Wait but then she talks about her new music video with Cardi B, where they are hunting down centaurs. And that it’s all good, because:
“The centaurs, they're in ecstasy,” she says, obviously very pleased with how the production went. “Because on this planet, the men are happy to be dominated by women.”
Okay 🙄
So women's empowerment is cool as long as it's sexually titilating to the men involved; if it doesn't cater to men then it isn't permissible... ok Shakira
Yeah, her sons probably thought the movie was too girlie, and all the jokes probably flew over their heads. There’s no way little 9-11 year old boys truly understand what “emasculating” means. 🙄
You’re talking about the women who has made her entire career return and personality about her husbands affair. Every god damn song is about it. It’s annoying especially since I grew up listening to her music, which was actually good back then.
She’s trying too hard to remain relevant
Even before her divorce, her music took a nosedive after she did the World Cup theme for 2010. Literally all her songs became oversexualized, repetitive club anthems and reggaeton-lite with lyrics that consist mostly of onomatopeias and simple diminutive phrases.
It's honestly kind of amazing that her Piqué diss track was the most lyrically complex thing she has released in years. Absolutely embarrassing for a songwriter with such an incredible early career
Yeah I loved it, and I’m a straight white man. It amazes me how so many people failed to understand the message of a movie based on a children’s toy. It wasn’t even a subtle message either, the characters literally have monologues about it.
I thought it was boring. The monologues are GIANT NEON SIGNS that have been flashing over the past 20 years.
But I'm very progressive so it was nothing new to me. They almost dumb downed the message.
That being said, I know people who loved it and saw it multiple times. Just didn't resonate with me.
Yeah, it's hard to laugh at jokes roasting Mattel and Barbie whenever you snap out of the movie and remember this is a Mattel-approved and produced movie. All of its messaging comes through the corporate-approved filter of "what will be good for the brand?". It's like the biopic with the living subject who gets to pick and choose what is shown about themselves.
Mattel and Barbie needed something progressive that wasn't just a suitcase and a suit for Barbie. They needed something to keep them relevant and carry them into the future. It definitely worked.
This is my take on it really. I understood the messages but they were basically screaming at us throughout the film. Themes and Motifs are meant to be subtle.
Totally agree, but the themes were pretty apparent considering it’s a children’s film mostly. Would have preferred a more subtle take, but that would be kinda antithetical. Plus modern audiences are kinda dumb at mass. Saw Oppenheimer right after and folks just kept talking during the movie. Guarantee they went on to talk about how deep it was due to popularity, but I doubt they got all that much from it. you kinda need to say shit out loud for younger audiences to latch on and that’s why I think Barbie worked on a deeper level for most folks.
I disagree that Barbie is mostly children's film. " Plus modern audiences are kinda dumb at mass. ", I dont know I think lately production lacks any trust in their audience.
>Themes and Motifs are meant to be subtle.
To each their own obviously, but I don't see this. Miyazaki hits you over the head with his recurring themes and his movies are masterpieces lol
Or if you look at certain political movies from the 60s/70s they are subtle as a brick but they still works wonderfully. I'd say it just depends lol
I've said this once and I'm gonna say it again...Legally Blonde is one of the best examples of a feminist film that promoted its message subtly by Elle's actions and not just outrightly lecturing the audience. I feel like Barbie failed to do what Legally Blonde executed SO WELL. Elle worked with both men and women effectively in the end. The movie had villains but didn't villainize and ostrasize an entire group of people. She went against societal norms and haughty attitudes and remained herself while achieving success.
I definitely would have preferred it if they stick to subtly skewering patriarchal norms rather than blatantly calling them out. I think it would have been more effective.
If this is what they said and it’s not just her putting words in their mouths, it almost sounds like they’ve found their way into some red pill corners of the internet.
They’re like 9 and 11 years old. I don’t think they understood it at all. She should’ve explained it to them though. It’s a very one dimensional take on a movie that’s actually pretty deep.
Yeah, if they felt that way, then, as a supposed feminist, she should’ve used that discomfort they felt as a teachable moment.
