Yet the fact that they see no connection and nothing wrong with this disconnect is deeply disturbing. I can only hope they're just selling their souls for profit and not legitimately believing a completely illogical paradox
Oscillating between claiming to know everything and not understanding "the stuff what the left be" is a classic way of keeping your audience obedient, but also making the more ignorant of them feel OK that they don't understand anything either. Basically the "simple country lawyer" act.
I loved the way the Kens healed their dispute and came together was through an interpretive ballet dance, something often derided for being 'not manly and too feminine'. Through shedding these manly expectations and pressures they come together and are able to support each other
It's also based on the grease sequence ken saw when he arrived on the real world! It's very interesting how in the 70s a group of men dancing and singing about a car was seen as cool and nowadays most just see it as corny or ridiculous
@@rinina Going a bit deeper its also a nod to the costume and set from the dream sequence in Broadway Melody from Singing in the Rain. Gene Kelly is incredible. Billed as a manly man he sings and dances and does a lot of what is called too feminine now
I immediately noticed the Gene Kelly homage and was like, "Did Greta put this in here for me???" 🤩🤩 Hands down the best part of the movie, I love classic cinema
@@Biogrrrl If you watch the behind the scenes videos Greta loved the painting matte backgrounds from Golden Age films like Wizard of Oz, Singing in the Rain etc and she hired painters to make all the backgrounds in most of Barbieland in that style
But what if we tried a system where the power is not held by men or women, but by horses? I think The Barbie Movie really should have explored that idea. I, for one, welcome our new horse overlords. The Neightriarchy, if you will.
Thank you so much for saying that! The whole movie I was so mad because idk it just felt so unfair to the horses? Why did they not get to be the president or have their own mojo dojo casa house?
@@Dee-- I probably would if I was so self serious like you lol But clearly the punchline of the joke is simply to poke fun at the fact that nursing is a female dominated profession. It’s certainly not comedic gold by any stretch of the imagination, low hanging fruit if you will, but pretty harmless all in all. I will concede to you that they do repeat the joke multiple times throughout the movie which is complete overkill so I can see how it might turn stale real quick
Ironically that movie made me as a 6 or 7 year old disassociate nursing with femininity. Now I just see it as another vital healthcare position, no gender roles or expectations there!
...Except the point of the movie is that the people that ridiculed him are wrong and that he didn't join nursing because he wasn't good enough to be a doctor, but rather because he wanted to be a nurse. At this point you're complaining that antagonists exist in films because you felt personally attacked by the fictional character that was written to be wrong.
One thing that amused me during the film is to see the link made between horses and masculinity, while in France (can’t talk for the rest of Europe) horses are strongly associated with women. Shows how all of this is not a grand order, but just cultural.
though it is true that the sport practice of horse riding is often associated with women and girls, the animal itself is associated with more masculine things like knights and warriors, it is seen as a valiant and strong companion that carry them through various adventures, a sign of valor, strength and leadership, and sometimes nobility (i am French, btw)
Truly incredible how a movie that says "what if . . . we could solve the patriarchy . . . by making men feel more valued?" set so many conservatives a-froth.
Yeah I never understood the argument that Barbie somehow made men look weak. A message that men have value on their own as individuals and shouldn’t live only to chase after *or* oppress women is harmful to men? Shouldn’t that be empowering to them?
Exactly, anyone who thinks this movie is anti-men really lacks critical thinking skills. Personally, I found it made me much more sympathetic to men than anything else I've seen. Maybe because I'm a woman, all the Barbie stuff I already knew and understood, however, I felt Ken's story was very impactful. It wasn't subtle, it was literally showing how boys are isolated from getting support from each other and that they are not complete humans or real men without a woman, so their whole lives become a competition with other men to 'get' women. That's really sad. Of course, it's the patriarchy doing this to them, but apparently we can't talk about that :/
@@dropkgirl7157 Really? In most cultures, being a bachelor is just fine. But being a spinster is pathetic (and honestly makes life terrible in my country)
I think the thing that makes it difficult for many of us to see the male empowering, value-instilling messages within the movie is that so much of the conversation about men's misguided search for self-worth is communicated through humor, and even sometimes mockery. The Kens are made to look very silly and shallow while competing with each other, and while trying to earn the Barbie's love with guitar skills, over-explaining movies, and so on. And while those things undoubtedly do make us men look very silly and could be helped by greater self-awareness and self-worth, they also mostly stem from deep insecurity and deeply ingrained cultural messages; so to have them addressed/corrected in a format that plays upon those insecurities to portray men's issues as primarily humorous and fair game to make fun of probably pushes a lot of men away from hearing what would otherwise be a pretty readily accepted message about finding your worth in healthier places. I also want to clarify at this point that I'm not anti-Barbie movie and I'm not defending the cruel and mocking ways in which many men have retorted or attacked the movie and/or female empowerment in general; I just hope to explain one of the reasons I see for why men might find it difficult to see the positive messages for them.
@@dropkgirl7157 the movie was a role-reversal to me: Ken at the beginning portrayed women in our society, while Barbie portrayed men in our society (much more nuanced, of course). A woman's value at one point in time was completely determined by whether she was married; she couldn't own property or land, she literally had no voice by not being able to vote. Meanwhile men run the show without caring how much or how it would affect women (like the Barbies acted to the Kens). This is what boggles my mind, because it seemed so obvious, so having to explain how the movie wasn't attacking men, but making the attempt to get guys to put themselves in other people's shoes, was absolutely confounding. Essentially having to spell out for people: imagine if the Kens are all women, and the Barbies are men (before the introduction of patriarchy). I think the video addressed the confusing part of the Kens competing before patriarchy being introduced, which you mentioned in your comment, but Ken is much, much more in tune with his emotions pre-patriarchy than he was at any other point in the film (excluding the very end). The issue was that Barbie was dismissive of his emotions (much like how men are dismissive of women's emotions).
I think there's a pervasive misunderstanding of this film that the Barbie world is "meant" to be a utopia. But the rivalry between the Kens, and the very fact that Kens don't have a place in Barbieland except as a Barbie accessory, is meant to depict the fundamental injustice of inequality in any world, not just a patriarchal one. Of course, I say "meant," but it's always dicey to presume the intent of the writer. That's just what I took away from it. But I feel pretty confident in saying that Ken's insecurity in his place in the world was ultimately generated by the Barbie World, just as women's insecurity in their place in the real world is generated by patriarchy. Barbieland may not be a patriarchy, but it has the same problems. And I think it was clever of the film not to resolve this, even after acknowledging it. In the end, there will still be no Kens on the supreme court, let alone the Whitehouse (Pinkhouse?). It's considered progress even to let a second-class citizen like Weird Barbie have a place in the power structure. But Helen Mirren makes the final comment on this, saying that someday, hopefully, Kens will have as many rights as women do in the real world. So long as there's inequality in the real world, it will have its symmetrical mirror in Barbieland. I also think there's something important about the use of the Kens' irrational jealousies against them. Ultimately, empires tend to destroy themselves in exactly this way, for the very reason that patriarchy still doesn't make Ken happy, and of course, once he's conquered the Barbies, he has to project the cause of his unhappiness on someone else, because he's still not ready to accept that it's his own identity that's causing it. As a means of overthrowing the Kens, perhaps starting a war isn't the way. But turning bullies on one another has a way of weakening their power. I don't think it was a bad story choice. Just one man's opinion.
I don't think it's a reach given that the world starts out female dominated, and Ken's are second class. It's neutered to some degree because Barbie World would of course be much more PG or even G vs out reality - so the subjugation of men will be "not as bad" vs woman in our real world. Reversing things in the movie I think makes it clear. You have to worlds with dominate along sex, and both are bad - once FEELS less bad because its G rated, but it's not actually better.
@@xBINARYGODxconsidering the typical tropes of a toy's worst fate as not being played with and related to, the kens are living in their own toy version of hell and subjugation. It's G/PG rated, but Ken talks about being an accessory. Being relegated to no more than a purse, shoe, or at best a pet is pretty horrific
I think Ken’s character arc also supports this interpretation a lot. he struggles to find his own identity in a world focused on Barbies. he doesn’t know where he fits in aside from as an accessory to Barbie. In the end he realises that he is more than just an accessory, he doesn’t have to center his entire existence on Barbie. similar to how a lot of women go through a point of crisis when realising that they don’t have to center their existence on men, because then they need to find an identity for them self in a male cantered society
@DevelpmentandAnthropology according to a quick google search both the most dangerous country in the world (afghanistan) and the most peaceful country in the world (iceland) have slightly more men than women. so the obvious difference is that higher equality between men and women leads to more peace
Completely off topic, but with the second and third trait of the patriarchy, my mind went to one of my favorite movies, the devil wears prada. It's a heavy and interesting theme in the movie that Miranda was a woman of power, only able to gain the upper hand by qualities that are often considered masculine. Emotionless presenting, tough decisions. But the film interprets her as a villian, even though the protagonist herself stated if the roles were reversed, no one would have a problem. I think its important to realize the harm of this ideal for both men and women.
@@uchegbudivine6885 To not have emotion is to not have passion. To not have the drive to get out of bed in the morning and act on things. And when the so-called "strong" and "emotionally controlled" find their way into power, everyone is eager to point out how they gained it moreso than how they lost it, often at the mercy of their own insecurities.
The movie calls her a villain at first but later it shows how she has feelings and how much she had to sacrifice for her career. In the end she's the only one who appreciates Andy.
@@mimilook4347but she *is* a villain. Andy herself recognises at the end that she doesn’t want to live like Miranda, throwing all her loved ones and friends under the bus to succeed, and she ends up happier because of it.
I found it a bit of a lost opportunity to not have Ken also face harassment when Barbie and him go into the world in their 80s rollerblade outfits. The harassment women usually get is explicity s-xual with an undertone of violence. But as a gay man, I find the harassment I face to be a mirror image: I get threatened with explicit violence with an undertone of s-xual insecurity. It perhaps could have shown another reason why Ken was so motivated to conform to toxic ideas of what masculinity is
Yeah there's a lot missing in the"real" world. Like I was caught off by how men would hardly ever cat call and harass when another man is around. They respect the man (and his claim on the woman) , not the woman. The problem in not showing that, is that a lot of men don't see the harassment that happens because it happens when they aren't around. A lot of them don't believe women.
It's useful for those people who like to use buzzwords as a way to rile up their supporters to not clearly define what the words mean or any of the nuances or larger implications of. It only matters that 'our enemies say X, therefore X is bad and a threat to our way of life, and that's why they're our enemies' or however they want to spin the argument to fit
What exactly do you mean be "matriarchal" in this case? Because normally, I would disagree and point to many points in history how horses have been seen as animals of the patriarchs, with their love by women & girls alike being a more recent-ish phenomenon. But I'm pretty sure you're using "matriarchal" in a different light here, so I'mma let you explain it.
It’s not surprising people don’t know this. A lot of media still repeats the concept that stallions control herds and choose mares etc. we know now that this is a complete misunderstanding, same way the whole alpha wolf this has been redacted by the guy who started it. The corrections never reach as far as the mistakes though.
UPDATE: We won! After we submitted our fair use argument in an appeal to the Warner Bros takedown, they backed down and this video essay will stay online! Warner Bros had blocked the video worldwide over 19 seconds of Ken trying to surf even though it's clearly fair use commentary with voiceover. Please support this channel on Patreon: www.patreon.com/popdetective
Hii you know id wish your videos subtitles were in diferent langages, im from argentina and i would like to share it with a lot of people but not many people know english enough to watch it
This. I think it's important to see how barbiecwolrd, apart from how it neglected the kens, was flawed in that it encouraged shallowness and pursuit of *perfection among the barbies. When the main barbie loses some of her prefect features, the reaction of the barbies is the freak out and enable her feelings of inadequacy over no longer being perfect instead of helping her get over it. Though not as destructive, it's ultimately a sign of "toxic femininity" for lack of better words.
I think a lot of people missed that barbie land wasn't perfect. I mean they basically exiled her over cellulite. And of course they put the kens in much of the same position men put women, as something nice to look at but nothing to offer to society
this vidoe is so good, im so happy with the part where he talks about how movies portray male protags as just normal human stories, while female protags are 'a female based story that deals with female issues' and not just this is a human with a cool story, fuuuck me im so happy someone said it XD
It reminds me of one time a black women complained that every black women in a movie had to be an assertive and sassy strong independent black woman fighting the man. She just wanted one movie in which a shy and dorky black teen girl played the lead in a cute romcom with no mention or discussion about race and gender, just one movie. I'm trying to think of high school romcoms that fit that definition, and I'm blank.
It gets even worse when you hear these Red Pilled idiots constantly bring up Ellen Ripley from Alien, or Sarah Connor from Terminator, as examples of how to write a good strong female character. Sure, on the surface, they’re these badass characters that kick ass and all, but if you consider the fact that their major defining character trait is that they’re motherly, it becomes clear that these guys don’t want a female character to just be a human character. Their badass-ness needs to come from wanting to protect (as a mother). Edit: To be fair, in the case of Ripley, this applies mainly to Aliens, which happens to be the more action-oriented film in the series (and the most popular in the series). In the original Alien, Ripley is more of a human character than simply a female character. Also, it’s quite telling that in the third movie (which is widely panned), Ripley rejects motherhood altogether, and the surrogate daughter character from the previous movie, Newt, is killed off before the movie even begins. I also should have pointed out that these female characters that these Red Pill cultists praise are all written by men. That community only want female characters written from a male perspective.
@@eyespy3001 what msjkramey said, often times "strong" female characters are just characters where they turned down the "feminitity" as much as they could (short hair, toned muscles, military, wearing masculine clothing), which is not wrong per se, but if its the only way they are able to portray strength in women, it gets kinda lame. women, like men, also can be strong, if they are physically weak(er) or more feminine, but often times the only way directors can portray strength is through physical strength, or the female character had to go through something extremely traumatic (like the thing that rhymes with grape) that made her "stronger" without them really showing the process of dealing with the trauma and intense emotions that comes with it.
