Really fantastic work, as great a writer as you are a mom. I love that you actively interpolated the love of Barbie with alternatives like Toy Story 2 and even engaged in a bit of film 101. My favourite bit is calling out the insecurity of the messaging. I've been trying to unpack just how poor the “We mothers stand still so our daughters can look back to see how far they have come.”, its like hilariously bad. The line is supposed to be 'stand tall' not 'stand still', so the petrification is kind of telling. :p
Besides that what you said is spot on. It's sort of awful to say 'well patriarchy isnt over but weve made it so far'. 'Come so far' is one of those phrases of positive affirmation that become bleak if you think about them. When I think of the centuries of domestic servitude and often violent slavery of women, I dont think 'wow women have come so far' I think 'wow, thats really terrible and shouldnt have ever happened'. Like, not to imply that anybody is an animal, but to me it would be semi analogous to saying Elephants 'came so far' by not being hurt in barnum circuses, even though they are still underfed in zoos. Like, that's not helping none of the elephants now is it!
Anyway, I'll skip on Barbie movie and watch it maybe a few years down the line, assuming the 50 Mattel movies planned dont bury it by then. I like my movies to stick to fantastical worlds, once you get 'real life' or 'allegory' involved this stuff really falls apart for me. Thanks again for the wise words.
Really fantastic work, as great a writer as you are a mom. I love that you actively interpolated the love of Barbie with alternatives like Toy Story 2 and even engaged in a bit of film 101. My favourite bit is calling out the insecurity of the messaging. I've been trying to unpack just how poor the “We mothers stand still so our daughters can look back to see how far they have come.”, its like hilariously bad. The line is supposed to be 'stand tall' not 'stand still', so the petrification is kind of telling. :p
Besides that what you said is spot on. It's sort of awful to say 'well patriarchy isnt over but weve made it so far'. 'Come so far' is one of those phrases of positive affirmation that become bleak if you think about them. When I think of the centuries of domestic servitude and often violent slavery of women, I dont think 'wow women have come so far' I think 'wow, thats really terrible and shouldnt have ever happened'. Like, not to imply that anybody is an animal, but to me it would be semi analogous to saying Elephants 'came so far' by not being hurt in barnum circuses, even though they are still underfed in zoos. Like, that's not helping none of the elephants now is it!
Anyway, I'll skip on Barbie movie and watch it maybe a few years down the line, assuming the 50 Mattel movies planned dont bury it by then. I like my movies to stick to fantastical worlds, once you get 'real life' or 'allegory' involved this stuff really falls apart for me. Thanks again for the wise words.