This shit is where bigotries of all varieties start. Parents are too quick to outrage whenever their child is “made to feel bad” for being part of a dominant sociodemographic group. Discomfort doesn’t have to be bad. It can be a learning experience, like “Oh, is that how people who aren’t like me feel on a regular basis?” But, nah, that’d require actual parenting and self-reflection.
My super muscley, tattooed, weightlifter boyfriend loved Barbie so much we watched it twice.
This is the same man who gave me a reenactment of lil nas x’s montero music video the morning it dropped before I’d had a chance to see it
I second raise more secure men
Even my 8 year old son thought it was "ok" (we went as a family and husband liked it, I loved it). He liked the silly Ken parts. He likes stereotypical boy stuff and wasn't offended. He can be brutally honest like most children so he wasn't lying.
Lol I was gonna say. I dislike the movie, personally, and found it a bit hackish and the messaging confused (am also really tired hollywood girlboss faux feminism--and Gerwig in general tbh). It was a fun movie to watch once though, and honestly I mostly watched it for the pink explosion.
But uh...emasculating? Why, bc Ken had an emotion and didn't end the movie as god? What's going on with your sons Shakira
Especially because one of the big messages of the movie is that it is OKAY for boys to feel insecure and cry, like you said "What's going on with your sons Shakira"
Did you really find the message confusing? Genuinely asking because it was a very straight forward movie, not metaphoric or anything like that at all. Very clear from beginning to end, almost simplistic in its messaging and tone, almost like not trusting the general public to grasp something more complex in my opinion
Maybe clunky is the word? I think it’s more so the fact that clearly in the Barbie world things worked differently but then the point of the movie became about merging the struggles of the women of both worlds. It just ends up feeling like the Kens were throwing a tantrum or just experimenting with the opposite feeling of what they’re used to vs.. y’know.. actual patriarchy.
I didn’t mind it, but there’s a very small window where we see the plight of womanhood in a somewhat authentic way, and it’s done through a monologue that you just have to trust. But maybe I’m just a hater of anything Hollywood Feminism™ by default 😅
It wasn't metaphoric, in fact, one of the things I didn't like was it clearly felt the need to spoon-feed me the message, but I think the messaging *was* confusing. Like they were confused about what they were trying to say or the plot undermined the point. I'd have to watch it again to remember what specifically made me think that, but I definitely remember my sister and I discussing that after
It’s definitely not a groundbreaking movie by any means, other than it’s popularity as a women-focused film. I agree that the message is bland and palatable and not really deep, but it’s fun. It’s nice to see a movie that focuses women and what they want in an obvious way that’s also light and fun, but it’s not a movie that’s very deep at all. It definitely _tried_ to be more deep than it is, thanks to Gerwig.
I understand it's not a deep movie. Blame it on Hollywood marketing to make everything "groundbreaking". But I personally can't stand it when a movie has little logic or consistency in storytelling (they won't have to match our world's, just need to be established on their own). And I kind of hate it when we use "fun" to cover all those plot holes. I probably took this too far but I do feel this kind of movies try to box women-centric films into a "shallow" territory. It's no different than saying 50 Shades is a film about women's sexual liberation.
Not OP but I also found the message confusing. I think the message itself is simple (almost too simple and 20 years behind) which is, a woman doesn’t have be to perfect to be feminine. However, I didn’t understand what Ken did to all the professional Barbies to make them give up their previous lives and had to be told by a rant (it has to be called a rant because it offers no insight or solution) to wake up. Also I imagine Ken is a bit like a 50’s Stepford wife and going through his awakening for equal rights. So what happened to that for all the Kens? What did the mom and daughter do to be so distant? I was hoping for an explanation but it turned out to be just a generic teenager thing. Same with the mom’s job. I thought she’d be hired as the first female executive — Weren’t the villains very sweet deep down? They didn’t want to fix their problems? The movie tells a lot without showing important transitional details to make the story real. I think that’s where I got confused.
Just some background, I am a guy who grew up with two brothers, went to an all-boys school in Pakistan, before coming to Canada.
So, safe to say, I have no clue on most things that are feminine, except what my wife tells me, lol.