@@Willy_Warmer off the top of my head, food and drink can taste bad, games can be a waste of money or can be violent. How can a colour be offensive to the point you "really dislike" it?
I appreciate how your essays point out some of the biggest systemic blind spots in popular media and culture, without shaming anyone on any side of the matter. Zero finger-pointing, guilt-tripping, or blame-throwing. Not at we the viewers, nor at anyone who participated in making or distributing media that has harmful elements in it. Thank you so much for all your hard work and attention to detail!
That is a point in favour of this video. It's frustratingly common for people that want to champion change, do little but point out who "The Enemy" is. It's nice, for a change, to see someone make arguments and reasoning, without going "and this is the person responsible!"
honestly, seriously, the most eye-opening realizations i have had about my masculinity has come from this channel. it began with _The Fantastic Masculinity of Newt Scamander_ and has continued with _Patriarchy According to The Barbie Movie._ of all of the professional and personal help i have enlisted has not been able to explain this to me in this way, maybe i wasn’t ready any other way. *Thank you so much for interrogating these things* along with all of your culture sleuthing.
The sequence with all the Barbies using the Kens' insecurities to play them against each other always struck me as strangely regressive given the overall sentiment of the movie. Having the big Unified Girl Power moment revolve around all the female characters acting pretty and helpless and feigning interest in their men's passions in order to manipulate those men into compromising their own bid for power and independence feels like.... the exact kind of fearmongering you'd get from "alpha male" tiktoks.
Yeah, I also felt it after that scene. I mean, I'm not a girl (despite my PFP), so I thought I didn't like the scene simply due to my lack of understanding an average woman's experience. But you showed me it actually was kinda bad. Thank you.
i think the same outcome could have been achieved if the barbies had just been friendly to the other kens instead of pitting them against each other. in a patriarchal mindset, women can't be friends with multiple men (especially when in a relationship, which i'm pretty sure stereotypical barbie was already in at that point) because a genuine friendship between a man and a woman is seen as impossible if it's meant to stay as such, there must be a romantic goal behind it. so by being genuinely friendly to the other kens, the barbies could have realistically achieved the same conflict.
@@miidnxghts you're RIGHT that would have been a great way to really highlight that the issue was the Kens' insecurities, not the Barbies being duplicitous. It could have shown the Barbies making an earnest effort to actually bridge the gap and open better communication channels, and the Kens revealing that they weren't able to see the Barbies as fully realized people with lives outside their romantic relationships (without the Barbies just playing into that perception), OR the other Kens as anything more than competition in their own romantic conquests. Man that might have actually felt like it was Saying Something 😭
I felt icky about that part too, but I read the “regressiveness” as intentional. If you’re going to shape things, the way you do it is important. Attacking the other side is A way to win, but aren’t there better ways? We don’t really get that catharsis until Barbie and Ken apologize to each other, take personal accountability, and start trying to see the others perspective the next day. That’s what I got out of it at least, but your take is totally valid too. Regressive is absolutely the right word to describe the feeling at that part
@@the_piano_nerd4960 that does make sense! I think "it was the wrong solution even though it was effective and personally satisfying, because it was needlessly cruel" is absolutely a good message, and I like that interpretation of the events. Maybe I just wish the third act had gestured to that idea a little more explicitly, but maybe I'd also get that reading more from it if I watched it again with that in mind 🤔
I don’t think most people really think about this stuff or are even really aware of it. A majority of both men and women buy into a lot of patriarchal values just because that’s what they grew up around. They aren’t consciously aware they are doing it, and believe it earnestly. They’re not just doing it because they feel they have to or to gain power, but because they truly believe it is what’s right. I think this is one of the biggest challenges with these kinds of issues that isn’t talked about enough. The focus is always on the well-informed on each side, having this epic cultural or intellectual battle, but to most, there is no battle. Even if you’re a woman and a feminist, it is likely you hold patriarchal biases that harm both men and women that you’re not even aware of. I think this kind of cultural baggage creates an immense inertia that resists change.
It’s really easy to replicate the core values of a social system within a political movement that ostensibly aims to dismantle that same system - that note about men trying to dismantle patriarchy through individual acts of righteous violence is especially poignant because I empathize so strongly with the impulse. To try to solve our problems with violence makes a kind of gut sense because we are surrounded by examples of that worldview from childhood, but it all feeds into patriarchy no matter what your expressed beliefs are. It’s so frustrating to try to exit toxicity, only to realize just how much baggage you still have to work to get rid of.
yeah...while i found the movie to be pretty funny and clever at times, its probably because im aware of what barbie is satirizing. it seems like people who dont know what patriarchy is, yet associate it with "men-hating" women, may see this movie and do not understand when its (clearly) exaggerating things. conservatives take everything here at face value, most likely because they dont know how to analyze things or understand them.
Barbieland started out pretty dystopic for the Kens, although you could also argue it's a cosmic horror setting, with all the strange, unknowable things going on. Egalitarianism is the way towards a better world for everyone.
@@birdiewolf3497 Hmm, I felt this way at first, but then I realized that Ken is basically Marilyn Monroe in every role Marilyn Monroe every played. She's dumb as a brick, and a horrible negative stereotype of her gender, because she's always written that way, but I still want nice things for her. And I feel the same way about Ken. He can be better, and I'm rooting for that, because we all deserve that, as a society.
@@birdiewolf3497 I agree. Too much energy was spent assuaging men's feeling in that movie. But I don't blame Greta. They would have been even more inflamed if not.
@@sophie1564 Exactly!!! They gave him too much time and epic musical number. Then people were crying at the Oscar’s about how people are “missing the point” of the movie because the culmination of the film’s phenomenon was a musical performance about Ken. It’s the film’s fault! The film itself missed the point! We could have spent less time on him and more time on America’s character, you know the real life woman. The woman who was so sad about her life and her relationship with her daughter that she weakened the barriers of reality. The film didn’t explore that at all.
It wouldn't be easy that's for sure. The Kens might even beat him up (with nerf toys) but more likely they'd try to shame him back into the fold. Still, even though it can seem like an impossible task, a lot of men are secretly miserable and hiding it. There's opportunity for men to connect with other men over that and make sure they don't blame women for those feelings.
Honestly, the breakdown of patriarchy in the beginning of the video is so good I wanna send this to people just to explain patriarchy to them. Excellent video as always!
Ha!! Saw this video, screamed, looked at it again, saw it was 30 freaking minutes, screamed again, then clicked on it. You don't understand the depth of my love for these people and their well-made analyses and discussions of sociological concepts ❤❤
Something I've learned is that the importance of control in a relationship evaporates when you ensure that your relationships are founded on mutual interests and respect. That way, when a spouse, friend, or family member asks you to do something, you don't do it because you "have to", you do it because you want to.
Gerwig did say movies like barbie are simultaneously criticized for doing too much yet not enough at the same time, which... did happen too. Like you said, PCD, i felt like the movie was too kind to Ken after he hurt Barbie. He literally destroyed and stole her home yet Barbie apologizes to him! It frustrates me but i think it was left in as another example of even when men deliberately hurt women because theyre hurting women still have more empathy to see the other perspective and apologize and try to coexist better, yet men are rarely ever held to that empathetic standard in turn
That's true. But. The longsuffering MLK path is usually the only one that really works for a long-lasting change, in the real world. Because the real world fucking sucks.
Right?! And the ken's were cruel in a way the barbie's never were including by attempting to build a wall so that the barbie's couldn't leave the ken's and when they did attempt to leave the ken's building the wall were going to stop them physically from leaving - the barbie's never forced the ken's to be in a relationship with them however the ken's did and they were so misogynistic and humiliating about it too. Like how was the "misandry" in barbieland land equivalent to the misogyny in barbieland and Real world?
I think that's the problem when there aren't enough films that do this kind of thing (and too many others do it as an antifeminist joke)! Like you can't expect one film to do it all, but if it's one of many voices covering feminism topics it lends a useful voice to the discussion.
@@bigiabbythey were literally servants.. close to being slaved to the barbies.. them building a wall was worse than how the barbies treated them?? Imagine living your whole life knowing that your only role in life is to support and follow someone else only when they need you, nobody will console u, you're just an npc.. an accessory
9:22 this this oh this. It is never impossible for women to gain power in a patriarchy, but they will be subject to the same standards, and more often than not exercise the same power dynamic they promised to steer clear from. Case in point, the Girlboss.
Question. If a woman wanted to compete against men in say...weightlifting, would she need to or not need to exercise and train similar to how the men train? I don't get this argument that people try to make when they say that women who try to scale the ladder in patriarchy need to adopt the characteristics espoused by it. Like, as opposed to what? Become better at weightlifting than men by playing tea cup or something? How does that even make sense?
@@nicelypenn um no. Being a boss means different things to different people and how someone should act like a boss. People like trump are bad bosses but a lot of times they are in a high position because this is how society think a boss should act. My dad was a better boss then someone like trump but he wouldn't rise as far as trump because he treat his employees better and CEOs don't like that. Instead of trying to fine new and better bosses we instead go with the tired some archetype because of how it was done in the pass. Women shouldn't need to act like trump to be a CEO since those type of bosses suck in the first place.
@waleuska Suck for who? The workers? Yup. But the CEO is beholden to the shareholders and their representatives. So they have to do good by them, which means maximum exploitation and anything else that might lead to greater profits. Any women that want to rise to the top of a capitalist oligarchy are still gonna have to play by the rules of that system.
@@pumpkinhill4570 sure but that doesn't mean you have to be an asshole to achieve this. You can be nice and still exploit people. Once again there is 1 billion different ways to make money and 1 billion different ways to be a boss. Saying that they need to act this way to succeed just because someone else did it that way is just stupid and wrong.
Really good video, I love that it doesn't paint this movie as perfect in the portrayal of the patriarchy because it certainly isn't, but it presents a nuanced analysis of how it was portrayed. This channel is truly a gem, I've been a subscriber for years now and I'm glad you keep creating this videos.
I appreciate you acknowledging from the beginning that there are other valid critiques of the Barbie movie that you’re just not going to cover. Knowing the scope beforehand is helpful
Your videos are always the most thought-provoking, profound and moving videos on this site, and I always try to recommend them to friends. Please keep doing what you are doing, and spreading the amazing messages within your videos. Keep up the good work!
Ken discovering that his purpose isn't Barbie, and he's enough is some of the most empovering things I've seen in films. Men are burdened with societal expectations and pressures, and many give up and become toxic and begin ridiculing others. While some finally understand that its not society that matters, but what they believe themselves.
Yeah, as a feminist guy I thought the movie had a lot of positive messages for men, for those willing to look. Stuff like "You can't define your worth by a woman's acceptance", "Learn to appreciate other men and the support they can provide", and "Value yourself even if society won't" are all deep emotional messages in the film. Those messages do get a little distorted however, due to all the conflicting metaphors and themes at play.
He didn't discover his purpose though. Barbie had to regurgitate that fact for him. If he had any agency in pursuing that himself, I would agree but that isn't the case.
Hi, I just wanted to say your content has really helped me out. I know you get a lot of comments, but I think what the videos here have done for me are worth mentioning at least. Your content about different displays of power imbalance and toxicity in media, and breakdowns of them, were something I watched while I was in the middle of an abusive relationship, and helped me come to terms with what I was going through, and finally leave my abuser. particularly, as a man, your videos about male sexual assault and its portrayal as comedic were really cathartic for me. Videos like the ones you make are more than just education or entertainment, they've actually helped out people, and taught people what they need to understand and know about the real world, and you deserve a mountain of appreciation (also your essays are just really good)
We can see how Alan, a feminine man, was largely excluded and made the butt of the joke even in Barbie society. I think his role is really hurting the point of why it is patriarchy that hurts men into having to be masculine
Well the Barbie movie itself is not particularly feminist leaning as the video alludes to. But yea on top of that despite generally liking this video I think its use of Allen as an example of a man not fighting the Patriarchy was really misguided. It reinforced patriarchal concepts that conflict and leadership are the only ways to make contributions.
Oppressed by patriarchy and discriminated by patriarchy are two very different things. That's feminism 101. It doesn't directly hurt men if they can still oppress women.
The thing about Barbie is that it doesn't really tackle gender nonconformity, or gender in much of a way beyond masculine men and feminine women. Allan is treated poorly in Barbie society in spite of his femininity - something considered valuable in Barbieland - because femininity is valuable *in Barbies*, not in Allan. Just as in the real world, masculinity is valuable *in men*, but so often derided in women. Even though masculinity is expected of women to do "men's work" they're still degraded for not being feminine because, crucially, the patriarchy doesn't want women doing man things at all. But whether Allen's position as less than in both Barbieland and Kendomland was a purposeful nod to this phenomenon is... unclear. And I dare say unlikely.
Yeah, I really disliked Alans role in the narrative. They could've used it to built an example of a learning ally, but instead it was only played for laughs
Just wanted to point out as well that while it is easily misconstrued, the interpretation of the Kens being pitted against each other to vy for the Barbie's attention + the Barbie's plans to pit them against each other in the end to "let them tear each other down" can also work as an allegory for how women are pitted against one another to rise up in the world of patriarchy as well! :) I feel like the western world has a better grip on a "girl's girl" culture currently to combat this, but I would like to remind you that in some places, it's still pretty cutthroat out there 🥹 **looks pointedly at Asia and its unrealistic body standards for women** 😒😑😑 (For context, I'm a women in Asia that isn't petite, slim and pale)
Exactly. I still hear very commonly from fellow girls talking how they prefer the company of men over women, because of less drama, less judgments, no gossip, etc. And I've witnessed how one particilar girl still stubbornly insist on that despite being ridiculed for her interest by her male friends (make-up), seeing how they bad talk their other friend behind their back and literally experiencing the whole group falling apart due to some petty fight between two guys (and the feud continues on). Ok, it's anecdotal, I don't deny the existence of toxic feminity or some bad tendencied women might have that should be recognized. But... For someone to be this intentionally blind must show to a degree how performative and forced the whole "not like other girls" act is. It might be because I've been in mostly male spaces due to my education path, so I have more experience with them than women, but I've seen so much... Pettiness and shallowness, that I really don't get why it's said that men are above that. I've also met a number of amazing gentle and passionate people, men and women included. I just think that it's generally harder to meet valuable people and you cannot just judge that based on some traits as superficial as gender.
i think it is a common trope in, that men actually would be peaceful and would all be bros if it wasnt for women who are pitting them against each other. So i disagree.
