Barbie: A Subversive Review 

Nothing says subversive and authentic more than a room full of people dressed in pink watching a widely accepted film by a multi billion dollar company.

The only real subversion going on in this movie is Mattel making millions of dollars of profits from people paying to see and agreeing with an anti-capitalist narrative. Well played Mattel.

I left the cinema wanting to see the Barbies and the Kens to unite, beat the shit out of the executives and kick them out of Barbieland. I was left a little dissapointed.

I really enjoyed Barbie, but I also agree with most of your points! Its hilarious to me that its being called subversive - it absolutely isn't

Barbie is "subverting" the word subversion

I saw young girls, their moms and dads all dressed in pink and even gleefully buying collector dolls and minivans at the food counter. Online, I saw endless gleeful rationalizations by antiwoke young men how the movie was going to fail. Talk about society of the spectacle.

I think the main cause for the claims of subversiveness (besides the marketing campaign) come from how philosophically hollow and status quo promoting the last few years of mainstream cinema have been. Like compared MCU and FF movies this seems like Hegel reborn.

this is a good critique, and i agree that it's not subversive, but i don't think the movie is actually trying hard to be subversive. i watched the movie and for the most part enjoyed it. i think the movie is aware that it's only a simulation, and leans into the idea of the spectacle and hyper-reality, with its many references to the matrix, and traveling between Barbieland and the real world. I think the fact that Barbie chooses "reality", with its ups and downs, and death, over an idyllic, fantasy existence, says something.

Subversive would be the factory workers that make Barbie taking over the factory and potentially destroying it. How many more Barbies does the ocean need?

I so often feel something is missing from this type of 'modern authenticity' messaging in media. It's as if they all seem confused and resentful; as if they're struggling to find a sense of peace with their ideas and are unsure of who we can be without our definitions. There is rarely a calming sense of letting go, but a more apathetic sense of giving up. I understand this media wants to be positive, but it so often comes off as disingenuous and frankly: feels a bit lonely. As if the answer to our problems is within our lack of 'self' rather than the need for connection. Communication (media) itself is hardly about who we are from our side, it's about who we can be together and getting along with each other. I feel some of the more effective films I've seen about identity (Ikiru, Inside Out, Everything Everywhere) focus on us being people in the world with each other, rather than just people on our own.

I don't think the movie was trying to be subversive at all. I saw it as a commentary that even in our supposedly free world men and women are still not equal and that both of them suffer under the patriarchy in their own ways.

I'm pretty sure the teenage kid's monologue was supposed to make fun, instead of endorse, that way of talking. Especially the "you fascist!" accusation at the end (I'll take the chance to defend the movie's humor. Barbie's reaction of saying "fascist?! But I don't even control the railways" is funny. Not subversively funny, but funny).

You have so eloquently captured what was wrong with Barbie, in that everything was industrial and not at all organic or artistic. Knowing Greta Gerwig's line of work and her nuances in writing, the film felt like a simulation of her style of writing without the nuance or the organic progression of her characters. Consequently, the film almost accidentally displays contradictions in their messaging which just confused me in what exactly they were trying to convey. The commercialisation of artists(Nolan is included in this as well) and subversiveness has itself lost its subversive value. Its pretentiousness does not lie in the artist making an artistic choice, taking a risk but rather the pretentiousness lies in the "pretend" of making these artistic choices.

I seriously have no idea how anyone could take Barbie to have an anti-capitalist message. The only thing anywhere close is the edge-lord "take down" delivered by Sasha, but nowhere in that monologue does she actually address any anti-capitalists ideas and the narrative of the story seems to dismiss her speech as a random tangent from a maladjusted teenager. The rest of the movie does nothing but enforce ideas of ownership, individuality, and self-actualization; all tenets of capitalism from my point of view.

I saw Barbie yesterday, and while it's pretty bad feminism, it's a genuinely entertaining film. Ken is a greatcharacter that it's a blast to see, and there are moments of emotio al weight that kinda work.

I found the movie extremely nuanced. I found that it advocated for both Barbies' & Kens' growth in general. The fact that Barbies thought they made the world better, then the kid saying they made it worse is a perfect example of this nuance. Both were true, and that's kinda what I took from the whole movie (and why I loved it), every idea it presented it did so in a complex way. It was also surprisingly emotional (in a genuine way), and I'll say my fave character arc was Ken's not Barbie's. So yeah, I'm a bit confused by the whole "woke feminism" brand this movie is getting. It feels a lot more nuanced than that to me.