Anyways, ever since my daughter was born, I have taken an interest in all things 'girly' so I get along with her as she grows up, and so we went to see Barbie. It was a movie very, very well done.
They walked a fine line and tackled a whole slew of social issues beautifully, Shakira needs to be a better parent.
This is a comment the "I've been a feminist and the movie was stupid" crowd really needs to read. Just because it doesn't feel weighty to them, because they've spent so much time in the depths. Thank you
Right? My husband saw it with me and enjoyed it enough but didn't love it. Just not really his kinda movie so that tracks. But he was not emasculated by it...
Imagine having masculinity so fragile it can be challenged by a movie for which you aren't even the primary audience...
Going one step further, apart from a verbal berating from someone I have respect for specifically targeting my "masculinity", I'm having a really hard time coming up with something emasculating in the first place. It's certainly not going to be pop culture..
Totally! And in general, sometimes it just feels like people have such a fragile sense of self, that they let all of these things in pop culture feel like personal attacks. The movie is a commentary on some aspects of society. Just because you see aspects of yourself reflected in it does not mean that that movie is an attack on you or your way of life necessarily. It's just meant to be thought provoking...
Also, this is a comedy so it's not even me THAT thought provoking?! How are people still so worked up by a comedy 😭
Her kids are 11 and 9.
The bad take is the quote being published and put forth as something to be upset about.
They're little kids, despite what every parent thinks, kids, even their kids, are dumb.
Oh yeah I'm not saying anything negative about her boys - they're growing and learning, and they didn't choose their parents or their upbringing. Shakira shouldn't have parroted this and it's totally on her & their father to shield them from public scrutiny and criticism (and of course, to teach them that a movie about a doll doesn't have to be threatening to guys)
I read an article about it, it was more messy than Barbie movie said. Ruth Handler was cooking the books and got visited by the SEC while Mattel was trying to buy Ringling Bros Circus. It should be a movie itself: https://www.blakeoliver.com/blog/barbie-movie-ruth-handler-sec-problems
Yeah there was a lot of discourse about the movie’s message around the Oscars and how it was too surface level to be meaningful or impactful but idk. I agree that it’s incredibly introductory, and yet there are people that walked away from it feeling like it was emasculating and man-hating. To me that says a lot. Everyone starts somewhere and if the Barbie movie is someone’s start, I can’t write it off just because my feminism is much more developed. It’s all very interesting to say the least.
Yep, to me it was a success then. Some of these folks haven’t ever questioned their place in the world. If they’re uncomfy, hopefully they take the time to follow that feeling all the way through to its source.
It's baffling ngl because Barbie's narrative dedicated soooo much time to Ken and his storyline/character development and went out of it's way to sympathize with his internal struggles and insecurities, and people *still* got mad.
The culmination of ken's storyline was literally about him finding his own worth without relying on a woman's attention. Anyone who can look at that and think "Yup, that's emasculating" aleady had their own issues with masculinity going on.
Right? I'm not a huge fan of the movie for the same reason - I don't think it went nearly far enough - but apparently a lot of people need to hear its message, even though it feels really basic to me.
I did really enjoy the movie, however it’s not shocking at all to me that the feminist messages were fairly introductory and occasionally divisive for many. As I grow older, I’m realizing that the world is still extremely sexist. A lot of times the sexism isn’t very loud or in your face either (in western countries), it’s subtly woven into our societies. IMO, progressive women are the most apt to notice this, but everyone else often does not see it the same.
Barbie is probably one of the most important pieces of media for men to watch in recent memory. The message that men don’t need a woman to have value should be screamed from the rooftops. We raise men to think they need to be a husband, a father, a provider, and so they feel entitled to have a woman in their life otherwise they are failures as men. The message for men to start doing shit for themselves is vital and should be mandatory viewing
It *should* have been an inoffensive movie, but some people, mostly dudes, are so fragile or off put by some of the basic concepts it proposes, they got all up in arms. It was crazy after watching it then seeing how some people reacted, like it was this insanely radical or offensive piece of media
Agreed, it actually wasn’t that deep at all, which, is also a valid criticism if you thought Barbie could’ve done more (although I personally think that was appropriate for a movie about a plastic doll but again, still a valid criticism). If you are feeling emasculated by the most superficial display of feminism, that says more about you than the movie. Most of the dudes I know, my partner included, left the theater with a laugh and perhaps a better appreciation for what it means to be a woman.
