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.
Yeah. Barbie Was not the good guy in the Barbie movie, right? Like, even in the end they admit that they will not give the Kens true equality, just enough that they basically won’t revolt again. People here calling Barbie a feminist icon, what movie were you watching?
Obviously she wasn’t the good guy. She developed a nuclear bomb for heaven’s sake. To be fair I did fall asleep for a bit but I’m pretty sure I got the big plot points.
Lmfao what the actual fuck?
I didn’t watch the movie, nor do I know anything about the premise, so seeing that comment and thinking about Barbie the toy is absolutely hilarious…
It was a Barbienheimer joke, I think
He’s making a joke about Barbenheimer…
That’s the point. They blatantly say “someday, the Ken’s will have as much rights as women do in the real world”
The entire point is that treating people as second class like thst isn’t good, regardless of which side its coming from and that we should all be equal. The only time I’d see men complaining about that is when they don’t get it.
That line literally made my jaw drop because I had just been thinking, “Wow this is still kinda messed up. I thought their society would end up much more equal” and then BAM! that line hits. That movie was so good. I’ve been trying to get everyone I know to see it.
Same. I was thinking the exact same thing at that point. A massive part of the movie’s message hinges on that line and I smiled so wide when I heard it because it clicked much of the rest of the film into place.
That example isn’t really accurate, they say the Kens eventually will be given the same representativity as the women in the real world. That line is more of a jab against gender inequality than anything.
Yeah. I would not take it that literally. I’d say it means they’re gonna do to Kens what “the patriarchy” and many people who support it do to women. Concede rights when they absolutely have to and begrudgingly accept them for the sake of avoiding bigger problems, but still believe in their own supremacy and acting one way while publicly pretending to be accepting of feminism. Then they will say, see, you have all this rights and equality now, no need for “Keninism” anymore and slowly start to backslide and undermine those rights when they feel like they can.
They’re rather copying the spirit of real world patriarchy than just plainly introducing the same laws as it
Yes! This is a great way to put it and shows the mirror it’s putting up to Western society
Oh that sounds more of a nuanced theme than I was expecting. Cool.
Sure but it’s still them making a conscious choice to keep oppressing a group until an unrelated reality fixes their shit. Doesn’t sound like they’re good guys at all tbh.
I hope you see the irony in that phrase.
This isn’t Star Wars my dude, not everything needs to be good vs evil. Sometimes there’s even room for satire.
Yeah the movie doesn’t paint them as good guys though? The narrator comes in and states that they aren’t at that point, and stereotypical Barbie leaves because she can’t see herself as taking part in such a system anymore.
But even though the women have the control, they do not oppress men like men do to women in the real world. Men still do everything they want, even if the women have the power because the women make the world amazing for everyone. A little different from reality.
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It’s not that they’re homeless, it’s just that where they live isn’t important to the story. This is because when little girls play with Ken dolls, they don’t give Ken any backstory. Kens are only there for supporting Barbie’s journey.
I don’t think they’re supposed to be “good guys”.
I think that was the point, it’s the perfect mirror to the real world. Everyone not okay with how the Barbies treat the Kens in the end should think for a second why that is and why anyone should accept the reverse in the real world.
It’s also kind of a clever subtle call to action. “If you don’t like this ending, you can change it by changing things in the real world.”
“Stereotypical Barbie” (the Margot Robbie one) actually seems to get it by the end. In fact, her main character arc was going from being like the other barbies—watered down stereotypes of feminism—to actually a feminist who has a better grasp of why just equalizing out positions of power, while still good, does not address the root of patriarchy.
Okay, I’ll admit I had not the slightest clue what the plot was to Barbie before opening this post but I’m getting a little curious about this movie now.
It’s a fantastic movie, and I’d recommend seeing it and making your own judgement. Personally, I understand why some people got the wrong idea from it because while it does spell out a lot of it’s thematic arguments, it doesn’t spell all of them out as explicitly and that’s where I think most of the “Barbie Movie hates men” stuff stems from.
Anyway, watch the movie. It’s my favorite one of the year.
(Side point: it’s also a bit ironic because most of the reviews I’ve seen missing that it’s actually very cognizant of how patriarchy negatively affects men also criticize how explicit it is about it’s other themes…like…do they want the movie to explicitly spell out it’s themes or not, because either way it’s being criticized.)
It didn’t end up in a world that’s ready. More like a mirror of the real world but maybe healthier?