know there were so many others as well! This is why I rely on creators like you! Helps give a deeper more contextualized understanding of the media I consume, and media I should maybe consume! ❤🔥
My weird criticism of the Barbie movie is that the "real" world felt like a fake world and I spent most of the movie expecting an reveal at some point that the "real" world was itself a game that a child was playing.
There's already a movie about that starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, no, it's not Interstellar, it's called "Serenity", terrible twist btw.
Also, a famous hospital tv series ended like that, it was all the imagination of an autistic kid.
It WAS fake. Or at least not entirely the real world we live in. The whole Mattel segment is clearly surreal. I mean, the ghost of Ruth lives in a room for some reason. It’s all heightened into satire territory. The characters got there and out by rollerblading, so I don’t think we’re supposed to take it seriously.
Tbf, boys joining the Army as soon as they turn 18 is explicitly one of the twin purposes of the *GI Joe* franchise (alongside, obviously, action figure sales)
When I was younger, I loved being a girl. Pink was my favorite color. I loved big, frilly dresses, I loved brightly colored cartoons, and most of all, I loved dolls. I didn't really collect Barbie, but I absolutely loved Monster High. My favorite? Any pink doll. Every birthday & Christmas, My wishlist would be completely dolls. I would save up any money 10 y/o me could scrounge up. There was a point in which practically every weekend I'd be outside my apartment complex selling lemonade, raising money for whatever doll I wanted at that moment. I had dozens of different dolls.
But one christmas, my (very conservative) grandfather said something to me that really messed me up.
The only thing I had asked for that year was the Highschool playset. But instead, he got me a baby doll. I was really confused, as I never even mentioned baby dolls to him.
When I looked at him, confused, he said something that's been in the back of my head ever since.
"Girls your age shouldn't play with those monster sluts. You should play with baby dolls, not whatever those things you call dolls are."
I had never heard anything like that. I didn't even know what a slut was. And why did he say it like it was a bad thing?
My mom ended up chewing him out in the kitchen, but it didn't undo the damage those words did.
It broke my heart, and I stopped playing with dolls all together. I ended up donating all my monster high dolls.
10 years later, and I just started collecting dolls again. I suppose its healing my inner child a little bit.
My forever favorite was Sweet Screams Draculaura. She was my prized possesion. I would stare at her for hours, just... admiring her beauty. So when I found her IN BOX at my local thrift shop, I bought her immediately.
My grandfather created a self-hatred in me that I'm still working through.
When I saw Barbie in theaters, I think I was crying through the entire movie. I hadn't really acknowledged the damage my grandfather did to me that day, and this movie really made me realize I was the victim, not the villain.
Amazing. Maggie, you have a real gift for meta-textual analysis. From one lateral thinker to another, respect!
This wasn’t meant to be patronizing or ironic, btw. You are one of my favorite creators and I love your work!
Leftists can't even compliment each other without also explaining that for once, they're being genuine lol
Oh my god, that story about your sister unlocked memories for me. I can remember wishing i could have barbies like my sisters. They also had She-Ra toys while i got the He-Man ones, and I remember wishing I could play with the She-Ra ones and making up excuses like "Oh I don't really want to but you know, to play properly i just have to borrow those characters..."
Love the connection to Tarkovsky! Fantastic video as always!
Love the cackle and the analysis. It was great watching this in the theater and hearing the very mixed and very full audience cracking up. Had that kind of electric energy that makes the movies still worth seeing in person. I was dying during Ken's song and it was STILL a legitimately good song too.
Never expected Solaris mentioned on a Barbie analysis
The thing I love most about your work is that you keep teaching me new things about movies that I thought had already been analyzed to death.
Thank you!
I wasn't a big fan of the Barbie movie but I do see more value in it now. Your essay is terrific.
14:22 A primary-school friend lived near me. At her home she'd show her Barbies sometimes, or we'd play with them. A guy, I grew up unharmed - playing also with Legos, toy cars and trains, etc.
Love LeGuin. I read everything I could find of hers at the library but don’t remember her carrier bag idea. Thanks for this excellent video!
I love this! This is now my official “You didn’t understand Barbie, go watch this video” video.