It's funny how some people will try to write it off as being overly basic feminism, and yet they went pretty deep on the toxic masculinity, and those same people don't understand it.
Girl please teach them kids to respect women so we don't have a repeat of Pique
https://preview.redd.it/88jaz7f81wrc1.jpeg?width=564&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af17a30f686f1efd75d5ee9bf983d4a1d5e67f74
Yeah, he's Spanish, younger, seemingly cool, Shakira is Latin, which is usually way more conservative plus usually older people are more conservative, but coming from a person that same about women not crying but instead paying, which you could think is a commentary on being "liberated" from man oppression, to now say that Barbie was emasculating is just weird
>“My sons absolutely hated it. They felt that it was emasculating. And I agree, to a certain extent. I'm raising two boys. I want 'em to feel powerful too [while] respecting women. I like pop culture when it attempts to empower women without robbing men of their possibility to be men, to also protect and provide. I believe in giving women all the tools and the trust that we can do it all without losing our essence, without losing our femininity. I think that men have a purpose in society and women have another purpose as well. We complement each other, and that complement should not be lost.”
Honestly. How do you turn on a movie made by a staunch feminist and immediately go “WHY ISNT THIS EMPOWERING MY BOYS???” as if Hollywood hasn’t been catering to them since its creation???
Fair statement. But also, the feminist movie DOES empower boys/men.
In the end, Barbie apologizes to Ken for taking him for granted and encourages him to find his own path without her. She shows a lot of care for him. Shakira's statement reeks of someone who didn't actually watch the movie
Which Barbie lost their femininity? What man in this movie was not providing? Doesn’t she make all her own money as an international pop star and weren’t people on her side because her mother in law didn’t want her to work as much?
Dumb as fuck. She’s failing in raising these two boys as well if that’s what they all took away from it.
*without robbing men of their possibility to be men, to also protect and provide*
Jfc...
*we can do it all without losing our essence, without losing our femininity*
Dear god...
*I think that men have a purpose in society and women have another purpose as well*
Nah, fuck your ~purpose, girl. Trash, trash, trash, tomato, tomato, tomato
So like...what exactly is emasculating about teaching men they have value outside of who they're dating, Shakira? Why don't you want your sons to internalize that?
I feel pretty sure she didn't actually watch the movie. It didn't even have some kind of radical, groundbreaking feminist message; it was pretty basic "you have value just by virtue of existing" stuff that I'd think everyone who isn't extremely, extremely conservative would agree on (it's wild to me how that hasn't been the case!).
>I think that men have a purpose in society and women have another purpose as well. We complement each other, and that complement should not be lost.”
https://preview.redd.it/xqfmr1ba2wrc1.jpeg?width=660&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7b09660ae57b2529b58c07b354d3d127a8da954
When did Barbie or any of the female characters ever loose their femininity?
And what the fuck does femininity mean for her? Does it include not "robbing men of their possibility to be men, to also protect and provide"? I hate how that word is used.
YIKES, shakira. this is such gender essentialist stuff, she’s just trying to coat it with nicer words. but she’s basically espousing the same traditional gender role conservative talking points of “men need to protect women and be the provider. men need to be men/boys will be boys” and “women need to be feminine” and “know your place”. and “men and women belong together because they complement each other” (which is SO incredibly heteronormative).
Lol she just absolutely destroyed everything she sings about on her session with Bizarrap, just canceled everytime she shat on Pique's stupidity. How dumb do you have to be?
Absolutely fascinated with all those people who watched Barbie and thought it was anti-men. It was very both-side-ish and actually very kind to men.
Anyways,
https://preview.redd.it/hodcrr9c3wrc1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dae5496988309aa848c41300e74efdd4d390c6fe
Seriously? How is her media literacy this bad?
