It’s important to recognise that Barbie (2023) criticises both the patriarchy AND the matriarchy. Yes, the Ken’s are just accessories to the Barbies. Yes, they don’t have any say in the government they live under. That’s the point, you’re supposed to feel awful, you’re supposed to want the Kens to have their own agency, you’re supposed to want equality. The Barbie movie explicitly states that the way Barbie treats Ken is wrong, so much so that once he finds a safe space for his masculinity and individual identity he’s so excited to share it with the other Kens.
But they go overboard and replace a matriarchy with a patriarchy and now the same issue exists but in reverse. That’s the POINT!! THATS THE POINT!!! Barbie is not anti-men it’s pro equality PLEASE understand this
the fact that the first female human experience barbie goes through is being self conscious and experiencing sexual harassment mirrors how growing up as a girl one day you’re okay and the next all of a sudden you feel bad about your appearance and are receiving unwanted advances is something that can be so fucking important to be recognized in film
yes i know heartstopper is “cringe” and yes I know you think it’s not that deep but you’ve endured years of cringe oversexualized shows about high schoolers where the gays are delegated to sub plots I’m sure a few hours of queer people being safe and happy and loved won’t kill you so please shut the fuck up
now i’m thinking about how men are like “hmm. i don’t get it” in regards to Barbie and how women spend their whole lives listening to men’s stories and learning how to relate to them abstractly because they’re not made for them. now the roles are reversed and instead of men being willing to find themselves in a story about women and motherhood and daughterhood, they shut down because they’re not forced to empathize the way women are.