Consider Mark Fisher in Capitalist Realism. "What we are dealing with now is not the incorporation of materials that previously seemed to possess subversive potentials, but instead, their precorporation: the pre-emptive formatting and shaping of desires, aspirations and hopes by capitalist culture. Witness, for instance, the estab- lishment of settled ‘alternative’ or ‘independent’ cultural zones, which endlessly repeat older gestures of rebellion and contes- tation as if for the first time. ‘Alternative’ and ‘independent’ don’t designate something outside mainstream culture; rather, they are styles, in fact the dominant styles, within the mainstream. No-one embodied (and struggled with) this deadlock more than Kurt Cobain and Nirvana. In his dreadful lassitude and objectless rage, Cobain seemed to give wearied voice to the despondency of the generation that had come after history, whose every move was anticipated, tracked, bought and sold before it had even happened. Cobain knew that he was just another piece of spectacle, that nothing runs better on MTV than a protest against MTV; knew that his every move was a cliché scripted in advance, knew that even realizing it is a cliché. Cobain found himself in ‘a world in which stylistic innovation is no longer possible, all that is left is to imitate dead styles, to speak through the masks and with the voices of the styles in the imaginary museum." Now, mix that in with William Gibson writing about Singapore: '"It's like an entire country run by Jeffrey Katzenberg," the producer had said, "under the motto 'Be happy or I'll kill you.'"' Maybe self-critiquing late capitalist "subversion" is the synthesis of these two positions: Disneyland with the Death Penalty.

That food review PDF on Robin Price's website was, indeed, one hell of a ride.

I like content like this, where you apply philosophy to a medium everyone can understand, film, so the point is illustrated and easier to understand. Sort of what Zizek does, would like to see more content like this.

Being quite present in the music online world, I have very wisely gone into this movie not listening to what any of the critics or the general online peer say. They are positive about this movie, for the wrong reasons in my opinion. I see this movie as a self-aware hyperreal spectacle; it unapolagetically does exactly what you would expect from it and find distasteful, but in its doubling down on its distastefulness, it succeeds precisely in appearing genuinely profound. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie through a second order observation; the critics seemed to enjoy it through a first order observation. I purposely called it a spectacle and not a movie, because its whole PR effort around it was as much part of the product as the movie itself. This movie should be watched at its release in a theater while wearing pink clothing in a full theater. In any other state this spectacle will not appear in its full potential. In a way, Barbie's PR made it such that we got to experience a phenomenon which is temporary, something that is very special in a world in which everything can be recorded, copied, distributed and re-experienced. The movie starts and they make the god-awful Space Odyssey reference, and you laugh because you are supposed to laugh at that moment. The sign says "laugh" and you do because it's much lamer to not laugh at something so obviously awful. You enjoy it because you don't want to be perceived as not enjoying it: A perfect test of the watcher's level of profilicity/authenticity. The authentic response - to vilify the movie for its superficial humor and message - is immediately punished by the movie's nature: To be offended by the movie's superficiality is to assume that it attempts to not be superficial, which means you didn't get it. It feeds you a two-hour long commercial and you can't be mad at it, because it told you from the get-go it's a commercial. In a way the movie itself is still part of the PR stunt that is the spectacle of Barbie. And if you think about it, if any part of this movie would be slightly better - its humor, subversiveness, or storyline - the movie would immediately become extremely boring and formulaic; it is surprising and refreshing precisely because it gives you exactly what you expect of it. I would not want my Barbie movie to have a genuinely good storyline, smart jokes and insightful social commentary. To see "professional" critics take this movie at face-value and applaud it for it, makes me sad, but it's hardly surprising. It also perfectly keeps the discussion going between the people who genuinely enjoy it and the authentic people who take offense to its "fakeness", and they keep arguing about a PR stunt specifically designed to keep you talking about it. They crafted this spectacle masterfully, and I thoroughly enjoyed perceiving it and interacting with it, including writing this comment.

That the trailer uses a sample from Barbie Girl feels emblematic of what the video is talking about: Previously, Mattel sued over the song and only lost because their opposition (for once, as noted in Naomi Klein's No Logo) was another megacorporation; and it's for the same reason that they were able to find this pseudo-synthesis that allows both parties to make lots of money - because there was never an ideological conflict in the first place.