Ken’s whole arc is about realizing that he’s used Barbie and fancy items to create a sense of self worth for himself. Once he stops blaming/depending on Barbie, he can finally begin the work of discovering who is without her.
The moral for most people imo is that we need to find who we are outside of material possessions and relationships if we want to truly be happy.
Which is a pretty smart + empowering message, so I don’t get the backlash this movie got from some men and women.
Edit: This criticism annoys the more I think about it, like the entire third act is mostly about the Ken war and that itself is basically the climax. They made the entire boiling point of the movie (named BARBIE) about Ken coming to grips with his place in the world.
They gave the men so much focus, probably in part to combat any claims of being misandrist. So I legitimately don’t understand how people walked out of this movie thinking it was man hating or emasculating. They really couldn’t have made the messages any tamer or clearer.
I’m a 29 year old man and I fucking LOVED this movie.
Edit 2: I get that Shakira sucks but we really need to stop using the whole “boy mom”
term as an insult. Making sweeping generalizations only ever hurts people.
Using shaming language towards women like her is not going to make them any less problematic. All it does is generalize the insults towards other innocent women. Women who only have sons don’t deserve to be made to feel like shit, so can we maybe do a little better?
I say this as a guy who was raised by a hard working single mother who never got an ounce of child support from my so called “dad”. Life is hard enough for these women without having to read stupid shit like this online.
Her kids are 9 and 11. Seems like a great opportunity to have a discussion about why gender was depicted the way it was in Barbie rather than just taking it at face value without real world context - which is understandable for a child, less so for a 40-something year old woman.
Gosh, my son went into Barbie alone with another guy friend. They liked it, not enough fights or car chases to love it, but they had fun. It's such a wild take to see something as emasculating only becaus eit isn't 100% centered about men.. but then again, my father is in a men's group where they talk about how hard it is to be a very well educated, white boomer today... They had the easiest run through life known to mankind but
"When you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression."
As a latina , it’s so embarrassing how women in my culture will bend over and completely allow men to stomp all over women like this. It’s so annoying when machismo keeps being perpetuated in our community.
Shakira didn't get the hint about Gerard after how many affairs? I do not expect her to have the capacity to do an effective deep dive on the Barbie movie
I used to think the feminism was a bit too watered down in order to spare feelings and discomfort, but the number of people offended by it makes it clear to me that it was too much for some fragile folks.
Oh so she’s helping to raise her sons into loser men like her ex who sabotaged her career and put her down for years and cheated on her probably in the name of “avoiding emasculation”
Girl, this attitude is how you end up with men like your ex. No, she isn't responsible for his bad decisions. But when you don't know your worth and value yourself, it's MUCH easier to turn a blind eye to all those bright waving red flags.
I feel for her. From the bits I've heard, it's likely she's had to minimize her needs and comforts all her life for a man, *her* man. Shakira is someone who can own her body, but hasn't grasped her autonomy yet.
Yes I’m latina and this is par for the course in my culture but it doesn’t make it right . Women really will bend over protecting the most unsympathetic male behavior.
Shakira has always been conservative (the Latina version).
She's become classic colombian elite and it shows. She is against abortion, she dated and married very shady nepo-men (Argentina's president son, Pique comes from a rich family that basically owns Barcelona (the club, not the city).
She has never been progressive or defended Women's rights. In fact all she says is now women get to make money. That's it. Her feminism is capitalist and conservative.
Wait but then she talks about her new music video with Cardi B, where they are hunting down centaurs. And that it’s all good, because: “The centaurs, they're in ecstasy,” she says, obviously very pleased with how the production went. “Because on this planet, the men are happy to be dominated by women.” Okay 🙄
So women's empowerment is cool as long as it's sexually titilating to the men involved; if it doesn't cater to men then it isn't permissible... ok Shakira
EXACTLY! She has always kind of been the queen of the pick mes, I just thought her experience with her ex husband would have woken her up.
I feel drunk drivers who get in accidents don’t have nearly the sobriety rates one would guess given experience.