@@KomoraKriogenicznai would go as far as to say that in some men friend groups men dont really care for each other and it is all very shallow, so i agree. I, as a man experienced shallowness in men friendgroups, however i experienced that way less in women friend groups.
I found Barbie to be a simply cathartic movie when it came to woman’s issues but the bench scene with the old lady made me cry. I can’t fully explain it but there was something there with the idea of one woman just genuinely speaking to another, a stranger, and just calling them beautiful for no other reason than to just simply do so. That’s what it means to be a woman, or any minority really. The support and care from those within your group is some of the most important acts one can do and receive and it’s what lets us survive a world that puts us down at any turn.
I feel a lot of pushback on women centred media is because the characters main trait is "woman" and thats it. I have no problems with strong female characters (Avatar the last air bender is full of them) because they are richly detailed, flawed but have strengths. They're real people who maje mistakes and need to deal with those consequences. Compare to many modern female charaters (Rey, She-Hulk, Batwoman) they are unlikable, arrogant, condescending and quite often wrong but you can't point it out or you're anti feminist. I don't want a woman on screen. I want an amazing character that happens to be a woman.
@krrrrrrrrrrrr3372 ok, let's compare she Hulk to a male character that is also unlikeable, condescending and rude: Jesse Eisenbergs Mark Zuckerberg in the social network. The difference between them is his character gets some form of comeuppance for being a jerk to people and while he has sucess he is alone. Consequences for actions. You don't like him and you feel ok with the outcome because his good parts don't negate the bad or his actions. For She Hulk she ... gets to be a sucessful lawyer and save the day. Is there any pushback for her actions? No. Any consequences? No. Does she learn anything? Not really. That is not a good story.
Yeah so problem with that. There are some stories that require a Woman to be the one to tell them. Not every Female character can be a "happens to be a female" character, because then some stories that need to be told can't be told.
@lucyla9947 which is not a problem if being a woman is integral to the story. The Barbie movie for instance is an example of the lead MUST be female. But she's more than "female". She's curious, kind, naive, hopeful but can be easily mislead due to her belief everyone is good too. It's when, again, the only trait is "woman" and all other character development stops that I have an issue
I appreciated that the Mattel CEOs, who were all men, weren't 'Evil' or 'Misogynistic'... I think they reflected the idea that men in power doesn't necessarily have to mean Patriarchy... They were maybe more a product of old-school ways of doing things... But they were still willing to listen, learn, and have conversations about what women want in the world.
It’s funny you had a clip from Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken because in that movie the women are the only ones who can turn into giant kraken, are in total authority and none of the men or boys have any issue with it whatsoever. Ruby’s dad and Uncle Brill even embody the compassion and emotional support that patriarchy detests men having
@@nicelypennthat's easy, because under the traditional patriarchy women werent really allowed to really do anything or aspire for anything as they were only suppsoed to be a housewife and serve under a man, meaning that the only ones who would be given the time and ability to learn and grow their writing and art skills would be men. Even when women did write, alot of them used pseudonyms/pen names or wrote anonymously to be able to get their work out. Besides, alot of creative type men were often outcasts themselves, when looking into their lives you'll see alot of them have troubled childhoods because of not liking or going after "manly" things. This usually includes being bullied by peers or being abused or treated as a dissapointment by their fathers for not growing up to be the kind of man they wanted. Once they have success theyre obviously treated better but the effects still remain. Patriarchy is bad for everyone.
@@jovianmelendez That's a very stereotypical and narrow view of creative types, especially from a historical perspective. Yes, a lot have had troubled childhoods, but I don't think it's as common as you think it is
@@msjkramey I think the reason of being fascist is that only Barbies get jobs and political positions. But actually it's because Mattel doesn't want to make dolls of different professions for the Kens, and sell them to boys. Because it's not "masculine". Have you ever seen a doll that is the father of a baby?
It's deeply sad and worrying to me that a movie with an ultimately very peaceful and heartwarming message gets misunderstood so badly just because on the cover, it's a feminist women- movie. I watched it two times in the cinema and absolutely love it, both as a movie and as a message. Men just want to be loved like everybody else, but we are brought up in an absolutely ridiculous way. And like the movie says no, it's neither necessary nor natural. Yes, it has it's roots in anthropology, but so does having a tail. We usually shed the obsolete.
Love that you had to introduce your video with a caveat that "THIS IS NOT GENDER STUDIES IN FILM 4020 THIS IS SOCIOLOGY 1010 and some people need to start here"
Thank you for saying the movie was a bit TOO sympathetic to Ken. I asked myself in the theater - why is SHE apologizing to HIM? By making it seem like Barbie did something mean to him first, I felt the movie made the patriarchy thing Barbie's fault, not Ken's. I also agree that the metaphors got a bit mixed - I wasn't sure by the end what behavior was meant to stand for what. I'd love to hear more from you in a general movie analysis!
When I confronted my assaulter I *apologized* for making him uncomfortable. Tbf I’m kind of a dumbass but saying sorry is something that’s definitely ingrained into women 🥲🔫
I was fine with the apology, actually - he she should have thought about whether she was neglecting their relationship (as people, not as boyfriend/girlfriend) and treating him as nothing more than an accessory. That was an appropriate thing to apologise for. However I also appreciated that she didn't apologise for anything she wasn't actually responsible for. I wish he'd shown more remorse and apologised in turn, but he got to just skip to the 'breakthrough understanding'. :/
I assume she was apologizing for the mistreatment of the Kens in the beginning of the film. Why should Barbie not apologize for that? Wasn't it clearly wrong?
@@fudgefactor1639 Most of the Kens' unhappiness in the beginning is self-inflicted, like many "nice guys." Their greatest struggle is that they want Barbie to worship them and none of the Barbies do. Acting like the Barbies were somehow in the wrong for not wanting the Kens romantically despite them "trying so hard" is perfectly reflective of many real-world incels and it is a mindset that must be stomped out entirely.
@@fudgefactor1639 yes it makes sense to apologize for that, but my complaint is that the writers arranged the movie in such a way that she had something to apologize to him for. If you’re trying to write a metaphor about patriarchy, why make the moral of the story that the female character admits she was wrong but the male character doesn’t? To me it sends the wrong message about what patriarchy is. It’s not a misunderstanding or a mutual mistake. It’s a structure of control made by men to maintain power. Women did nothing to “cause” that.
Ken seeking validation through Barbie is not gender flipped at all. It is considered one of the more toxic traits of patriarchy not only that women are seen as conquests, but as a man's only source of emotional validation. Men are conditioned to never be emotional, and the only safe outlet they have for their normal human feelings is a girlfriend or wife. It's one of the reasons men will become increasingly violent after break ups. They might still have all the status symbols, but they've lost their only source of human worth, and they feel foolish for having been emotionally vulnerable at all. Edit: You do go on to say all of this, but maybe not make that connection.
Men are plenty emotional. But as usual, you look at things through a female lens and only see traditionally female displays of emotionality as valid. Men might use different words and actions to display how they feel, but we most certainly do feel. And of the tiny amount of men who become violent after breakups do so because they had role models that were violent, not because they followed traditional norms of masculine emotional display. This entire diatribe just reeks of egocentrism and an inability to view things through the lens of a different gender. Judging men's emotions by female standards is not going to get us anywhere, any more than judging women's by male standards is.
Also one of the reasons that widows live longer than widowers. Once men lose their emotional outlet as older men, they tend to break down quicker whereas women generally have stronger social networks in place.
Good point. That's also the source of the toxic patriarchal expectation that women should solely manage the relationship and the man's emotions/ego so that the man only needs to settle in and enjoy.
@@erzsebetkovacs2527the woman also gets to settle in and enjoy tho...wdym? İf you are considering one side of the gender roles, why not see the other too?
So when one man does something really bad, no matter how bad, it's "not all men." But if one movie portrays one man not in a perfect light, but as a complex human being, suddenly it's, "This movie is against ALL MEN!" from these same people?
@@randomusername3873 That's the thing, though, the whole point is trying to unpack how this is a systemic problem, it's not any individual's fault, it's a description of the environment we live in. The comparison I like to use is it's like how I can criticize car dependent infrastructure without criticizing people for driving cars. Of course you drive a car -- how else are you supposed to get to the store or to work if you don't have any public transportation or bicycle infrastructure -- but this doesn't change how harmful it is for everyone to be driving cars all the time. It's harmful, but that doesn't mean you're to blame, it just means you're trapped in a harmful system which both harms you and also causes you to participate in harming others.
26:10 “it’s not women, but patriarchy, that’s blocking men’s access to emotional and physical intimacy” my god THANK YOU. every time that men’s mental health gets brought up in women’s spaces and discussions about unrelated topics, this is the key issue. deplatforming women and women’s issues by trying to silence them with that scapegoat effectively blames women for systems that we didn’t create nor perpetuate. men, if you were truly serious about those topics, you wouldn’t only bring it up during women’s discussions as if it is something we have to fix for you. we’re here with open arms, you only need to reach out
Except that's not really the whole story, now is it? A lot of women still want men to be stoic and think men who show vulnerability are weak and unattractive. You're making this about women vs men when it's really not that simple.
@@screew708 … thank you for proving the point! you’re taking the few and making it representative of all women all while ignoring the role men play in their own suffering.
@@screew708 if you watched the video or read/understood my comment, you’d know i’m not making this about men vs women. it’s the complete opposite. men are making it men vs women when they blame women for the consequences to the systems that men themselves have created. it’ll take us all to dismantle it.
it's just putting emotional care on one half of society when everyone could participate in it. men need to treat men better, men and women need to stop fighting each other and people need to stop frowning upon solidarity, kindness and honest enthusiasm. amen.
No because they always blame women with crap like “men never get compliments, we only get flowers at our funerals, wives don’t do their part when men come back from war etc etc” Like bro y’all played yourselves! There are def women who uphold toxic standards in men but most of us would LOVE it if the men in our lives were more vulnerable with us, but nooo they’d rather shoot themselves in the foot instead
The most beautiful part of Barbie, is that Ken doesn't get his comeuppance by being beaten down, but by being enlightened that he's his own person, a person who can love himself for who he is, without the need to be affirmed by "things" such as a job, a woman etc.
Another eloquent and well-thought-out masterpiece... Thank you very much, I will send this video to a few people to help them understand what patriarchy is.
The vanity fair polygraph thing is extra upsetting cause like... polygraphs are just a measure of how nervous you are answering questions. Like, with the way that interview was conducted, of course the graph was going to go crazy when she answered that question, no matter what her thoughts were, it was just a cheap gotcha
@@Snaveltje12 A lot of states don't these days, and states that do often have a lot of restrictions on their use, mainly because a) their results differ wildly depending on a ton of different factors, and b) juries tend to think they're a lot more effective than they actually are
Yay! I love your in-depth videos. I especially love how you make it clear that feminism isn't about putting men down. It's about releasing them from this system that has hurt women first and then restricted men at the same time. Also, lowkey your episode on Solarpunk inspired me to do a proto-solarpunk reading on 'Sultana's dream' from 1905 a feminist utopia short story but had a lot of the key features of solarpunk. And I got an A for it. So thank you.
All emotional restrictions have placed by women.. ken was of his humanity under feminism. And barbie speech blames patriarchy for stresses feminist fought for
@@ImMaleImProudthat's not true. Men police their own and others' emotions, and women fell in line. And yes, equality and power can be stressful, but living as a second class citizen is worse
Really appreciate how your video went over the good and bad of the movie. You don't try to make it seem like the worst thing ever for a few mistakes and you don't try to make it seem like the best movie in the world for the things it gets right. Just a genuine criticism and look into the messages and themes of the movie and how it works and how itt doesn't t
So glad you're back! I love this essay, because I got to the end of the movie and said, "Well, they certainly tried to deliver a message, but I think they mya have gotten lost along the way." Glad you found them.
Well done! One note, when Alan confronted construction workers, the reality would have been him being murdered. Confrontation in those moments usually makes things worse for everyone.
True. Men absolutely risk becoming a victim of violence themselves when standing up for women in these sorts of situation and have just as good of a chance at Jackie Chan-ing their way out of a gang attacking them as any woman would, it perpetuates the patriarchal role of the male protector who uses physical violence to protect his property. Men shouldn't feel obligated to throw themselves in harm's way for women, it isn't even about that for the most part. Violence isn't always the solution, especially when it comes to problems of a social nature. Realistically speaking, the situations where men in particular need to stand up for women are social ones such as, for instance, calling out men who casually make sexist comments because they feel safe doing so in the presence of other men. Even in a situation where, say, a woman is being crept on by men and is clearly feeling unsafe and you want to help, you wouldn't confront and try to fight the men, you would try to get the woman out safely. A lot of older women have this sort of "auntie network" thing where they will pretend to know a young woman who is being crept on so she will no longer be a single target and have a chance to escape the situation with her. It would probably be less dangerous for a guy to pretend he's got one of the men mistaken for someone else or to ask them for the way to some place to take their attention off the woman than it would be for him to play the hero and jump in brandishing his fists.