Dismantling a marketing blitz, sh*tting on Kermode and Bradshaw... Prof. Moeller always delivers.

The movie definitely had a hypnotic quality, and I find myself preoccupied with listening to different reviewers’ takes on it. I think what might be fascinating me about it is the presence of so many strange little contradictions. Consciously or unconsciously, the mind detects these contradictions and tries to solve them like a puzzle. I’m just not sure how many of them were intentional. I could see them having been intentionally planted as a sort of game, but I could also see them arising organically from a sort of confused ideology about feminism and capitalism, or even accidentally as a result of a writing by committee approach to filmmaking and script writing. The biggest example of contradiction in the film is how frequently it undercuts its own “feminist” messaging, for instance the speed with which the Kens took over Barbie world (showing that the matriarchy was fragile). Bad writing or subtle humor? I’m really not sure. Most of these instances could be interpreted as satire on the conflicts between the different waves of feminism and their conflicting ideologies. On the other hand, because of the existence of several waves of feminism, the ideology as a whole is fractured and not cohesive, much like the messaging of the film. I just don’t know about this one.

I was hesitant to watch this because most negative reviews on the movie are actually terrible but your words are precisely what I thought during every minute watching. Thanks for the video.

I was waiting for this video, I am not disappointed, I was just expecting a longer video.

I feel like this movie perfectly demonstrates Mark Fisher’s idea of interpassivity.

Thank you for this. I am also German and your general age group as well. Re-reading David Foster Wallace’s “Infinite Jest” this summer and of course his themes of constant spectacle and ubiquitous commercialism including the concept of actual subsidized time resonate deeply, more so today than possibly when he wrote it in the 90s. Thank God we don’t have “Year of Barbie & Ken” yet. Or may we do??? DAMN ….

Just watched this movie last night, excited to hear your take on it

Somehow I doubt most people really know what subversive even means.

My personal "subversion" of Barbie was dressing all in pink and then buying tickets to Oppenheimer.

Hi Professor. Your videos about sincerity, authenticity and profilicity somehow reminds me of a book entitled "Ferdydurke" wrote by Witold Gombrowicz. Especially in regards to the first two of the trio just mentioned. Have you ever had a chance to read it?

I quite liked Barbie, but enjoyed this video as well. I found the movie quite a bit funnier than the professor, but I only want to point out that the professional reviewers here are calling the film subversive in context of their job. Movies based on properties like this one tend to shy away from stating an overtly "political" perspective. If you contextualize this film in the profile of commercial corporate films I do think it could be called subversive. Yet, I absolutely agree that in the context of the larger zeitgeist it is not subversive in the slightest, especially when it comes to identity. Something I would love to ask the professor to follow up, What films would you consider subversive in these 4 categories?

Great analysis. I haven't watched a video from your channel in a while, where are all the zhuangzi videos? There used to be a few.

Still very much agree with your main argument - that it's become common place and highly publicized in the Hollywood ecosystem of "Semi-critical social critique against [sincere] norms of society are over come through [authentic understanding of the self]"; meanwhile the material production that goes on behind the Hollywood doors is still Mattel + other producers get to skim off the PR cred without needing to change-up their supply lines. (see: nearly every Hollywood story where the MC's journey is against a corporate villain and after breaking the [indoctrination] they supposedly liberate themselves...and then the movie just ends). As damning and consistent as this, I wonder if it's not still worth taking a couple steps outside the "woke-circle" that for as much of the critic press leans left...that there's still a noticable demographic of hate pieces around BECAUSE "Barbie is woke" Obviously in the Sincere vs Authentic US paradigm, the Conservative + Alt-Right leans toward the former, so much so it's doubtful they could ever engage the movie without pulling an automatic THIS IS DESTROYING AMERICA alarmism. But they still share the same media/National identity space as citizens of the (increasingly dubious) United States. That just the fact that a Jordan Peterson or Ben Shapiro or hell just a rando alt-right anti-SJW youtuber would make a stink about it; that there are still adherents who subscribe to [Sincerity]/traditionalized Gender Norms that itself justifies Barbie having a target of critique Actually considering the side-press stories of rapid increase of anti-LGBT/"woke" sentiment and criminalization on top of the well known Manosphere issues, can one even expect to have a conversation acknowledging Profilicity Curation if the bar is set so low that JUST having the [authentic] perspective is already too much. Yes, I will say Barbie™ cannot adequately outline a deeper message or more scathing critique in under 2hrs, without also needing the production backing of Mattel and the prestigious star power of Greta + every big name actor. It is a big sticking point that they cannot "bite the hands that feeds them" to even be in their position, not just all the movie's staff but as much the critic sphere as cultural middle-men, and them effectively "patting themselves on the back" for eating out of that same palm is built into the system. [An aside, its similar to my experience with Video Games culture where prestige and awards praising a "DECONSTRUCTION OF THE ILLS OF VIDEO GAME CULTURE" have been towards stories of "What if Violence...is bad????"....for like the past 10 years or it might be 20 now if you count Japanese takes] I have to ask - beyond knowing and condemning the ideological manipulation, if Barbie is more-or-less an "ideological glass ceiling" that comes with incorporating the Critic profession into the cultural industry. That so long as entertainment media is commonly treated as "inherently non-ideological" or even just "dumb entertainment" that sets the bar to be so low that as any movie that is in anyway Ideologically Visible but materially hypocritical is already "good enough" to sate the critic press and their content quota for the month's rent.

