'Barbie' Rises Above the Drama to Make Box Office History
For weeks, it felt there had been a countdown to a box office war between Barbie and Oppenheimer. Well, we have a winner. Barbie won the weekend, taking in more than $155 million to Oppenheimer's $80 million. I have to admit, I was skeptical as to how it would do, especially considering the conservative backlash to the film, with many prominent voices on the right calling the movie "woke" for its feminist messaging, complaining about the presence of trans characters and its overall message.
Well, now that I've seen the film, I'm confused about what they were talking about. Sure, the film has a pro-women's rights message, but like, did you expect anything less from a film about a doll that was originally created because there was a lack of fully formed female dolls on the market? No other options other than baby dolls? For a film about Barbie, if you for one second thought it was going to be a love story about Barbie falling in love with Ken, you're living in fantasyland.
And in fact, I kind of feel like the film was a great message not only for little girls, but also little boys. Spoiler alert: Ken learns that it's ok to have his own feelings and interests that don't involve Barbie. In fact, he learns that he doesn't need to live in the shadow of Barbie, he can just be Ken. How is that somehow a bad message for little boys? Shouldn't we be allowing them to be their own person and form their own opinions, outside the influence of others? Call me stupid, but me thinks little boys might be better off if more people told them they're fine just the way they are.
As to the message for little girls, the film does a perfect job saying that you can be anything you want to be, without Ken. Since when is it bad to tell girls that they're okay the way they are and that they don't have to be defined by what men or society says they should be?
The other message conservatives pushed about the film was the gender issue, that somehow the film is yet another attack from the left on gender. Listen, I feel like I'm a pretty smart person, and frankly, I have no idea where they got this attack on gender. First off, there's no blurring of the lines on gender in the film. If anything, the film is incredibly gendered, something you'd think the right would be happy with. It's so gendered that most of the Barbies and the Kens dress and fit within stereotypical gender roles. There wasn't one non-binary Ken or Barbie. Hell, even weird Barbie wore a dress!
The other gender point some conservatives mentioned was the presence of trans actress Hari Nef as one of the Barbies. But after watching the film, I was even more confused as to what they're angry about. Nef just played another Barbie. The character wasn't a trans Barbie, her being trans was never mentioned, she was just there in the mix of all the other Barbies. So, are they angry that a trans actor got a job as one of the Barbies? Just the sheer presence of a trans person is somehow wrong?
I'm sorry, I just don't get it. Because if the argument is that a trans actor shouldn't be allowed to act, then are you saying a trans person shouldn't be allowed work as, say, a cashier at Walmart? Should they be regulated out of view?
So, as I was leaving the theater, stuffed from overeating popcorn (it's just so good), I couldn't help but wonder if all of the anger from the right over the film Barbie was, perhaps, just a ploy to get more attention to their cause? Are they, in fact, not angry at all over the movie and just wanted to use the huge amount of attention the film has received in order to score a few political points for their side? Part of me thinks so, but hey, what do I know? I'm just a pop culture nerd who wanted to go watch a fun movie. And that's exactly what Barbie is, fun!
See you on Thursday,
H. Alan Scott