@@rainpooper7088 And even in some rare case where the one "good guy" standing up for women was successful in his fight, it wouldn't accomplish anything, because the men he challenged would simply see him as either a threat or a superior man because of his violent capabilities and tendencies, which should be the opposite of what we want a good man to be. It sends the wrong message entirely when good men think they can just beat all the bad guys up.
I still feel it’s so incredibly unfortunate that Barbie was used as the vehicle for this message. Ken, as a default secondary and entirely inferior product is legitimately trapped in a Matriarchy. It naturally gives all the sympathy to Ken. 95% of viewers of the movie did not get the message the movie wished to convey.
I agree many people missed the message. But I think the movie very much intends the audience to sympathize with Ken. I think the movie doesn't have a feminist message as the beginning of the video alludes to. Or at least its message is a pretty warped version of feminism. But this isn't surprising. Gerwig is a moderate in the culture wars. It is much more obvious in her other movies. She is not particularly feminist. And if you really pay attention to the Barbie movie it is pretty clearly meant to have a message of moderation in regards to feminism.
Im pretty sure the only message the movie had to convey was "consume product", with all this other stuff being nothing more than a thin veneer aimed at giving it the appearance of having something meaningful to say, and hence why why that element is so shallow and hamfistedly put together.
@@peterisawesomeplease I do agree, the movie wanted the audience to sympathize with Ken. But I think they wanted us to at least equally sympathize with Barbie. Instead, Ken became the protagonist and Barbie got to go to the gynaecologist… what an odd, odd movie.
This was really clearly and succinctly explained, and really well paced and edited; thank you for fighting to keep it up and accessible for people! You managed to put into words many of the thoughts I had after watching the film - I felt frustrated by the mixed messages, but didn't articulate this clearly. I know there was a heck of a lot to cover, but it would be interesting to have a part two or companion video to this talking about all the ways the Barbies re-enforce patriarchal values as women, and how deeply rooted this is in the real world - women are entrenched into a way of thinking about themselves that is very patriarchal and reductionist. Thanks again for the time and effort you took to make this!
very excited for the videos in the works! i happened to be reading the will to change when barbie came out and found them to be exceptionally well paired
I was always kind of confused by the big third act plan. They go around to all the Barbies and deprogram them, but they’ve got an entirely different plan for all the Kens. It reads like “when a woman participates in patriarchy it’s because she’s been brainwashed into it, but when a man does, it’s just because it’s in his nature.” There’s a distinct ding effect when a Barbie is deprogrammed but I don’t remember any Ken getting that. So it reads like it’s just something they were always ready and eager to do and not because they too were brainwashed into doing something that hurts themselves because they had no experiences to prepare them to resist it, just like the Barbies. Both the Barbies and Kens were hurt in Kendomland, brainwashed by an idea brought by Ken from our world, but only the Kens seem to be held culpable. And what appears to be a belief in an inherent personality/behavioral/psychological difference between men and women doesn’t read as especially feminist to me.
barbie was genuinely such a clever, artistic, and entertaining way to bring attention to the negative effects of patriarchal society, but people were so upset at the idea of criticism against anything male that they couldn't bring themselves to understand it
Top notch stuff as always. I definitely have mixed feelings about how Barbie approaches feminism and patriarchy (and they're ultimately problems that are a result of the conditions it was created under), but I think this did a great job exploring and expanding upon those core themes. The only thing I'll say is that I don't think right-wing resistance to this film was because of how it challenged patriarchal ideas, I think it's just because in many a conservative mind everything they consider a buzzword means the context can be ignored and what is being said is dangerous or worthless.
I think the right wing reaction was absolutely to protect patriarchy, which is a shame because, as this video illustrates, while the effects of patriarchy are very outwardly damaging toward women, it also harms men in less obvious but still very real ways. For the most part, I don’t think it’s been well explained how patriarchy and terms like “toxic masculinity” are harmful toward men, and the right wing and even centrists have hijacked the terms to mean a hatred of men. For the few who do (for example, Ben Shapiro is an educated man, he definitely knows what it means), being among the first to help dismantle patriarchy opens you up to vulnerability until it is widely adopted. It essentially becomes a Mexican stand off, where everyone is afraid to be the first to put their gun (patriarchy) down, lest the other person doesn’t and takes advantage of the situation.
@@smacain I think you're right that protecting patriarchy is the result and ultimate intention behind it, but the vitriol is specifically because of the language used and the forwardness. The root of fascism, and modern conservatism in general, is one of contradiction and intentional ignorance, and it leaves the people who subscribe to the ideology more dependent on obvious signals and flag waving rather than what anything actually says or means. To many of those who push back against the message of Barbie it doesn't come from understanding or admitting the privilege they hold in the system it challenges, they just see it as signposting that it's on the opposite side of a culture war.
@@user-xsn5ozskwg I agree with you, I am just skeptical of the power-holders. These media giants know they’re misrepresenting the discourse, it’s their viewers who haven’t changed the channel in 20 years and buy the propaganda hook, line, and sinker that feed into the cycle of disinformation. It’s like, the texts from the Fox News talking heads clearly demonstrated they knew the 2020 election was not rigged, but they lied to their viewers, and those viewers don’t even know about these texts because Fox never reported the story. And at even the most milquetoast critique of Trump, the audience fled to OAN, so Fox reversed its stance.
Yea I like the video overall but had a few problems with it. One of them was the way it used populist right wing commentators dislike of the movie as a motivation. These commentators know what the patriarchy means. They are just exploiting under-educated right wing audiences for another dollar or vote. Attacking them for cheap clicks is not effective in countering them. Meanwhile many smarter conservatives are actually fans of the movie and of Gerwig's work generally. Gerwig isn't exactly a right winger but her movies are more a voice calling for moderation in culture wars. People on the right and left often try to claim her works as supporting their side. Leaving this unaddressed especially given the opening which was very "strawmanny" was a mistake.
@@smacain Most of the right wing reaction was from people who didn't see it, and who didn't want to see it, because they just assumed that because it was a move with feminism in it, it must be all about hating men. Their reaction was... reactionary and not really the product of an attempt to protect patriarchy. Purely snowflake stuff.
12:47 The worst part is, at the same time that society put those films into a “female experience story”, they blame the film itself for “putting women in a different box than men” as if we wanted to be seen as unequal.
Might just be me, but feels like we've been waiting for the colonialism in board games video for years. Don't get me wrong though, definitely appreciate how much work / research is clearly going into it. The video about redemption through death for male characters sounds really interesting too.
This is a gorgeous video essay. Such a brilliant explanation of how sexism plays out structurally, culturally and interpersonally. And how patriarchal ideas don’t benefit men or women. Love your mention of intersectionality. I teared up at the end when you mentioned how important solidarity is between men and women as a way to end sexism and how men should challenge other men on sexism. Your editing is so seamless. I love transitions like 10:36, where you pan up to the sky to cut to the old space clip, and like 12:08, where you fade from Barbie’s face to Oppenheimer. Or the transition at 18:34. You have such a good match of visuals to the voiceover. You use such a breadth of examples; it’s very visually appealing. And I love your supercuts of the use of the word patriarchy in media and the news. Your video has excellent pacing - your cutting to diegetic clips between voiceovers helps process what was just said. Your script is very concise and well-explained and shows a lot of research and care. I love your use of sound and music. And love your cat Madame Curie's cameo in the end! Liked, am already subscribed and commenting to boost you on the dreaded UA-cam algorithm! Also retweeting your vid, I want as many people to see this. Thanks so much for your hard work! This would've taken so long to make
I interpreted that the reason Ken fell into patriarchy the way that he did was because he was basing his feeling of self worth on his ability to “have Barbie”. He saw patriarchy as validating that he should get Barbie just because he was Ken.
BTW Patreon supporters can watch a much longer supercut of right-wingers freaking out about Barbie, and another longer supercut of fictional characters saying the word patriarchy. They are pretty funny montages. I will upload them to UA-cam or somewhere for everyone at some point but for now they are here: www.patreon.com/popdetective
The montage of snarky teenagers talking about the patriarchy really shows how films can make a straw man out of feminism. The teenagers are always shown as unserious and grumpy posers who just need to chill out. Their ideas about feminism and oppression come from books, not from any actual experience they've had, and the things they advocate for are often superficial. Legally Blonde is the only example I can think of where you do see concrete ways that women are affected by the system, and how they support each other to navigate through it. And even in that film there is a "feminist" played for laughs as if to say "Elle isn't a feminist. She just went to Harvard to get her boyfriend back, not to make some kind of statement."
Sometimes, I wonder if these videos could be made less partisan. Right- and left-wingers overreacting to things can be funny, but can distance people on the other side of the artificial fence.
the idea of going "how dare they say this word so many times" and then in the next sentence going "i have no clue what it means" is so funny
Yet the fact that they see no connection and nothing wrong with this disconnect is deeply disturbing. I can only hope they're just selling their souls for profit and not legitimately believing a completely illogical paradox
Conservatives in a nutshell
@DevelpmentandAnthropologywhat?
For a second I thought you were the Mr. Sausage and did a serious double take.
Oscillating between claiming to know everything and not understanding "the stuff what the left be" is a classic way of keeping your audience obedient, but also making the more ignorant of them feel OK that they don't understand anything either. Basically the "simple country lawyer" act.
I loved the way the Kens healed their dispute and came together was through an interpretive ballet dance, something often derided for being 'not manly and too feminine'. Through shedding these manly expectations and pressures they come together and are able to support each other
It's also based on the grease sequence ken saw when he arrived on the real world! It's very interesting how in the 70s a group of men dancing and singing about a car was seen as cool and nowadays most just see it as corny or ridiculous
@@rinina Going a bit deeper its also a nod to the costume and set from the dream sequence in Broadway Melody from Singing in the Rain. Gene Kelly is incredible. Billed as a manly man he sings and dances and does a lot of what is called too feminine now
I immediately noticed the Gene Kelly homage and was like, "Did Greta put this in here for me???" 🤩🤩 Hands down the best part of the movie, I love classic cinema
@@Biogrrrl If you watch the behind the scenes videos Greta loved the painting matte backgrounds from Golden Age films like Wizard of Oz, Singing in the Rain etc and she hired painters to make all the backgrounds in most of Barbieland in that style
which is amazing because ballet and interpretive dance both started as masculine dance styles.
Babe wake up Pop Culture Detective dropped a new video recontextualizing popular media under a feminist lens in a way that fascinates and educates me!
Relatable
i have awaken
I’M UP
LETS GOOOOOO
Wake up Pop Culture Detective? It's good that you're so comfortable with your gf sleeping with him
But what if we tried a system where the power is not held by men or women, but by horses? I think The Barbie Movie really should have explored that idea. I, for one, welcome our new horse overlords. The Neightriarchy, if you will.
"No gods or kings, only equines!"
@@MattEldritchHorror Liberty, fraternity and equinity.
Thank you so much for saying that! The whole movie I was so mad because idk it just felt so unfair to the horses? Why did they not get to be the president or have their own mojo dojo casa house?
I would prefer a horse to most of the politicians in office currently.
Where their favorite food Hay, came out with a new Haycoin, that the government relied on, and try to keep the evil pigs from hacking their currency.
As a male nurse I despise Meet the Parents for its running gag where Ben Stillers character is ridiculed for having a female job.
lol same but i get it
I mean it’s just a joke, maybe lighten up
@@Dee-- I probably would if I was so self serious like you lol But clearly the punchline of the joke is simply to poke fun at the fact that nursing is a female dominated profession. It’s certainly not comedic gold by any stretch of the imagination, low hanging fruit if you will, but pretty harmless all in all. I will concede to you that they do repeat the joke multiple times throughout the movie which is complete overkill so I can see how it might turn stale real quick
Ironically that movie made me as a 6 or 7 year old disassociate nursing with femininity. Now I just see it as another vital healthcare position, no gender roles or expectations there!
...Except the point of the movie is that the people that ridiculed him are wrong and that he didn't join nursing because he wasn't good enough to be a doctor, but rather because he wanted to be a nurse.
At this point you're complaining that antagonists exist in films because you felt personally attacked by the fictional character that was written to be wrong.
One thing that amused me during the film is to see the link made between horses and masculinity, while in France (can’t talk for the rest of Europe) horses are strongly associated with women. Shows how all of this is not a grand order, but just cultural.
So much of what people assume is genetic, is actually memetic.
though it is true that the sport practice of horse riding is often associated with women and girls, the animal itself is associated with more masculine things like knights and warriors, it is seen as a valiant and strong companion that carry them through various adventures, a sign of valor, strength and leadership, and sometimes nobility
(i am French, btw)
Not
@KitKat-ex7zn never seen a feamale jockey
Horses are matriarchtical animal
Truly incredible how a movie that says "what if . . . we could solve the patriarchy . . . by making men feel more valued?" set so many conservatives a-froth.
Yeah I never understood the argument that Barbie somehow made men look weak. A message that men have value on their own as individuals and shouldn’t live only to chase after *or* oppress women is harmful to men? Shouldn’t that be empowering to them?
Exactly, anyone who thinks this movie is anti-men really lacks critical thinking skills. Personally, I found it made me much more sympathetic to men than anything else I've seen. Maybe because I'm a woman, all the Barbie stuff I already knew and understood, however, I felt Ken's story was very impactful. It wasn't subtle, it was literally showing how boys are isolated from getting support from each other and that they are not complete humans or real men without a woman, so their whole lives become a competition with other men to 'get' women. That's really sad. Of course, it's the patriarchy doing this to them, but apparently we can't talk about that :/
@@dropkgirl7157 Really? In most cultures, being a bachelor is just fine. But being a spinster is pathetic (and honestly makes life terrible in my country)
I think the thing that makes it difficult for many of us to see the male empowering, value-instilling messages within the movie is that so much of the conversation about men's misguided search for self-worth is communicated through humor, and even sometimes mockery. The Kens are made to look very silly and shallow while competing with each other, and while trying to earn the Barbie's love with guitar skills, over-explaining movies, and so on. And while those things undoubtedly do make us men look very silly and could be helped by greater self-awareness and self-worth, they also mostly stem from deep insecurity and deeply ingrained cultural messages; so to have them addressed/corrected in a format that plays upon those insecurities to portray men's issues as primarily humorous and fair game to make fun of probably pushes a lot of men away from hearing what would otherwise be a pretty readily accepted message about finding your worth in healthier places. I also want to clarify at this point that I'm not anti-Barbie movie and I'm not defending the cruel and mocking ways in which many men have retorted or attacked the movie and/or female empowerment in general; I just hope to explain one of the reasons I see for why men might find it difficult to see the positive messages for them.