I enjoyed the movie, wearing a pink dress to it (being playful in an adult world is very refreshing), and I agree to your commentary. I am not sure about the rebranding, unless we are talking about an increase in pink clothes sales, I do not see adults buying Barbie, maybe kids, but a large percentage of the audience were adult females (this is all based on personal observations). I actually, would love to hear your insights on why it was very enjoyable, while we (females) know that the script is not that well written, nothing new about it (or its criticism), and cringe at best. Yet, the playfulness was a breath of fresh air amid the exhausting reality. I am already exhausted writing this while working my 9 to 5 job.

True. Barbie is the simulation of subversion. BUT: because of the self-awareness, the self-awareness that Barbie the Movie is just a simulation of subversion, which is also reflected in the film (especially at the end, when the mother - forgot her name - suggested a normal Barbie, with normal struggle, and Mattel responded with "that will make money"). Seriously asked, isn't this in a way a subversive act?

Hope I can take your class in the upcoming academic year prof！

I think I'll watch it more honestly, homie. It's a PG-13 movie that had no right being as good as it was, and didn't need to SUBVERT our expectations of it being a dumb Barbie movie that was mainly there to be an all out people pleaser but here it is. A movie that clearly showcases there are no male or female utopias, and that we're all fucked, but that doesn't mean you should give up your individuality and attempts to improve the world around you. Yes, it's not the DEEPEST film to come out, but it's PG-13 and made about a childs play toy.

Even my daughter, who saw Barbie a couple days ago, wearing pink, who is much more tolerant of kitsch than I, said that it was not great. There's no danger that I will enrich Mattel's coffers

Sharp and insightful as always...truly a 'spectacle', Dr. Moller!

Didn’t notice the authenticity narrative at first. I did subconsciously, my mind did, and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Good stuff!

I do believe there are elements of the "subversive" in the sense that if there is such a thing as fe/male gaze, this is encapsulating the fem-gaze in the same fashion that male gaze does in media. What is subversive about it is that it goes noticed unlike its counter part- which is the norm. One could easily say this is the equivalent of a Marvel movie but with the female gaze. Women wearing pink is no different than the many men who sport their super hero shirts on the daily.

have seen the movie and can agree with all H-G-M points. At the end, I was smiling & thinking to myself wow how strong and self confident capitalism is! Still found it quite amusing, and - if so many right-wing persons from Musk to Shapiro hate it, it should have some minimum value :-)

Great movie. I don't know what you are on about this time - and I generally enjoy your viewpoints. The themes were carefully woven, messages were given with elegance instead of a sledgehammer. And in every instance, the movie was up to date, in the know and hip. It made fun of even men-emotional-acceptance movement, which flirts with feminism. So it was in some ways subversive. it told the men to grow up, the women to wake up. And it is a fricking barbie movie. What more were you expecting? Lars von Trier like subversive feminism with violence? Also: Let the girls wear pink and go to the movie. Not every single thing in life is a demonstration of our conformity to capitalism. Sometimes it's fun to take part in a group activity like this. Part of the fun is that it's ultimately silly. Have you interviewed those girls? How do you know what their motivations are? It's gonna sound cliché but all I'm seeing is a dude "mansplaining" to girls that what they are doing is stupid. No shortage of that in the world. The movie went over your head. (btw the kid's viewpoint was shown as a "typical leftist teenager" viewpoint, hyperaggressive, even calling barbie fascist. it was displayed as immature, overly harsh, but also funny. not as morally correct. your comment on this makes me really think you didn't get a lot of the dialogue in this movie, since you view it through a very particular lense)

McSubversive!

