this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
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For some women in China, "Barbie" is more than just a movie — it's also a litmus test for their partner's views on feminism and patriarchy.

The movie has prompted intense social media discussion online, media outlets Sixth Tone and the China Project reported this week, prompting women to discuss their own dating experiences.

One user on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu — a photo-sharing site similar to Instagram that's mostly used by Gen Z women — even shared a guide on Monday for how women can test their boyfriends based on their reaction to the film.

According to the guide, if a man shows hatred for "Barbie" and slams female directors after they leave the theatre, then this man is "stingy" and a "toxic chauvinist," according to Insider's translation of the post. Conversely, if a man understands even half of the movie's themes, "then he is likely a normal guy with normal values and stable emotions," the user wrote.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Krystal Ball on breaking points mentioned it just wasn't a great movie and kinda ham fisted pseudo-feminism.

Idk haven't watched it, wife and I are both just like "meh"

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (10 children)

There's literal direct to frame exposition about expectations for appearance put on women by Barbie. Meanwhile, a fucking ripped and constantly flexing Ryan Gosling spends 90% of the movie shirtless. Yes, it's completely ham fisted and spends most of its time justifying its existence and letting you know it understands itself when it clearly doesn't.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Ryan Gosling constantly flexing was the best part of that movie

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (3 children)

They're allowed to watch Barbie in China? How censored is it?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

TIL about the Litmus test!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

China has more women empowerment compare with other east Asian countries such as Korea and Japan.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Women in the US are doing that too.

I guess it works, to a point. If your man throws a Shapiro-esque fit over this movie he probably isn't great to be around the rest of the time.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (8 children)

According to the guide, if a man shows hatred for "Barbie" and slams female directors after they leave the theatre, then this man is "stingy" and a "toxic chauvinist," according to Insider's translation of the post

Nothing against female directors, but the movie went from pretty damn good to pretty damn boring after a while.

You've got a fun and quirky beginning that makes light fun of barbie, mattel and patriarchal society. Then you've got the bits where

spoilerBarbie and Ken get to the real world, get arrested twice for doing stupid shit.
This part was funny and for a bit there I felt like it was mainly not about driving a message home, but still had SOME things to say. Great! Then you've got the parts where
spoilerKen went on his own journey to discover patriarchy (which he thought had something to do with horses and was disappointed to find out it didn't), Barbie meets her owner's daughter, goes to Mattel HQ, then gets chased out and rescued by her owner.
Many hilarious moments here, poking lots of fun at patriarchy again, but it never felt like it was too on the nose. I mean I kinda expected that from the trailers and everything.

Where the movie started changing for me was when

spoilerBarbie, her owner, and the latter's daughter went back to the Barbie world to help fix the balance, only to find out that the Kens had completely taken over.
While the twist was predictable, it was still interesting because I wanted to know how they would resolve it. But it just kinda... fell off after that? At this point you have the expected low point in the protagonist's life, and then they figure out how to fix everything, but it was just so... boring and uninspired somehow. By this point, the movie's quirky and fun nature has worn down its' course and the

spoilerbattle of the Kens
just did nothing for me anymore.

What's worse, I was expecting

spoilerthe Mattel board of directors, particularly Will Ferrell's characters to be villains and instead they just... arrived by the end of the movie and had a change of heart.
That subverted my expectations for sure, but not in a good way whatsoever. Slightly reminiscent of the last seasons of Game of Thrones.

And lastly, I really expected the resolution of the plot to have something to do with horses and I was sorely disappointed about that too.

TL;DR: Movie starts out great, but foreshadows things it doesn't follow through on very well, ending is boring and sappy.

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