@@dropkgirl7157 the movie was a role-reversal to me: Ken at the beginning portrayed women in our society, while Barbie portrayed men in our society (much more nuanced, of course). A woman's value at one point in time was completely determined by whether she was married; she couldn't own property or land, she literally had no voice by not being able to vote. Meanwhile men run the show without caring how much or how it would affect women (like the Barbies acted to the Kens). This is what boggles my mind, because it seemed so obvious, so having to explain how the movie wasn't attacking men, but making the attempt to get guys to put themselves in other people's shoes, was absolutely confounding. Essentially having to spell out for people: imagine if the Kens are all women, and the Barbies are men (before the introduction of patriarchy).
I think the video addressed the confusing part of the Kens competing before patriarchy being introduced, which you mentioned in your comment, but Ken is much, much more in tune with his emotions pre-patriarchy than he was at any other point in the film (excluding the very end). The issue was that Barbie was dismissive of his emotions (much like how men are dismissive of women's emotions).
I think there's a pervasive misunderstanding of this film that the Barbie world is "meant" to be a utopia. But the rivalry between the Kens, and the very fact that Kens don't have a place in Barbieland except as a Barbie accessory, is meant to depict the fundamental injustice of inequality in any world, not just a patriarchal one. Of course, I say "meant," but it's always dicey to presume the intent of the writer. That's just what I took away from it. But I feel pretty confident in saying that Ken's insecurity in his place in the world was ultimately generated by the Barbie World, just as women's insecurity in their place in the real world is generated by patriarchy. Barbieland may not be a patriarchy, but it has the same problems.
And I think it was clever of the film not to resolve this, even after acknowledging it. In the end, there will still be no Kens on the supreme court, let alone the Whitehouse (Pinkhouse?). It's considered progress even to let a second-class citizen like Weird Barbie have a place in the power structure. But Helen Mirren makes the final comment on this, saying that someday, hopefully, Kens will have as many rights as women do in the real world. So long as there's inequality in the real world, it will have its symmetrical mirror in Barbieland.
I also think there's something important about the use of the Kens' irrational jealousies against them. Ultimately, empires tend to destroy themselves in exactly this way, for the very reason that patriarchy still doesn't make Ken happy, and of course, once he's conquered the Barbies, he has to project the cause of his unhappiness on someone else, because he's still not ready to accept that it's his own identity that's causing it. As a means of overthrowing the Kens, perhaps starting a war isn't the way. But turning bullies on one another has a way of weakening their power. I don't think it was a bad story choice. Just one man's opinion.
I don't think it's a reach given that the world starts out female dominated, and Ken's are second class. It's neutered to some degree because Barbie World would of course be much more PG or even G vs out reality - so the subjugation of men will be "not as bad" vs woman in our real world. Reversing things in the movie I think makes it clear. You have to worlds with dominate along sex, and both are bad - once FEELS less bad because its G rated, but it's not actually better.
@@xBINARYGODxconsidering the typical tropes of a toy's worst fate as not being played with and related to, the kens are living in their own toy version of hell and subjugation. It's G/PG rated, but Ken talks about being an accessory. Being relegated to no more than a purse, shoe, or at best a pet is pretty horrific
I think Ken’s character arc also supports this interpretation a lot. he struggles to find his own identity in a world focused on Barbies. he doesn’t know where he fits in aside from as an accessory to Barbie. In the end he realises that he is more than just an accessory, he doesn’t have to center his entire existence on Barbie. similar to how a lot of women go through a point of crisis when realising that they don’t have to center their existence on men, because then they need to find an identity for them self in a male cantered society
@DevelpmentandAnthropology according to a quick google search both the most dangerous country in the world (afghanistan) and the most peaceful country in the world (iceland) have slightly more men than women. so the obvious difference is that higher equality between men and women leads to more peace
@DevelpmentandAnthropology source? trust me bro, i made it up just for you
Completely off topic, but with the second and third trait of the patriarchy, my mind went to one of my favorite movies, the devil wears prada. It's a heavy and interesting theme in the movie that Miranda was a woman of power, only able to gain the upper hand by qualities that are often considered masculine. Emotionless presenting, tough decisions. But the film interprets her as a villian, even though the protagonist herself stated if the roles were reversed, no one would have a problem. I think its important to realize the harm of this ideal for both men and women.
It's called being realistic
Power doesn't come by being emotional and vulnerable and also not controlling ppl
That's what brings control
@@uchegbudivine6885 To not have emotion is to not have passion. To not have the drive to get out of bed in the morning and act on things. And when the so-called "strong" and "emotionally controlled" find their way into power, everyone is eager to point out how they gained it moreso than how they lost it, often at the mercy of their own insecurities.
@@Nverdis But not having emotion and not showing emotion are two different things?
The movie calls her a villain at first but later it shows how she has feelings and how much she had to sacrifice for her career. In the end she's the only one who appreciates Andy.
@@mimilook4347but she *is* a villain. Andy herself recognises at the end that she doesn’t want to live like Miranda, throwing all her loved ones and friends under the bus to succeed, and she ends up happier because of it.
I found it a bit of a lost opportunity to not have Ken also face harassment when Barbie and him go into the world in their 80s rollerblade outfits. The harassment women usually get is explicity s-xual with an undertone of violence. But as a gay man, I find the harassment I face to be a mirror image: I get threatened with explicit violence with an undertone of s-xual insecurity. It perhaps could have shown another reason why Ken was so motivated to conform to toxic ideas of what masculinity is
what are toxic ideas of femininity
Yeah there's a lot missing in the"real" world. Like I was caught off by how men would hardly ever cat call and harass when another man is around. They respect the man (and his claim on the woman) , not the woman.
The problem in not showing that, is that a lot of men don't see the harassment that happens because it happens when they aren't around. A lot of them don't believe women.
@@SamDNVS Exactly.
Truuee
@@emilianosintarias7337women are seen not hard would be an example
It's crazy how often you hear certain buzzwords thrown around seemingly everywhere and nobody actually knows what they even mean.
Conservatives in a nutshell
See also: socialism.
@@Bakedcakeyyy Conservatives do it a lot but it isn't exclusive to them.
@@theobell2002 It's exclusive to humans.
It's useful for those people who like to use buzzwords as a way to rile up their supporters to not clearly define what the words mean or any of the nuances or larger implications of. It only matters that 'our enemies say X, therefore X is bad and a threat to our way of life, and that's why they're our enemies' or however they want to spin the argument to fit
Whar if Ken borrowed a bell hooks book at the library
@DevelpmentandAnthropologysource?
If they made an illustrated version I bet he'd go for it :D
He would have a lesson in fiction and irrationality
bell hooks insisted her name be written in lower case
I think it would have been impenetrable to Ken without the experience with patriarchy. He wouldn't have a context for the ideas.
I love that Ken was only interested in patriarchy when he thought that it involved horses. They're actually a matriarchal animal.
@@Jaxck77Yeah, they are. I don’t get why you think denying actual science with a “nuh uh!” is going to do anything.
@@Jaxck77Do you just hate the word matriarchy or something - horses are literally a matriarchal animal
@cloudstrife4534 his feelings don't care about your facts it seems
What exactly do you mean be "matriarchal" in this case? Because normally, I would disagree and point to many points in history how horses have been seen as animals of the patriarchs, with their love by women & girls alike being a more recent-ish phenomenon. But I'm pretty sure you're using "matriarchal" in a different light here, so I'mma let you explain it.
It’s not surprising people don’t know this. A lot of media still repeats the concept that stallions control herds and choose mares etc. we know now that this is a complete misunderstanding, same way the whole alpha wolf this has been redacted by the guy who started it. The corrections never reach as far as the mistakes though.
UPDATE: We won! After we submitted our fair use argument in an appeal to the Warner Bros takedown, they backed down and this video essay will stay online! Warner Bros had blocked the video worldwide over 19 seconds of Ken trying to surf even though it's clearly fair use commentary with voiceover. Please support this channel on Patreon: www.patreon.com/popdetective
I think it’s a pretty bad look from Warner Bros.
Hii you know id wish your videos subtitles were in diferent langages, im from argentina and i would like to share it with a lot of people but not many people know english enough to watch it
was wondering where the video went
@@shinankoku2yeah they don't care. They always have bad reputation
Why do we have so many a homeless veterans after the military helps The wife take everything in divorce because of her feminine contributions at home
I like how the Barbie Movie calls out "the sisterhood" and how women are toxic to each other as well.
This. I think it's important to see how barbiecwolrd, apart from how it neglected the kens, was flawed in that it encouraged shallowness and pursuit of *perfection among the barbies. When the main barbie loses some of her prefect features, the reaction of the barbies is the freak out and enable her feelings of inadequacy over no longer being perfect instead of helping her get over it.
Though not as destructive, it's ultimately a sign of "toxic femininity" for lack of better words.
I think a lot of people missed that barbie land wasn't perfect. I mean they basically exiled her over cellulite. And of course they put the kens in much of the same position men put women, as something nice to look at but nothing to offer to society
this vidoe is so good, im so happy with the part where he talks about how movies portray male protags as just normal human stories, while female protags are 'a female based story that deals with female issues' and not just this is a human with a cool story, fuuuck me im so happy someone said it XD
It reminds me of one time a black women complained that every black women in a movie had to be an assertive and sassy strong independent black woman fighting the man. She just wanted one movie in which a shy and dorky black teen girl played the lead in a cute romcom with no mention or discussion about race and gender, just one movie. I'm trying to think of high school romcoms that fit that definition, and I'm blank.
It gets even worse when you hear these Red Pilled idiots constantly bring up Ellen Ripley from Alien, or Sarah Connor from Terminator, as examples of how to write a good strong female character. Sure, on the surface, they’re these badass characters that kick ass and all, but if you consider the fact that their major defining character trait is that they’re motherly, it becomes clear that these guys don’t want a female character to just be a human character. Their badass-ness needs to come from wanting to protect (as a mother).
Edit: To be fair, in the case of Ripley, this applies mainly to Aliens, which happens to be the more action-oriented film in the series (and the most popular in the series). In the original Alien, Ripley is more of a human character than simply a female character. Also, it’s quite telling that in the third movie (which is widely panned), Ripley rejects motherhood altogether, and the surrogate daughter character from the previous movie, Newt, is killed off before the movie even begins.
I also should have pointed out that these female characters that these Red Pill cultists praise are all written by men. That community only want female characters written from a male perspective.
@@eyespy3001not to mention that Ripley was originally going to be a man
theres a game called 'sucker for love' and the protagonist is black woman... cute too@@stormix5755
@@eyespy3001 what msjkramey said, often times "strong" female characters are just characters where they turned down the "feminitity" as much as they could (short hair, toned muscles, military, wearing masculine clothing), which is not wrong per se, but if its the only way they are able to portray strength in women, it gets kinda lame.
women, like men, also can be strong, if they are physically weak(er) or more feminine, but often times the only way directors can portray strength is through physical strength, or the female character had to go through something extremely traumatic (like the thing that rhymes with grape) that made her "stronger" without them really showing the process of dealing with the trauma and intense emotions that comes with it.
Piers Morgan snapping his fingers and everything turns pink is an amount of power that all gays deserve.
I really dislike the color pink but I approve
@@suzbonehow can you really dislike a colour? It's only a colour
He is one of the last people that deserve that kind of power
@@philipreid2542 How do people dislike food or drink or games? They're only food or drinks or games, after all.
@@Willy_Warmer off the top of my head, food and drink can taste bad, games can be a waste of money or can be violent. How can a colour be offensive to the point you "really dislike" it?
I appreciate how your essays point out some of the biggest systemic blind spots in popular media and culture, without shaming anyone on any side of the matter. Zero finger-pointing, guilt-tripping, or blame-throwing. Not at we the viewers, nor at anyone who participated in making or distributing media that has harmful elements in it.
Thank you so much for all your hard work and attention to detail!
That is a point in favour of this video. It's frustratingly common for people that want to champion change, do little but point out who "The Enemy" is. It's nice, for a change, to see someone make arguments and reasoning, without going "and this is the person responsible!"
honestly, seriously, the most eye-opening realizations i have had about my masculinity has come from this channel. it began with _The Fantastic Masculinity of Newt Scamander_ and has continued with _Patriarchy According to The Barbie Movie._ of all of the professional and personal help i have enlisted has not been able to explain this to me in this way, maybe i wasn’t ready any other way.
*Thank you so much for interrogating these things* along with all of your culture sleuthing.
The sequence with all the Barbies using the Kens' insecurities to play them against each other always struck me as strangely regressive given the overall sentiment of the movie. Having the big Unified Girl Power moment revolve around all the female characters acting pretty and helpless and feigning interest in their men's passions in order to manipulate those men into compromising their own bid for power and independence feels like.... the exact kind of fearmongering you'd get from "alpha male" tiktoks.
Yeah, I also felt it after that scene.
I mean, I'm not a girl (despite my PFP), so I thought I didn't like the scene simply due to my lack of understanding an average woman's experience. But you showed me it actually was kinda bad. Thank you.
i think the same outcome could have been achieved if the barbies had just been friendly to the other kens instead of pitting them against each other. in a patriarchal mindset, women can't be friends with multiple men (especially when in a relationship, which i'm pretty sure stereotypical barbie was already in at that point) because a genuine friendship between a man and a woman is seen as impossible if it's meant to stay as such, there must be a romantic goal behind it. so by being genuinely friendly to the other kens, the barbies could have realistically achieved the same conflict.