Barbie was a whole lot of fun, for me. I don't mind these sorts of hyper consumerist spectacles here and there. But to pretend it's anything else other than a well shot commercial would be foolish. These claims about Barbie's "subversion" are just another instance of capitalism subsuming critique into itself.

Thank you for participating in the profilicity fest.

Love the disclaimer in the end. Perfect meta comment to the movie.

Thanks for another great content! Would you be interested in analyzing pop songs and their ideology, eq tay swift has a massive library, among many other artists, we thirsty for those!

Brilliant analysis!

It's these little details that make a movie truly special

I was surprised to see the film reviewed as subversive. It takes actual action to be subversive otherwise it's something that is not actively challenging a government industry.

Are you going to do Oppenheimer as well?

My one disagreement: I don’t think Barbie even tried to wink at the idea of critiquing capitalism. CEOs, property, wealth accumulation were taken for granted and noble objects for women in the film. I think of it was said at all, it was by Sasha in her text-book denouncement of Barbie. I think viewers, mostly of liberal political inklings who have become critical of billionaires in the last few years, have tried to link a critique of capitalism into this film because they understand anti-capitalism as regulate billionaires as individuals, not a systemic critique.

I'm not sure if I agree with the framing that Barbie is ostensibly subversive. Anecdotally, neither me nor any of my friends who watched it came away feeling it was subversive or groundbreaking, or even trying to be. To us, it reads more of a celebration of dominant values of feminism -- an underscoring of what the liberal west understands to be true about femininity and authenticity. In my view, the movie is not aiming at subversion, but a different facet of the world of prolificity: the desire to be seen. That was the common theme I saw, the women (and men) "felt seen", that their struggles and values were reflected back at them. That seems a more interesting dynamic to analyze the film and contemporary media than the yardstick of if a summer blockbuster about the most popular toy in history earned the status of subversive film.

The best commentary on this film I’ve seen.

Any form of art that ignites societal debates on pressing issues isn't 'bad', but am not a fan of most Hollywood Blockbusters in terms of plots and charter development and this is no exception. What is disconcerting to me, is how a significant number of people seem to interpret 'equality' as and what their vision of the future is. You can get an impression of what the creators would like to see and I find that world of decisiveness gross. I find the movie to be quite an exercise of double speak, it reminds me of the "liberal paradox" or the "paradox of tolerance." Let's strive for a society where genuine tolerance is upheld and feminism can progress to achieve true gender equality and try to dial back the divisiveness.

Great review -- I thought I was going crazy, reading most others of the film and following the general reaction on social media. "About as funny as your American beer commerial", "this humor isn't subversive -- it's industrial", "simulated subversions by the culture industry", "cringey authenticity," etc. -- all spot on! Funny that your reviews are so much more interesting and insightful than most professional film reviewers'. Funnier, too.

This channel is a work of art

Thank you so much for this video, I share your view entirely.

2 minutes into the video and I already can push the thumbs up!

Dear Professor Moeller, have you got any plans to make a video about Mark Fisher's Capitalist Realism in your media theory series? I'd be really interested in your take on his work.

initially I was thinking it could be a fun time to go see. Then I thought through it and realised this is just a big ad. Reviews saying it was subversive confused me because inherently it is an ad and a product. Im looking confused around at a bunch of my friends who I thought were feminist anticapitalists who have bought into the spectacle and all of a sudden want Barbie merch. Like, yall you knows its not really helping feminism right? This is not pushing us towards any real substantial change right? Its totally ok to have fun seeing a movie but lets not mistake it for activism.

Thank you Professor! It's really enjoyable to see someone not jumping on the hype train but questioning things with some clear values and without hate. I think it's horrible how so much of the public media in Germany promoted the film and that a private yt channel did it much better is really sad. In my day to day life your channel really helped me to overcome and rethink how to see myself and others. Especially the video about Kamella Harris and how to get identity right was liberating. Keep up the good work!