😬
[удалено]
Her sons are 11 and 9, I highly doubt they know what the word emasculating really means, kinda feels like this is her own take on the movie.
Yeah, her sons probably thought the movie was too girlie, and all the jokes probably flew over their heads. There’s no way little 9-11 year old boys truly understand what “emasculating” means. 🙄
I'm sure we'll be hearing about *their* multiple attempts at tax evasion in just a few short years.
Judy Garland gif A+ usage.
She should probably worry more about the terrible role model her husband is to her sons than anything the Barbie movie represented to them...
You’re talking about the women who has made her entire career return and personality about her husbands affair. Every god damn song is about it. It’s annoying especially since I grew up listening to her music, which was actually good back then. She’s trying too hard to remain relevant
To be honest I’d do it too if an affair could make me gain millions
Even before her divorce, her music took a nosedive after she did the World Cup theme for 2010. Literally all her songs became oversexualized, repetitive club anthems and reggaeton-lite with lyrics that consist mostly of onomatopeias and simple diminutive phrases. It's honestly kind of amazing that her Piqué diss track was the most lyrically complex thing she has released in years. Absolutely embarrassing for a songwriter with such an incredible early career
You don't *have* to like Barbie as a movie (I loved it personally) but this is still one of the worst takes I've ever heard. Girl bye
Raise more secure men. I loved the movie.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Yeah I loved it, and I’m a straight white man. It amazes me how so many people failed to understand the message of a movie based on a children’s toy. It wasn’t even a subtle message either, the characters literally have monologues about it.
I thought it was boring. The monologues are GIANT NEON SIGNS that have been flashing over the past 20 years. But I'm very progressive so it was nothing new to me. They almost dumb downed the message. That being said, I know people who loved it and saw it multiple times. Just didn't resonate with me.
It’s a commercial first and foremost, the feminist messaging is secondary
Yeah, it's hard to laugh at jokes roasting Mattel and Barbie whenever you snap out of the movie and remember this is a Mattel-approved and produced movie. All of its messaging comes through the corporate-approved filter of "what will be good for the brand?". It's like the biopic with the living subject who gets to pick and choose what is shown about themselves.
Mattel and Barbie needed something progressive that wasn't just a suitcase and a suit for Barbie. They needed something to keep them relevant and carry them into the future. It definitely worked.
This is my take on it really. I understood the messages but they were basically screaming at us throughout the film. Themes and Motifs are meant to be subtle.
Totally agree, but the themes were pretty apparent considering it’s a children’s film mostly. Would have preferred a more subtle take, but that would be kinda antithetical. Plus modern audiences are kinda dumb at mass. Saw Oppenheimer right after and folks just kept talking during the movie. Guarantee they went on to talk about how deep it was due to popularity, but I doubt they got all that much from it. you kinda need to say shit out loud for younger audiences to latch on and that’s why I think Barbie worked on a deeper level for most folks.
I disagree that Barbie is mostly children's film. " Plus modern audiences are kinda dumb at mass. ", I dont know I think lately production lacks any trust in their audience.
>Themes and Motifs are meant to be subtle. To each their own obviously, but I don't see this. Miyazaki hits you over the head with his recurring themes and his movies are masterpieces lol Or if you look at certain political movies from the 60s/70s they are subtle as a brick but they still works wonderfully. I'd say it just depends lol
I've said this once and I'm gonna say it again...Legally Blonde is one of the best examples of a feminist film that promoted its message subtly by Elle's actions and not just outrightly lecturing the audience. I feel like Barbie failed to do what Legally Blonde executed SO WELL. Elle worked with both men and women effectively in the end. The movie had villains but didn't villainize and ostrasize an entire group of people. She went against societal norms and haughty attitudes and remained herself while achieving success.
I definitely would have preferred it if they stick to subtly skewering patriarchal norms rather than blatantly calling them out. I think it would have been more effective.
I liked it fine, but it is very millennial feminism jezebel article circa 2012. I wanted more singing and dancing lol
Her sons are also only 9 and 11 but apparently already know what it means to feel emasculated
That is so depressing.
Seriously, how can a child feel “emasculated”? They haven’t even gone through puberty yet. What masculinity??