@@miidnxghts you're RIGHT that would have been a great way to really highlight that the issue was the Kens' insecurities, not the Barbies being duplicitous. It could have shown the Barbies making an earnest effort to actually bridge the gap and open better communication channels, and the Kens revealing that they weren't able to see the Barbies as fully realized people with lives outside their romantic relationships (without the Barbies just playing into that perception), OR the other Kens as anything more than competition in their own romantic conquests. Man that might have actually felt like it was Saying Something 😭
I felt icky about that part too, but I read the “regressiveness” as intentional. If you’re going to shape things, the way you do it is important. Attacking the other side is A way to win, but aren’t there better ways? We don’t really get that catharsis until Barbie and Ken apologize to each other, take personal accountability, and start trying to see the others perspective the next day. That’s what I got out of it at least, but your take is totally valid too. Regressive is absolutely the right word to describe the feeling at that part
@@the_piano_nerd4960 that does make sense! I think "it was the wrong solution even though it was effective and personally satisfying, because it was needlessly cruel" is absolutely a good message, and I like that interpretation of the events. Maybe I just wish the third act had gestured to that idea a little more explicitly, but maybe I'd also get that reading more from it if I watched it again with that in mind 🤔
I don’t think most people really think about this stuff or are even really aware of it. A majority of both men and women buy into a lot of patriarchal values just because that’s what they grew up around. They aren’t consciously aware they are doing it, and believe it earnestly. They’re not just doing it because they feel they have to or to gain power, but because they truly believe it is what’s right. I think this is one of the biggest challenges with these kinds of issues that isn’t talked about enough. The focus is always on the well-informed on each side, having this epic cultural or intellectual battle, but to most, there is no battle. Even if you’re a woman and a feminist, it is likely you hold patriarchal biases that harm both men and women that you’re not even aware of. I think this kind of cultural baggage creates an immense inertia that resists change.
It’s really easy to replicate the core values of a social system within a political movement that ostensibly aims to dismantle that same system - that note about men trying to dismantle patriarchy through individual acts of righteous violence is especially poignant because I empathize so strongly with the impulse. To try to solve our problems with violence makes a kind of gut sense because we are surrounded by examples of that worldview from childhood, but it all feeds into patriarchy no matter what your expressed beliefs are. It’s so frustrating to try to exit toxicity, only to realize just how much baggage you still have to work to get rid of.
Keep in mind this isnt necessarily reality but a theory
Very well put
yeah...while i found the movie to be pretty funny and clever at times, its probably because im aware of what barbie is satirizing. it seems like people who dont know what patriarchy is, yet associate it with "men-hating" women, may see this movie and do not understand when its (clearly) exaggerating things. conservatives take everything here at face value, most likely because they dont know how to analyze things or understand them.
@@kenonerboy Isn’t theory the only way we can conceptualize reality?
I thought the Barbie movie was a great example of why people need to work together as equals to keep a well balanced society
Exactly. The film wasn't saying that women should be in charge, it was advocating for balance and equal representation
This was my take on the film. Because as pretty as the "matriarchal barbie dream world" was, it was still pretty flawed.
Barbieland started out pretty dystopic for the Kens, although you could also argue it's a cosmic horror setting, with all the strange, unknowable things going on.
Egalitarianism is the way towards a better world for everyone.
@@JJisjusttiredoflife It was because the Ken’s felt like they weren’t treated as equals either which also wasn’t fair
@@maggierobertson2962 Indeed and it didn’t feel like some long lecture it truly felt heartfelt
If the writers hated Ken so much, why did they give him THE GREATEST MUSICAL PIECE of our generation?
The movie loves Ken! It’s actually a criticism I had of the film. As much as I enjoyed it, I thought it undermined the film’s messaging.
@@birdiewolf3497 Hmm, I felt this way at first, but then I realized that Ken is basically Marilyn Monroe in every role Marilyn Monroe every played. She's dumb as a brick, and a horrible negative stereotype of her gender, because she's always written that way, but I still want nice things for her. And I feel the same way about Ken. He can be better, and I'm rooting for that, because we all deserve that, as a society.
@@birdiewolf3497 I agree. Too much energy was spent assuaging men's feeling in that movie. But I don't blame Greta. They would have been even more inflamed if not.
@@birdiewolf3497 Yeah, me too. The song went on so long and gave him too much screen time. I hated how Barbie apologised to Ken too.
@@sophie1564 Exactly!!! They gave him too much time and epic musical number. Then people were crying at the Oscar’s about how people are “missing the point” of the movie because the culmination of the film’s phenomenon was a musical performance about Ken. It’s the film’s fault! The film itself missed the point! We could have spent less time on him and more time on America’s character, you know the real life woman. The woman who was so sad about her life and her relationship with her daughter that she weakened the barriers of reality. The film didn’t explore that at all.
I don’t think the patriarchy-performing Kens would listen to Alan, as they still see him as Other, so Alan wouldn’t be able to convince them to stop.
It wouldn't be easy that's for sure. The Kens might even beat him up (with nerf toys) but more likely they'd try to shame him back into the fold. Still, even though it can seem like an impossible task, a lot of men are secretly miserable and hiding it. There's opportunity for men to connect with other men over that and make sure they don't blame women for those feelings.
9:39 hits even harder today...
Honestly, the breakdown of patriarchy in the beginning of the video is so good I wanna send this to people just to explain patriarchy to them. Excellent video as always!
Yes!! I was thinking the same thing!!
Same here. Because we all know someone who just doesn't understand it.
Sometimes I manage to go a while without remembering that Ben Shapiro exists
That must be wonderful..
I definitely forgot about his eyebrows until he popped up 😂 🐛
There's even worse online influencers on the right, like matt walsh and nick fuentes who is a neo-nazi.
And then he inflicts himself on everyone...
Truly sorry to remind you. Won't happen again!
Ha!! Saw this video, screamed, looked at it again, saw it was 30 freaking minutes, screamed again, then clicked on it. You don't understand the depth of my love for these people and their well-made analyses and discussions of sociological concepts ❤❤
girl same
Something I've learned is that the importance of control in a relationship evaporates when you ensure that your relationships are founded on mutual interests and respect. That way, when a spouse, friend, or family member asks you to do something, you don't do it because you "have to", you do it because you want to.
That’s what God says…
Thank you for making a video that optimizes being as short as possible and also as well done as possible.
Thanks, I really do try for brevity. It actually takes a ton of time to make things relatively concise.
AND WHEN THE WORLD NEEDED HIM THE MOST...HE RETURNED!
HAZZAAHHH!!!!!
Gerwig did say movies like barbie are simultaneously criticized for doing too much yet not enough at the same time, which... did happen too. Like you said, PCD, i felt like the movie was too kind to Ken after he hurt Barbie. He literally destroyed and stole her home yet Barbie apologizes to him! It frustrates me but i think it was left in as another example of even when men deliberately hurt women because theyre hurting women still have more empathy to see the other perspective and apologize and try to coexist better, yet men are rarely ever held to that empathetic standard in turn
That's true. But. The longsuffering MLK path is usually the only one that really works for a long-lasting change, in the real world. Because the real world fucking sucks.
you could argue that in the end she was the bigger person in apologizing, because ken didnt have the power to see his faults on his own
Right?! And the ken's were cruel in a way the barbie's never were including by attempting to build a wall so that the barbie's couldn't leave the ken's and when they did attempt to leave the ken's building the wall were going to stop them physically from leaving - the barbie's never forced the ken's to be in a relationship with them however the ken's did and they were so misogynistic and humiliating about it too.
Like how was the "misandry" in barbieland land equivalent to the misogyny in barbieland and Real world?
I think that's the problem when there aren't enough films that do this kind of thing (and too many others do it as an antifeminist joke)! Like you can't expect one film to do it all, but if it's one of many voices covering feminism topics it lends a useful voice to the discussion.
@@bigiabbythey were literally servants.. close to being slaved to the barbies.. them building a wall was worse than how the barbies treated them?? Imagine living your whole life knowing that your only role in life is to support and follow someone else only when they need you, nobody will console u, you're just an npc.. an accessory
9:22 this this oh this. It is never impossible for women to gain power in a patriarchy, but they will be subject to the same standards, and more often than not exercise the same power dynamic they promised to steer clear from. Case in point, the Girlboss.
Question. If a woman wanted to compete against men in say...weightlifting, would she need to or not need to exercise and train similar to how the men train?
I don't get this argument that people try to make when they say that women who try to scale the ladder in patriarchy need to adopt the characteristics espoused by it. Like, as opposed to what? Become better at weightlifting than men by playing tea cup or something? How does that even make sense?
@@nicelypenn um no. Being a boss means different things to different people and how someone should act like a boss. People like trump are bad bosses but a lot of times they are in a high position because this is how society think a boss should act. My dad was a better boss then someone like trump but he wouldn't rise as far as trump because he treat his employees better and CEOs don't like that. Instead of trying to fine new and better bosses we instead go with the tired some archetype because of how it was done in the pass. Women shouldn't need to act like trump to be a CEO since those type of bosses suck in the first place.
@@waleuska YES!!!!
@waleuska Suck for who? The workers? Yup. But the CEO is beholden to the shareholders and their representatives. So they have to do good by them, which means maximum exploitation and anything else that might lead to greater profits. Any women that want to rise to the top of a capitalist oligarchy are still gonna have to play by the rules of that system.
@@pumpkinhill4570 sure but that doesn't mean you have to be an asshole to achieve this. You can be nice and still exploit people. Once again there is 1 billion different ways to make money and 1 billion different ways to be a boss. Saying that they need to act this way to succeed just because someone else did it that way is just stupid and wrong.
Really good video, I love that it doesn't paint this movie as perfect in the portrayal of the patriarchy because it certainly isn't, but it presents a nuanced analysis of how it was portrayed.
This channel is truly a gem, I've been a subscriber for years now and I'm glad you keep creating this videos.
I appreciate you acknowledging from the beginning that there are other valid critiques of the Barbie movie that you’re just not going to cover. Knowing the scope beforehand is helpful
PCD posting is like seeing a shooting star
Your videos are always the most thought-provoking, profound and moving videos on this site, and I always try to recommend them to friends. Please keep doing what you are doing, and spreading the amazing messages within your videos. Keep up the good work!
Ken discovering that his purpose isn't Barbie, and he's enough is some of the most empovering things I've seen in films. Men are burdened with societal expectations and pressures, and many give up and become toxic and begin ridiculing others. While some finally understand that its not society that matters, but what they believe themselves.
Yeah, as a feminist guy I thought the movie had a lot of positive messages for men, for those willing to look. Stuff like "You can't define your worth by a woman's acceptance", "Learn to appreciate other men and the support they can provide", and "Value yourself even if society won't" are all deep emotional messages in the film. Those messages do get a little distorted however, due to all the conflicting metaphors and themes at play.
He didn't discover his purpose though. Barbie had to regurgitate that fact for him. If he had any agency in pursuing that himself, I would agree but that isn't the case.
Me: Huh that was a fun movie
Ben Shapeepoo: *angry growling wolf noises*
Hi, I just wanted to say your content has really helped me out.
I know you get a lot of comments, but I think what the videos here have done for me are worth mentioning at least.
Your content about different displays of power imbalance and toxicity in media, and breakdowns of them, were something I watched while I was in the middle of an abusive relationship, and helped me come to terms with what I was going through, and finally leave my abuser. particularly, as a man, your videos about male sexual assault and its portrayal as comedic were really cathartic for me.
Videos like the ones you make are more than just education or entertainment, they've actually helped out people, and taught people what they need to understand and know about the real world, and you deserve a mountain of appreciation
(also your essays are just really good)
We can see how Alan, a feminine man, was largely excluded and made the butt of the joke even in Barbie society. I think his role is really hurting the point of why it is patriarchy that hurts men into having to be masculine
Well the Barbie movie itself is not particularly feminist leaning as the video alludes to. But yea on top of that despite generally liking this video I think its use of Allen as an example of a man not fighting the Patriarchy was really misguided. It reinforced patriarchal concepts that conflict and leadership are the only ways to make contributions.
Oppressed by patriarchy and discriminated by patriarchy are two very different things. That's feminism 101. It doesn't directly hurt men if they can still oppress women.
The thing about Barbie is that it doesn't really tackle gender nonconformity, or gender in much of a way beyond masculine men and feminine women. Allan is treated poorly in Barbie society in spite of his femininity - something considered valuable in Barbieland - because femininity is valuable *in Barbies*, not in Allan. Just as in the real world, masculinity is valuable *in men*, but so often derided in women. Even though masculinity is expected of women to do "men's work" they're still degraded for not being feminine because, crucially, the patriarchy doesn't want women doing man things at all. But whether Allen's position as less than in both Barbieland and Kendomland was a purposeful nod to this phenomenon is... unclear. And I dare say unlikely.
Yeah, I really disliked Alans role in the narrative. They could've used it to built an example of a learning ally, but instead it was only played for laughs
@@TheOriginalDogLPsame with Midge.
Just wanted to point out as well that while it is easily misconstrued, the interpretation of the Kens being pitted against each other to vy for the Barbie's attention + the Barbie's plans to pit them against each other in the end to "let them tear each other down" can also work as an allegory for how women are pitted against one another to rise up in the world of patriarchy as well! :) I feel like the western world has a better grip on a "girl's girl" culture currently to combat this, but I would like to remind you that in some places, it's still pretty cutthroat out there 🥹 **looks pointedly at Asia and its unrealistic body standards for women** 😒😑😑 (For context, I'm a women in Asia that isn't petite, slim and pale)
Exactly. I still hear very commonly from fellow girls talking how they prefer the company of men over women, because of less drama, less judgments, no gossip, etc. And I've witnessed how one particilar girl still stubbornly insist on that despite being ridiculed for her interest by her male friends (make-up), seeing how they bad talk their other friend behind their back and literally experiencing the whole group falling apart due to some petty fight between two guys (and the feud continues on).