Thank you Hans- Georg, you are an important critical voice on the neoliberal basis of woke ideology. I have seen endless coverage of this movie on Twitter (or X, as it is now called) and to me the movie was very obviously propaganda promoted by corporations (a sort of progressive corporate-sponsored meme) but many don't see it.

All movies are simulation by their nature. Its a fun movie and something of a self contained universe.

where can I find Dimitria Amarantidou?

This. This is why I am subscribed. This is why I actively added this channel to interrupt my otherwise endless stream of videos that are, in essence, commercials for a life dedicated to The Mass. A life - my own - which is not dedicated to Me but to Ultimately Everyone: I am not a fan of Kant when it comes to Us All. Do outwards as you would have everyone do, but inwards..? No. We should not think what we would have everyone think. We are not ants. What remains, what I would improve if it was up to me, is adding a reverse analysis: Once you have seen where each step comes from, taken this weed to its root so to speak, then go back up. What plants can these roots grow? Is this end result representative of only itself, or of the industry as a whole..? THAT would be "subversive" 😉

I am planning to watch it. The Barbie World part is supposed to be really well made and main characters are good. I just refuse to pay any money to do so.

Some research needs to be done on what this movie means to pre-teens and teenagers. Then we might understand if it is important or not.

thank you

Good food for thoughts. Sincerity versus Authenticity made my day. I don't really plan to see Barbie, I don't care about it. Social culture being what it is, I think this video is a clever way to get involved into the big ideas. Thank you!

This movie reminded me a lot of "Joker" both movies do this cowardly signaling to multiple ideological camps so to create narratives people will artificially squabble over on social media, creating free marketing and engagement

Interesting vid

Can be this interpretation of subversiveness a way to explain why protests and riots is no more an effective way of producing a change in the society? Using a methaphor, it is like instead of producing a change in the society we are building a theme park around this desire and sold in order to fullfill this desire

So true, that the simulation of subversion is key to ingratiating themselves to critics.

Hans, I've loved discovering your channel these last few months having been familiar with you via your Luhmann-ian works for years. Now I must ask: would I be waiting in vain for you to create the ultimate Luhmann series where you assume a guru-like role of presenting his work to the masses? It'd be asking a lot, but hear me out while I ask this of you anyway, as a fan... Imagine: Intro to Luhmann, 8×1hr lectures; Intermediate Luhmann, 8×1hr lectures; Savant Luhmann , 8×1hr lectures. You see? That'd 24 hours of prospective Luhmann content which youtube needs to have. May I email you about this? I'm serious, something like that needs to happen. For 3 years at uni, 2016-18, I didn't encounter one academic here in Australia that'd heard of him. I fear there are plenty sociology departments waiting to be edified, after all, I know I myself am far from edified, and I spent 3 years trying to force my brain around that edifying!

there is no way mattel would have allowed a truly subversive message to be created with their money, a hard pill to swallow under capitalism, with that being said I found the movie to be a great piece of artwork in the way that it made me think deeply, which is a tall order from a barbie movie. I would say greta succeeded in this movie by using one of the most famous popular intellectual properties and creating interesting art exploring the themes of that property and its relationship to us

I’d say what is subversive is that is presents that a happy ending for women isn’t being with a man, but in fact rejecting relationships and just being happy with your friends. That is still, in 2023, a highly counter culture idea. It’s the audience palatable version of Clementine Ford’s “Leave your husband” campaign.

It is in the same vane as all those robots that wanted to be human in the old black-and-white movies. She didn't say "Tell me what is this love you speak of." I guess the modern toy roll model doll is too self-obsessed for that.

I generally enjoy these videos, but I found this one very joyless. I thought the Barbie movie was much more interesting than this somewhat predictable critique makes out. Yes, ‘subversion’ as a capitalist technique is a Hollywood strategy or trope, from Rage Against The Machine, to Wall-e, to Barbie, but I think the extreme artifice, exaggerated style and the post-ironic style of postmodern cinema actually created a movie that was quite unique in both visual identity and execution. This review by contrast was a disappointingly conventional piece of media analysis

I wonder at the usage of "subversive" in the video. In the U.S. we have two major political parties who are often characterized as being in a culture war-- so if something is "subversive" , subversive to whom? It seems like an easy adjective for a film reviewer to highlight in their take.