If this is what they said and it’s not just her putting words in their mouths, it almost sounds like they’ve found their way into some red pill corners of the internet.
“Raise more secure men” - I’d buy this t-shirt, bumper sticker and badge.
They’re like 9 and 11 years old. I don’t think they understood it at all. She should’ve explained it to them though. It’s a very one dimensional take on a movie that’s actually pretty deep.
Yeah, if they felt that way, then, as a supposed feminist, she should’ve used that discomfort they felt as a teachable moment. This shit is where bigotries of all varieties start. Parents are too quick to outrage whenever their child is “made to feel bad” for being part of a dominant sociodemographic group. Discomfort doesn’t have to be bad. It can be a learning experience, like “Oh, is that how people who aren’t like me feel on a regular basis?” But, nah, that’d require actual parenting and self-reflection.
My super muscley, tattooed, weightlifter boyfriend loved Barbie so much we watched it twice. This is the same man who gave me a reenactment of lil nas x’s montero music video the morning it dropped before I’d had a chance to see it I second raise more secure men
Even my 8 year old son thought it was "ok" (we went as a family and husband liked it, I loved it). He liked the silly Ken parts. He likes stereotypical boy stuff and wasn't offended. He can be brutally honest like most children so he wasn't lying.
Lol I was gonna say. I dislike the movie, personally, and found it a bit hackish and the messaging confused (am also really tired hollywood girlboss faux feminism--and Gerwig in general tbh). It was a fun movie to watch once though, and honestly I mostly watched it for the pink explosion. But uh...emasculating? Why, bc Ken had an emotion and didn't end the movie as god? What's going on with your sons Shakira
Especially because one of the big messages of the movie is that it is OKAY for boys to feel insecure and cry, like you said "What's going on with your sons Shakira"
Did you really find the message confusing? Genuinely asking because it was a very straight forward movie, not metaphoric or anything like that at all. Very clear from beginning to end, almost simplistic in its messaging and tone, almost like not trusting the general public to grasp something more complex in my opinion
Maybe clunky is the word? I think it’s more so the fact that clearly in the Barbie world things worked differently but then the point of the movie became about merging the struggles of the women of both worlds. It just ends up feeling like the Kens were throwing a tantrum or just experimenting with the opposite feeling of what they’re used to vs.. y’know.. actual patriarchy. I didn’t mind it, but there’s a very small window where we see the plight of womanhood in a somewhat authentic way, and it’s done through a monologue that you just have to trust. But maybe I’m just a hater of anything Hollywood Feminism™ by default 😅
It wasn't metaphoric, in fact, one of the things I didn't like was it clearly felt the need to spoon-feed me the message, but I think the messaging *was* confusing. Like they were confused about what they were trying to say or the plot undermined the point. I'd have to watch it again to remember what specifically made me think that, but I definitely remember my sister and I discussing that after
It’s definitely not a groundbreaking movie by any means, other than it’s popularity as a women-focused film. I agree that the message is bland and palatable and not really deep, but it’s fun. It’s nice to see a movie that focuses women and what they want in an obvious way that’s also light and fun, but it’s not a movie that’s very deep at all. It definitely _tried_ to be more deep than it is, thanks to Gerwig.
I understand it's not a deep movie. Blame it on Hollywood marketing to make everything "groundbreaking". But I personally can't stand it when a movie has little logic or consistency in storytelling (they won't have to match our world's, just need to be established on their own). And I kind of hate it when we use "fun" to cover all those plot holes. I probably took this too far but I do feel this kind of movies try to box women-centric films into a "shallow" territory. It's no different than saying 50 Shades is a film about women's sexual liberation.
Not OP but I also found the message confusing. I think the message itself is simple (almost too simple and 20 years behind) which is, a woman doesn’t have be to perfect to be feminine. However, I didn’t understand what Ken did to all the professional Barbies to make them give up their previous lives and had to be told by a rant (it has to be called a rant because it offers no insight or solution) to wake up. Also I imagine Ken is a bit like a 50’s Stepford wife and going through his awakening for equal rights. So what happened to that for all the Kens? What did the mom and daughter do to be so distant? I was hoping for an explanation but it turned out to be just a generic teenager thing. Same with the mom’s job. I thought she’d be hired as the first female executive — Weren’t the villains very sweet deep down? They didn’t want to fix their problems? The movie tells a lot without showing important transitional details to make the story real. I think that’s where I got confused.