Ok, it's anecdotal, I don't deny the existence of toxic feminity or some bad tendencied women might have that should be recognized. But... For someone to be this intentionally blind must show to a degree how performative and forced the whole "not like other girls" act is.
It might be because I've been in mostly male spaces due to my education path, so I have more experience with them than women, but I've seen so much... Pettiness and shallowness, that I really don't get why it's said that men are above that. I've also met a number of amazing gentle and passionate people, men and women included. I just think that it's generally harder to meet valuable people and you cannot just judge that based on some traits as superficial as gender.
it's mentioned in the video
i think it is a common trope in, that men actually would be peaceful and would all be bros if it wasnt for women who are pitting them against each other. So i disagree.
@@KomoraKriogenicznai would go as far as to say that in some men friend groups men dont really care for each other and it is all very shallow, so i agree. I, as a man experienced shallowness in men friendgroups, however i experienced that way less in women friend groups.
@@MrTerapakWhere you interacted with emotional intimacy more?
I found Barbie to be a simply cathartic movie when it came to woman’s issues but the bench scene with the old lady made me cry. I can’t fully explain it but there was something there with the idea of one woman just genuinely speaking to another, a stranger, and just calling them beautiful for no other reason than to just simply do so. That’s what it means to be a woman, or any minority really. The support and care from those within your group is some of the most important acts one can do and receive and it’s what lets us survive a world that puts us down at any turn.
This is the funniest comment I’ve seen so far 🤣
@@kaenachoo4783 Lol why?
@@kaenachoo4783 Bruh honestly. It’s a Barbie movie, it’s not that deep.
@@georgelucas2571 men will never understand
@@marianat1393 Yeah the Barbie movie is too complex to understand. Only people with high IQ can understand the complexity of this masterpiece. 🤓
I feel a lot of pushback on women centred media is because the characters main trait is "woman" and thats it. I have no problems with strong female characters (Avatar the last air bender is full of them) because they are richly detailed, flawed but have strengths. They're real people who maje mistakes and need to deal with those consequences.
Compare to many modern female charaters (Rey, She-Hulk, Batwoman) they are unlikable, arrogant, condescending and quite often wrong but you can't point it out or you're anti feminist.
I don't want a woman on screen. I want an amazing character that happens to be a woman.
Yeah but the reason you might find certain characters "unlikable, arrogant and condescending" might lie in internalized patriarchal views
@krrrrrrrrrrrr3372 ok, let's compare she Hulk to a male character that is also unlikeable, condescending and rude: Jesse Eisenbergs Mark Zuckerberg in the social network.
The difference between them is his character gets some form of comeuppance for being a jerk to people and while he has sucess he is alone. Consequences for actions.
You don't like him and you feel ok with the outcome because his good parts don't negate the bad or his actions.
For She Hulk she ... gets to be a sucessful lawyer and save the day. Is there any pushback for her actions? No. Any consequences? No. Does she learn anything? Not really.
That is not a good story.
@@krrrrrrrrrrrr3372it’s patriarchal to not like someone possessing more negative traits than positive?
Yeah so problem with that. There are some stories that require a Woman to be the one to tell them. Not every Female character can be a "happens to be a female" character, because then some stories that need to be told can't be told.
@lucyla9947 which is not a problem if being a woman is integral to the story. The Barbie movie for instance is an example of the lead MUST be female. But she's more than "female". She's curious, kind, naive, hopeful but can be easily mislead due to her belief everyone is good too.
It's when, again, the only trait is "woman" and all other character development stops that I have an issue
I appreciated that the Mattel CEOs, who were all men, weren't 'Evil' or 'Misogynistic'... I think they reflected the idea that men in power doesn't necessarily have to mean Patriarchy... They were maybe more a product of old-school ways of doing things... But they were still willing to listen, learn, and have conversations about what women want in the world.
It’s funny you had a clip from Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken because in that movie the women are the only ones who can turn into giant kraken, are in total authority and none of the men or boys have any issue with it whatsoever.
Ruby’s dad and Uncle Brill even embody the compassion and emotional support that patriarchy detests men having
I loved that movie ❤
Movie was ass
If patriarchy detested compassion and emotion from men, how come men have for centuries produced art that portrayed compassion and emotion?
@@nicelypennthat's easy, because under the traditional patriarchy women werent really allowed to really do anything or aspire for anything as they were only suppsoed to be a housewife and serve under a man, meaning that the only ones who would be given the time and ability to learn and grow their writing and art skills would be men. Even when women did write, alot of them used pseudonyms/pen names or wrote anonymously to be able to get their work out. Besides, alot of creative type men were often outcasts themselves, when looking into their lives you'll see alot of them have troubled childhoods because of not liking or going after "manly" things. This usually includes being bullied by peers or being abused or treated as a dissapointment by their fathers for not growing up to be the kind of man they wanted. Once they have success theyre obviously treated better but the effects still remain. Patriarchy is bad for everyone.
@@jovianmelendez That's a very stereotypical and narrow view of creative types, especially from a historical perspective. Yes, a lot have had troubled childhoods, but I don't think it's as common as you think it is
Dude, I ADORE your videos. Your viewpoint is always so clear and to the point. I greatly enjoy learning from you. :)
I appreciate that!
So Barbie knows what fascism is, does that mean Mussolini was a Ken doll?
I won’t put past someone to have made a customized Mussolini Ken
he sure did act like a caricature of masculinity. machismo ken with matching little hat.
@DevelpmentandAnthropologycan you elaborate?
@@msjkramey I think the reason of being fascist is that only Barbies get jobs and political positions.
But actually it's because Mattel doesn't want to make dolls of different professions for the Kens, and sell them to boys. Because it's not "masculine". Have you ever seen a doll that is the father of a baby?
@@emiliasilva8810 Actully yes. Alan, Ken's friend is married to Midge, the doll that has a baby. So yes, there is a daddy doll in the range.
Omg I’ve been waiting on a new upload! Thank you for this. 😊
It's deeply sad and worrying to me that a movie with an ultimately very peaceful and heartwarming message gets misunderstood so badly just because on the cover, it's a feminist women- movie. I watched it two times in the cinema and absolutely love it, both as a movie and as a message. Men just want to be loved like everybody else, but we are brought up in an absolutely ridiculous way. And like the movie says no, it's neither necessary nor natural. Yes, it has it's roots in anthropology, but so does having a tail. We usually shed the obsolete.
Love that you had to introduce your video with a caveat that "THIS IS NOT GENDER STUDIES IN FILM 4020 THIS IS SOCIOLOGY 1010 and some people need to start here"
You are such a thoughtful creator! I have appreciated you since Born Sexy Yesterday and have cited your work in my GSWS! Thank you
If Ken wanted a world of guys and horses, he should have watched Brokeback Mountain. And maybe find a western-themed gay bar.
I'm definitely not writing any KenxKen fanfiction
my dumbass thought the comment said bojack horseman at first
Thank you for saying the movie was a bit TOO sympathetic to Ken. I asked myself in the theater - why is SHE apologizing to HIM? By making it seem like Barbie did something mean to him first, I felt the movie made the patriarchy thing Barbie's fault, not Ken's. I also agree that the metaphors got a bit mixed - I wasn't sure by the end what behavior was meant to stand for what. I'd love to hear more from you in a general movie analysis!
When I confronted my assaulter I *apologized* for making him uncomfortable. Tbf I’m kind of a dumbass but saying sorry is something that’s definitely ingrained into women 🥲🔫
I was fine with the apology, actually - he she should have thought about whether she was neglecting their relationship (as people, not as boyfriend/girlfriend) and treating him as nothing more than an accessory. That was an appropriate thing to apologise for. However I also appreciated that she didn't apologise for anything she wasn't actually responsible for. I wish he'd shown more remorse and apologised in turn, but he got to just skip to the 'breakthrough understanding'. :/
I assume she was apologizing for the mistreatment of the Kens in the beginning of the film. Why should Barbie not apologize for that? Wasn't it clearly wrong?
@@fudgefactor1639 Most of the Kens' unhappiness in the beginning is self-inflicted, like many "nice guys." Their greatest struggle is that they want Barbie to worship them and none of the Barbies do. Acting like the Barbies were somehow in the wrong for not wanting the Kens romantically despite them "trying so hard" is perfectly reflective of many real-world incels and it is a mindset that must be stomped out entirely.
@@fudgefactor1639 yes it makes sense to apologize for that, but my complaint is that the writers arranged the movie in such a way that she had something to apologize to him for. If you’re trying to write a metaphor about patriarchy, why make the moral of the story that the female character admits she was wrong but the male character doesn’t? To me it sends the wrong message about what patriarchy is. It’s not a misunderstanding or a mutual mistake. It’s a structure of control made by men to maintain power. Women did nothing to “cause” that.
Ken seeking validation through Barbie is not gender flipped at all. It is considered one of the more toxic traits of patriarchy not only that women are seen as conquests, but as a man's only source of emotional validation. Men are conditioned to never be emotional, and the only safe outlet they have for their normal human feelings is a girlfriend or wife. It's one of the reasons men will become increasingly violent after break ups. They might still have all the status symbols, but they've lost their only source of human worth, and they feel foolish for having been emotionally vulnerable at all.
Edit: You do go on to say all of this, but maybe not make that connection.
Men are plenty emotional. But as usual, you look at things through a female lens and only see traditionally female displays of emotionality as valid. Men might use different words and actions to display how they feel, but we most certainly do feel.
And of the tiny amount of men who become violent after breakups do so because they had role models that were violent, not because they followed traditional norms of masculine emotional display.
This entire diatribe just reeks of egocentrism and an inability to view things through the lens of a different gender. Judging men's emotions by female standards is not going to get us anywhere, any more than judging women's by male standards is.
Also one of the reasons that widows live longer than widowers. Once men lose their emotional outlet as older men, they tend to break down quicker whereas women generally have stronger social networks in place.
Good point. That's also the source of the toxic patriarchal expectation that women should solely manage the relationship and the man's emotions/ego so that the man only needs to settle in and enjoy.
@@erzsebetkovacs2527the woman also gets to settle in and enjoy tho...wdym? İf you are considering one side of the gender roles, why not see the other too?
Dude, that was incredible! Makes me want to watch the movie again
Same, and I didn’t even like it that much when I first saw it.
So when one man does something really bad, no matter how bad, it's "not all men."
But if one movie portrays one man not in a perfect light, but as a complex human being, suddenly it's, "This movie is against ALL MEN!" from these same people?
If it's the side that screams "it's all men" doing the movie, is pretty obvious that that's the intention
There's no contradiction
@@randomusername3873If Ken supposed to be bad, why we sympathize with him?
@@cthulhucrews6602 Easy answer. No.
and uhm is Ken a MAN?
@@randomusername3873
That's the thing, though, the whole point is trying to unpack how this is a systemic problem, it's not any individual's fault, it's a description of the environment we live in. The comparison I like to use is it's like how I can criticize car dependent infrastructure without criticizing people for driving cars. Of course you drive a car -- how else are you supposed to get to the store or to work if you don't have any public transportation or bicycle infrastructure -- but this doesn't change how harmful it is for everyone to be driving cars all the time. It's harmful, but that doesn't mean you're to blame, it just means you're trapped in a harmful system which both harms you and also causes you to participate in harming others.
Really excited for that Heroic Death video. That's always been an aggravating trope for me
Ooh! My pet peeve trope would be Women in Refrigerators. I think he went over Heroic Deaths in the Stranger Things video once before too!
26:10 “it’s not women, but patriarchy, that’s blocking men’s access to emotional and physical intimacy” my god THANK YOU. every time that men’s mental health gets brought up in women’s spaces and discussions about unrelated topics, this is the key issue. deplatforming women and women’s issues by trying to silence them with that scapegoat effectively blames women for systems that we didn’t create nor perpetuate. men, if you were truly serious about those topics, you wouldn’t only bring it up during women’s discussions as if it is something we have to fix for you. we’re here with open arms, you only need to reach out
Except that's not really the whole story, now is it? A lot of women still want men to be stoic and think men who show vulnerability are weak and unattractive. You're making this about women vs men when it's really not that simple.
@@screew708 … thank you for proving the point! you’re taking the few and making it representative of all women all while ignoring the role men play in their own suffering.
@@screew708 if you watched the video or read/understood my comment, you’d know i’m not making this about men vs women. it’s the complete opposite. men are making it men vs women when they blame women for the consequences to the systems that men themselves have created. it’ll take us all to dismantle it.
it's just putting emotional care on one half of society when everyone could participate in it. men need to treat men better, men and women need to stop fighting each other and people need to stop frowning upon solidarity, kindness and honest enthusiasm. amen.
No because they always blame women with crap like “men never get compliments, we only get flowers at our funerals, wives don’t do their part when men come back from war etc etc”
Like bro y’all played yourselves! There are def women who uphold toxic standards in men but most of us would LOVE it if the men in our lives were more vulnerable with us, but nooo they’d rather shoot themselves in the foot instead
The most beautiful part of Barbie, is that Ken doesn't get his comeuppance by being beaten down, but by being enlightened that he's his own person, a person who can love himself for who he is, without the need to be affirmed by "things" such as a job, a woman etc.
Another eloquent and well-thought-out masterpiece... Thank you very much, I will send this video to a few people to help them understand what patriarchy is.
It's always a good day whenever pop culture detective uploads
I'm a proud patreon supporter. You could do a single video a year and it would be well worth the price. The content you make is important
yo fr tho
I wish i could have a whole conversation with this content creator. I've been an activist since I was 7, and worked in film since 2011.
1:04 Ken is unlikable?? Girl, what movie were you watching?
