I watched Barbie and absolutely hated it. Though it did provide some value to me after I spent some time thinking about why precisely I hated it. Barbie really showed me the difference between the archetypal story that appeals to males and the female equivalent, and how much just hitting that archetypal story is enough to make a movie enjoyable for either men or women.
The plot of the basic male-appealing story is “Man is weak. Man works hard with clear goal. Man becomes strong”. I think men feel this basic archetypal story much more strongly than women, so that even an otherwise horrible story can be entertaining if it hits that particular chord well enough (evidence: most isekai stories), if the man is weak enough at the beginning, or the work especially hard. I’m not exactly clear what the equivalent story is for women, but it’s something like “Woman thinks she’s not good enough, but she needs to realise that she is already perfect”. And the Barbie movie really hits on that note, which is why I think the women in my life seemed to enjoy it. But that archetype just doesn’t resonate with me at all.
The apparent end-point for the Kens in the movie is that they “find themselves”. This was (to me) a clear misunderstanding by the female authors of what the masculine instinct is like. Men don’t “find themselves”, they decide who they want to be and work towards climbing out of their pitiful initial states. (There was also the weird Ken obsession with horses, which are mostly a female-only thing)
I suppose you may have correctly analysed your reason for not liking the movie. But if you are right that you only respond to a limited set of story types, do you therefore aspire to opening yourself to different ones in future, or is your conclusion that you just want to stick to films with ‘man becomes strong’ character arcs?
I personally loved Barbie (man here!), and think it was hilarious, charming and very adroit politically. I also think that much of the moral messaging is pretty universal – Greta Gerwig obviously thinks so: when she says: “I think equally men have held themselves to just outrageous standards that no one can meet. And they have their own set of contradictions where they’re walking a tightrope. I think that’s something that’s universal.”
Is it possible that that message does strike some kind of chord with you but you don’t want to hear it? (I guess I find ‘absolutely hated’ to be incredibly strong language for a film made with obvious skill and wit and that I think has no right to be as good as it is.)
But if you are right that you only respond to a limited set of story types, do you therefore aspire to opening yourself to different ones in future, or is your conclusion that you just want to stick to films with ‘man becomes strong’ character arcs?
Not especially, for the same reason that I don’t plan on starting to eat 90% dark chocolate to learn to like it, even if other people like it (and I can even appreciate that it has a few health benefits). I certainly am not saying that only movies that appeal to me be made, I’m happy that Barbie exists and that other people like it, but I’ll keep reading my male-protagonist progression fantasies on RoyalRoad.
Greta Gerwig obviously thinks so: when she says: “I think equally men have held themselves to just outrageous standards that no one can meet. And they have their own set of contradictions where they’re walking a tightrope. I think that’s something that’s universal.”
I have a profound sense of disgust and recoil when someone tells me to lower my standards about myself. Whenever I hear something like “it’s ok, you don’t need to improve, just be yourself, you’re enough”, I react strongly, because That Way Lay Weakness. I don’t have problems valuing myself, and I’m very good at appreciating my achievements, so that self-acceptance message is generally not properly aimed at me, it would be an overcorrection if I took that message even more to heart than I do right now.
Part of the point is that the standards we desire for ourselves may be contradictory and thus unachievable (e.g. Barbie’s physical proportions). So it’s not necessarily ‘lower your standards’, but ‘seek more coherent, balanced standards’.
I also think you can enjoy the message-for-the-character without needing it for you but anyway, I get where you’re personally coming from and appreciate your level of frankness about it!
I personally don’t think holding yourself to an unattainable standard is that bad if it’s done in a healthy way. Striving towards an ideal keeps you disciplined and honest with yourself. (Man here who at least tries to achieve some goals that are probably unattainable).
I think accepting yourself is a big theme for Western audiences, and much of literature and social messaging to people involve a kernel of this theme. The movie itself wasn’t bad, but it reminds me of elements of Western personal ideals I don’t like so much.
Huge difference between unattainable standard and contradictory standards though. One is aspiring to be superhumanly great, the other is being confused about your own ideals.
I watched Barbie and absolutely hated it. Though it did provide some value to me after I spent some time thinking about why precisely I hated it. Barbie really showed me the difference between the archetypal story that appeals to males and the female equivalent, and how much just hitting that archetypal story is enough to make a movie enjoyable for either men or women.
The plot of the basic male-appealing story is “Man is weak. Man works hard with clear goal. Man becomes strong”. I think men feel this basic archetypal story much more strongly than women, so that even an otherwise horrible story can be entertaining if it hits that particular chord well enough (evidence: most isekai stories), if the man is weak enough at the beginning, or the work especially hard. I’m not exactly clear what the equivalent story is for women, but it’s something like “Woman thinks she’s not good enough, but she needs to realise that she is already perfect”. And the Barbie movie really hits on that note, which is why I think the women in my life seemed to enjoy it. But that archetype just doesn’t resonate with me at all.
The apparent end-point for the Kens in the movie is that they “find themselves”. This was (to me) a clear misunderstanding by the female authors of what the masculine instinct is like. Men don’t “find themselves”, they decide who they want to be and work towards climbing out of their pitiful initial states. (There was also the weird Ken obsession with horses, which are mostly a female-only thing)
I suppose you may have correctly analysed your reason for not liking the movie. But if you are right that you only respond to a limited set of story types, do you therefore aspire to opening yourself to different ones in future, or is your conclusion that you just want to stick to films with ‘man becomes strong’ character arcs?
I personally loved Barbie (man here!), and think it was hilarious, charming and very adroit politically. I also think that much of the moral messaging is pretty universal – Greta Gerwig obviously thinks so: when she says: “I think equally men have held themselves to just outrageous standards that no one can meet. And they have their own set of contradictions where they’re walking a tightrope. I think that’s something that’s universal.”
Is it possible that that message does strike some kind of chord with you but you don’t want to hear it? (I guess I find ‘absolutely hated’ to be incredibly strong language for a film made with obvious skill and wit and that I think has no right to be as good as it is.)
Not especially, for the same reason that I don’t plan on starting to eat 90% dark chocolate to learn to like it, even if other people like it (and I can even appreciate that it has a few health benefits). I certainly am not saying that only movies that appeal to me be made, I’m happy that Barbie exists and that other people like it, but I’ll keep reading my male-protagonist progression fantasies on RoyalRoad.
I have a profound sense of disgust and recoil when someone tells me to lower my standards about myself. Whenever I hear something like “it’s ok, you don’t need to improve, just be yourself, you’re enough”, I react strongly, because That Way Lay Weakness. I don’t have problems valuing myself, and I’m very good at appreciating my achievements, so that self-acceptance message is generally not properly aimed at me, it would be an overcorrection if I took that message even more to heart than I do right now.
Part of the point is that the standards we desire for ourselves may be contradictory and thus unachievable (e.g. Barbie’s physical proportions). So it’s not necessarily ‘lower your standards’, but ‘seek more coherent, balanced standards’.
I also think you can enjoy the message-for-the-character without needing it for you but anyway, I get where you’re personally coming from and appreciate your level of frankness about it!
I personally don’t think holding yourself to an unattainable standard is that bad if it’s done in a healthy way. Striving towards an ideal keeps you disciplined and honest with yourself. (Man here who at least tries to achieve some goals that are probably unattainable).
I think accepting yourself is a big theme for Western audiences, and much of literature and social messaging to people involve a kernel of this theme. The movie itself wasn’t bad, but it reminds me of elements of Western personal ideals I don’t like so much.
Huge difference between unattainable standard and contradictory standards though. One is aspiring to be superhumanly great, the other is being confused about your own ideals.