I really enjoy the movie. And also found how a Lot of women feel a Lot of relief with some of the discourses and issues in the movie. But, it is true, it si not subversive. The movie it is not as bland as negative reviews pretends, but also it is not as deep as the promoters says. Greta Gerwig is a Greta director that creates tender, cute and emotional movies. But also, as Louis May Alcott, the writer of Little Women that Gerwig has adapted, mixed the portrait of deep topics in a comercial appeareance.

This is the best Barbie review on the internet. I agree with almost all of your points. Thank you.

Great video overall, but I'm having a bit of trouble with the conflation of the goals of Mattel with the goals of the artists behind the movie itself. This analysis doesn't seem to leave any room for the artists to have their own agency in trying to express themselves despite the limitations inherent in a branded blockbuster movie. Of course, Mattel wouldn't have let it release if they felt it presented any real threat to their bottom line, but we shouldn't forget that the ideas expressed in this movie are genuinely held by many people. Regardless of how we got here, Barbie's version of white feminism isn't necessarily just a top-down phenomenon anymore. Another note: I was amazed at the climax when the solution to patriarchy was the exact same thing in reverse. Whether or not it was brand-safe, it had some good ideas going! 😢

After watching this, it makes me want to watch the movie more. Thanks!

Spot on! Thank you for this, Prof. Moeller!

watching analyses on both sides of the pol spectrum, I feel as though the ironic satire was lost on the vast majority of people, or I’m too cynical and read most of the movie as ironic when it was supposed to be covertly genuine.

Maybe I misunderstood, but the main criticism is in the source of the subversion (Mathel as a corporation) and not the content (the theme of the movie)?

Angie speaks says something about people forming identity based on consumption choices which only serves global capitalism

What's up with the excessive film grain? Doesn't really add anything to the video, but it's used in a distracting amount.

It's interesting that being "subversive" would be such a key characteristic pushed into a movie that's clearly one of the most well aligned capitalist shit shows of the year! But I guess it's no surprise to anyone who's paid attention to how gender ideology and wokeness have been used because these carry the same characterization, but rarely promote any anti-capitalist rhetoric or messaging. It's cool to appear subversive, without actually having to challenge anything about the ideology, which ironically means it's not subversive at all. Thanks for pointing this out professor! You've saved me the pain of finding it out myself

I have just been telling people to stop talking about this stupid movie and start advocating for revolution. It's really sad how much marketing there has been by consumers around the globe. It won't fucking stop, and I just imagine what would happen with that sort of viral marketing if people actually advocated for overthrowing capitalism, instead of this corporate product.

The most realistic aspect of this movie was how they were only able to defeat Patriarchy with consciousness-raising in the Barbie World utopia... -by first externalising all material conditions onto a parallel universe (reality) and then employing anti-solidarity tactics to pack the legislation in a full-participatory democracy. Veeery radical

I thought it was a fun, witty enough movie that had a lot of double entendre and silly things. The music was fun. The politics were just pretty neoliberal i thought

Frankly, I prefer Second Wave Feminism to Third Wave. And Barbie was a Third Wave Feminism extravaganza. Completely agree with your critique. But I'm curious. What do you think about feminists such as Mary Daly, Shulamit Firestone and Andrea Dworkin? (All of whom would have totally roasted that silly film)

A concern I have had for awhile with media: does it matter if it's satire, when what it displays influences the viewer by informing them of a specific truth they might not otherwise be subjected to? In other words, what ethical duty does the creator of art have to NOT subject the viewer of their art with trauma, even secondhand? This seems to be a question almost entirely absent from cultural discourse surrounding the arts, while the nature of media (to my eyes at least) is becoming increasingly preoccupied with depictions of traumatic events. I understand that to some extent the media is just trying to hold up a mirror to the real world, but I am concerned that the mirror is warped so that the image distorts. And worse, that the real world then looks into this warped mirror, and genuinely believes that is what it is and nothing more. I think there is a genuine risk of a cultural Flanderization, if that makes sense.

Ok so do you think maybe the subversion is in reference to the matriarch apposed to the patriarchy of the real world? The movie is indeed very mainstream and produced by Mattel but directed by a woman who was in my opinion able to put forward her vision including a scene that had to be fought for to maintain

yeah... great review

I just happen to be halfway through Simulacra and Simulation at the moment, I'm no expert but I get the feeling Baudrillard would haaaaate this movie