The vanity fair polygraph thing is extra upsetting cause like... polygraphs are just a measure of how nervous you are answering questions. Like, with the way that interview was conducted, of course the graph was going to go crazy when she answered that question, no matter what her thoughts were, it was just a cheap gotcha
Really, anyone that uses polygraphs to "prove" anything should have their reputation ruined for believing in that pseudo-scientific nonsense.
I still find it absurd that the United States uses it in court cases.
@@Snaveltje12 A lot of states don't these days, and states that do often have a lot of restrictions on their use, mainly because a) their results differ wildly depending on a ton of different factors, and b) juries tend to think they're a lot more effective than they actually are
@@fritzophrenia3146 I am glad to hear that
Not initiating a gender war or smtg...but if a man said that about women, idk how the reaction would be.
Yay! I love your in-depth videos. I especially love how you make it clear that feminism isn't about putting men down. It's about releasing them from this system that has hurt women first and then restricted men at the same time.
Also, lowkey your episode on Solarpunk inspired me to do a proto-solarpunk reading on 'Sultana's dream' from 1905 a feminist utopia short story but had a lot of the key features of solarpunk. And I got an A for it. So thank you.
All emotional restrictions have placed by women.. ken was of his humanity under feminism. And barbie speech blames patriarchy for stresses feminist fought for
You might want to edit your comment, because you said that "feminism is about putting men down", which is the opposite of what you meant.
@@ImMaleImProudthat's not true. Men police their own and others' emotions, and women fell in line. And yes, equality and power can be stressful, but living as a second class citizen is worse
@@peterlewis2178 oopsies. Thanks for pointing that out. It was a typo. It was midnight when I wrote this. 😅
@@msjkramey you mean expression and behavior yes
so glad you’re back and I’m so excited for all the future projects to you mentioned!!! amazing as always
Yes!! Can’t wait to watch the upcoming videos!
Really appreciate how your video went over the good and bad of the movie. You don't try to make it seem like the worst thing ever for a few mistakes and you don't try to make it seem like the best movie in the world for the things it gets right.
Just a genuine criticism and look into the messages and themes of the movie and how it works and how itt doesn't t
So glad you're back! I love this essay, because I got to the end of the movie and said, "Well, they certainly tried to deliver a message, but I think they mya have gotten lost along the way." Glad you found them.
My only complaint for this video essay is that it was only 33 minutes. Thanks for your superb work!
Glad the video is back up. Sharing it with friends
Always a joy when there's a new pop culture detective video ❤️ Can't wait to watch this tomorrow
Well done! One note, when Alan confronted construction workers, the reality would have been him being murdered. Confrontation in those moments usually makes things worse for everyone.
True. Men absolutely risk becoming a victim of violence themselves when standing up for women in these sorts of situation and have just as good of a chance at Jackie Chan-ing their way out of a gang attacking them as any woman would, it perpetuates the patriarchal role of the male protector who uses physical violence to protect his property. Men shouldn't feel obligated to throw themselves in harm's way for women, it isn't even about that for the most part. Violence isn't always the solution, especially when it comes to problems of a social nature. Realistically speaking, the situations where men in particular need to stand up for women are social ones such as, for instance, calling out men who casually make sexist comments because they feel safe doing so in the presence of other men. Even in a situation where, say, a woman is being crept on by men and is clearly feeling unsafe and you want to help, you wouldn't confront and try to fight the men, you would try to get the woman out safely. A lot of older women have this sort of "auntie network" thing where they will pretend to know a young woman who is being crept on so she will no longer be a single target and have a chance to escape the situation with her. It would probably be less dangerous for a guy to pretend he's got one of the men mistaken for someone else or to ask them for the way to some place to take their attention off the woman than it would be for him to play the hero and jump in brandishing his fists.
@@rainpooper7088 And even in some rare case where the one "good guy" standing up for women was successful in his fight, it wouldn't accomplish anything, because the men he challenged would simply see him as either a threat or a superior man because of his violent capabilities and tendencies, which should be the opposite of what we want a good man to be. It sends the wrong message entirely when good men think they can just beat all the bad guys up.
You were born to explain things, I've been hooked on your videos the last couple days, keep going!
19:50 I'd argue there is a derogatory term like that - "wifebeater" - but I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a term like that used in a comedy.
Because suffering of women is usually treated as more sacred
Thank you for making videos like these. I can only hope it shows up in the feed of those who (willfully or other wise) didn’t get it.
I still feel it’s so incredibly unfortunate that Barbie was used as the vehicle for this message. Ken, as a default secondary and entirely inferior product is legitimately trapped in a Matriarchy. It naturally gives all the sympathy to Ken. 95% of viewers of the movie did not get the message the movie wished to convey.
I agree many people missed the message. But I think the movie very much intends the audience to sympathize with Ken. I think the movie doesn't have a feminist message as the beginning of the video alludes to. Or at least its message is a pretty warped version of feminism. But this isn't surprising. Gerwig is a moderate in the culture wars. It is much more obvious in her other movies. She is not particularly feminist. And if you really pay attention to the Barbie movie it is pretty clearly meant to have a message of moderation in regards to feminism.
Im pretty sure the only message the movie had to convey was "consume product", with all this other stuff being nothing more than a thin veneer aimed at giving it the appearance of having something meaningful to say, and hence why why that element is so shallow and hamfistedly put together.
@@peterisawesomeplease I do agree, the movie wanted the audience to sympathize with Ken. But I think they wanted us to at least equally sympathize with Barbie. Instead, Ken became the protagonist and Barbie got to go to the gynaecologist… what an odd, odd movie.
Wow, you sure found the entire point of the movie but somehow missed the intent.
@@Jane-oz7pp The intent is to sell a brand.
NEVER BEEN THIS EXCITED FOR A VIDEO ESSAY UPLOAD OMG
I love your content. Thank you for everything you do. You convey thoughts that I have internally, but can't quite put into words.
This was really clearly and succinctly explained, and really well paced and edited; thank you for fighting to keep it up and accessible for people! You managed to put into words many of the thoughts I had after watching the film - I felt frustrated by the mixed messages, but didn't articulate this clearly.
I know there was a heck of a lot to cover, but it would be interesting to have a part two or companion video to this talking about all the ways the Barbies re-enforce patriarchal values as women, and how deeply rooted this is in the real world - women are entrenched into a way of thinking about themselves that is very patriarchal and reductionist.
Thanks again for the time and effort you took to make this!
been waiting for a video from you on this movie
very excited for the videos in the works! i happened to be reading the will to change when barbie came out and found them to be exceptionally well paired
I was always kind of confused by the big third act plan. They go around to all the Barbies and deprogram them, but they’ve got an entirely different plan for all the Kens.
It reads like “when a woman participates in patriarchy it’s because she’s been brainwashed into it, but when a man does, it’s just because it’s in his nature.”
There’s a distinct ding effect when a Barbie is deprogrammed but I don’t remember any Ken getting that. So it reads like it’s just something they were always ready and eager to do and not because they too were brainwashed into doing something that hurts themselves because they had no experiences to prepare them to resist it, just like the Barbies.
Both the Barbies and Kens were hurt in Kendomland, brainwashed by an idea brought by Ken from our world, but only the Kens seem to be held culpable. And what appears to be a belief in an inherent personality/behavioral/psychological difference between men and women doesn’t read as especially feminist to me.
barbie was genuinely such a clever, artistic, and entertaining way to bring attention to the negative effects of patriarchal society, but people were so upset at the idea of criticism against anything male that they couldn't bring themselves to understand it
It's been so long! Glad to see another well researched and well thought out video. Kudos to you and your team.
Top notch stuff as always. I definitely have mixed feelings about how Barbie approaches feminism and patriarchy (and they're ultimately problems that are a result of the conditions it was created under), but I think this did a great job exploring and expanding upon those core themes.
The only thing I'll say is that I don't think right-wing resistance to this film was because of how it challenged patriarchal ideas, I think it's just because in many a conservative mind everything they consider a buzzword means the context can be ignored and what is being said is dangerous or worthless.
I think the right wing reaction was absolutely to protect patriarchy, which is a shame because, as this video illustrates, while the effects of patriarchy are very outwardly damaging toward women, it also harms men in less obvious but still very real ways. For the most part, I don’t think it’s been well explained how patriarchy and terms like “toxic masculinity” are harmful toward men, and the right wing and even centrists have hijacked the terms to mean a hatred of men. For the few who do (for example, Ben Shapiro is an educated man, he definitely knows what it means), being among the first to help dismantle patriarchy opens you up to vulnerability until it is widely adopted. It essentially becomes a Mexican stand off, where everyone is afraid to be the first to put their gun (patriarchy) down, lest the other person doesn’t and takes advantage of the situation.
@@smacain I think you're right that protecting patriarchy is the result and ultimate intention behind it, but the vitriol is specifically because of the language used and the forwardness. The root of fascism, and modern conservatism in general, is one of contradiction and intentional ignorance, and it leaves the people who subscribe to the ideology more dependent on obvious signals and flag waving rather than what anything actually says or means. To many of those who push back against the message of Barbie it doesn't come from understanding or admitting the privilege they hold in the system it challenges, they just see it as signposting that it's on the opposite side of a culture war.
@@user-xsn5ozskwg I agree with you, I am just skeptical of the power-holders. These media giants know they’re misrepresenting the discourse, it’s their viewers who haven’t changed the channel in 20 years and buy the propaganda hook, line, and sinker that feed into the cycle of disinformation. It’s like, the texts from the Fox News talking heads clearly demonstrated they knew the 2020 election was not rigged, but they lied to their viewers, and those viewers don’t even know about these texts because Fox never reported the story. And at even the most milquetoast critique of Trump, the audience fled to OAN, so Fox reversed its stance.
Yea I like the video overall but had a few problems with it. One of them was the way it used populist right wing commentators dislike of the movie as a motivation. These commentators know what the patriarchy means. They are just exploiting under-educated right wing audiences for another dollar or vote. Attacking them for cheap clicks is not effective in countering them.
Meanwhile many smarter conservatives are actually fans of the movie and of Gerwig's work generally. Gerwig isn't exactly a right winger but her movies are more a voice calling for moderation in culture wars. People on the right and left often try to claim her works as supporting their side. Leaving this unaddressed especially given the opening which was very "strawmanny" was a mistake.
@@smacain Most of the right wing reaction was from people who didn't see it, and who didn't want to see it, because they just assumed that because it was a move with feminism in it, it must be all about hating men.
Their reaction was... reactionary and not really the product of an attempt to protect patriarchy. Purely snowflake stuff.
Fastest things in the universe, 1. the speed of light, 2. Me clicking a new pop culture detective video
Average UA-cam comment:
babe wake up pop culture detective just dropped a barbie video
12:47 The worst part is, at the same time that society put those films into a “female experience story”, they blame the film itself for “putting women in a different box than men” as if we wanted to be seen as unequal.
Welcome back! So glad you’re able to keep the video up and share analysis!
Might just be me, but feels like we've been waiting for the colonialism in board games video for years.
Don't get me wrong though, definitely appreciate how much work / research is clearly going into it.
The video about redemption through death for male characters sounds really interesting too.
This is a gorgeous video essay. Such a brilliant explanation of how sexism plays out structurally, culturally and interpersonally. And how patriarchal ideas don’t benefit men or women. Love your mention of intersectionality. I teared up at the end when you mentioned how important solidarity is between men and women as a way to end sexism and how men should challenge other men on sexism.
Your editing is so seamless. I love transitions like 10:36, where you pan up to the sky to cut to the old space clip, and like 12:08, where you fade from Barbie’s face to Oppenheimer. Or the transition at 18:34. You have such a good match of visuals to the voiceover. You use such a breadth of examples; it’s very visually appealing. And I love your supercuts of the use of the word patriarchy in media and the news. Your video has excellent pacing - your cutting to diegetic clips between voiceovers helps process what was just said. Your script is very concise and well-explained and shows a lot of research and care. I love your use of sound and music. And love your cat Madame Curie's cameo in the end!
Liked, am already subscribed and commenting to boost you on the dreaded UA-cam algorithm! Also retweeting your vid, I want as many people to see this. Thanks so much for your hard work! This would've taken so long to make
Welcome back! Love your content ❤❤❤❤
Hope it doesn't get taken down again!
Really interesting video!
i love your content so much i watched this on the internet archive while it was down but so glad to see it's back on youtube too
I interpreted that the reason Ken fell into patriarchy the way that he did was because he was basing his feeling of self worth on his ability to “have Barbie”. He saw patriarchy as validating that he should get Barbie just because he was Ken.
BTW Patreon supporters can watch a much longer supercut of right-wingers freaking out about Barbie, and another longer supercut of fictional characters saying the word patriarchy. They are pretty funny montages. I will upload them to UA-cam or somewhere for everyone at some point but for now they are here: www.patreon.com/popdetective
The montage of snarky teenagers talking about the patriarchy really shows how films can make a straw man out of feminism. The teenagers are always shown as unserious and grumpy posers who just need to chill out. Their ideas about feminism and oppression come from books, not from any actual experience they've had, and the things they advocate for are often superficial. Legally Blonde is the only example I can think of where you do see concrete ways that women are affected by the system, and how they support each other to navigate through it. And even in that film there is a "feminist" played for laughs as if to say "Elle isn't a feminist. She just went to Harvard to get her boyfriend back, not to make some kind of statement."
Omg is the video disabled?
@@nikolaib5764 looks like it, had a tab opened to watch later but nope. I bet on a copyright or something
Sometimes, I wonder if these videos could be made less partisan.
Right- and left-wingers overreacting to things can be funny, but can distance people on the other side of the artificial fence.
@@nikolaib5764 It was for a little, but it seems to be back now. Give it another try.
WELCOME BACK KING!!! ❤
This is honestly the most concise and well put summary of the patriarchy that I've ever experienced. Thank you!
Just adding a comment to bump the algorithm after the WB thing :) loved the vid