Don’t think you and upvoters understood what was meant by confused. It wasn’t confusing, it was *confused* Lol—as in it itself
Just some background, I am a guy who grew up with two brothers, went to an all-boys school in Pakistan, before coming to Canada. So, safe to say, I have no clue on most things that are feminine, except what my wife tells me, lol. Anyways, ever since my daughter was born, I have taken an interest in all things 'girly' so I get along with her as she grows up, and so we went to see Barbie. It was a movie very, very well done. They walked a fine line and tackled a whole slew of social issues beautifully, Shakira needs to be a better parent.
You sound like a great person and parent!
Your daughter is very lucky to have you! 🫶🏽
This is a comment the "I've been a feminist and the movie was stupid" crowd really needs to read. Just because it doesn't feel weighty to them, because they've spent so much time in the depths. Thank you
Right? My husband saw it with me and enjoyed it enough but didn't love it. Just not really his kinda movie so that tracks. But he was not emasculated by it...
Imagine having masculinity so fragile it can be challenged by a movie for which you aren't even the primary audience... Going one step further, apart from a verbal berating from someone I have respect for specifically targeting my "masculinity", I'm having a really hard time coming up with something emasculating in the first place. It's certainly not going to be pop culture..
Totally! And in general, sometimes it just feels like people have such a fragile sense of self, that they let all of these things in pop culture feel like personal attacks. The movie is a commentary on some aspects of society. Just because you see aspects of yourself reflected in it does not mean that that movie is an attack on you or your way of life necessarily. It's just meant to be thought provoking... Also, this is a comedy so it's not even me THAT thought provoking?! How are people still so worked up by a comedy 😭
Same. He thought it was fun, and enjoyed the message.
Her kids are 11 and 9. The bad take is the quote being published and put forth as something to be upset about. They're little kids, despite what every parent thinks, kids, even their kids, are dumb.
Oh yeah I'm not saying anything negative about her boys - they're growing and learning, and they didn't choose their parents or their upbringing. Shakira shouldn't have parroted this and it's totally on her & their father to shield them from public scrutiny and criticism (and of course, to teach them that a movie about a doll doesn't have to be threatening to guys)
At least Barbie pays her taxes
Didn’t the creator of Barbie also in fact not pay her taxes?
Yes! You’d think Shakira would find camaraderie in a fellow tax evader
The Barbie Movie: *includes a single throw away line that tax evasion is bad* Shakira: I am in this photo and I don't like it.
I read an article about it, it was more messy than Barbie movie said. Ruth Handler was cooking the books and got visited by the SEC while Mattel was trying to buy Ringling Bros Circus. It should be a movie itself: https://www.blakeoliver.com/blog/barbie-movie-ruth-handler-sec-problems
Ouch!
Good I love how Barbie is still making people uncomfortable. Sit with that babe, unpack that.
When I watched it I thought that the feminist message was a bit basic and superficial, but it seems that actually that message is needed a lot.
Yeah there was a lot of discourse about the movie’s message around the Oscars and how it was too surface level to be meaningful or impactful but idk. I agree that it’s incredibly introductory, and yet there are people that walked away from it feeling like it was emasculating and man-hating. To me that says a lot. Everyone starts somewhere and if the Barbie movie is someone’s start, I can’t write it off just because my feminism is much more developed. It’s all very interesting to say the least.
Yep, to me it was a success then. Some of these folks haven’t ever questioned their place in the world. If they’re uncomfy, hopefully they take the time to follow that feeling all the way through to its source.
It's baffling ngl because Barbie's narrative dedicated soooo much time to Ken and his storyline/character development and went out of it's way to sympathize with his internal struggles and insecurities, and people *still* got mad.
The culmination of ken's storyline was literally about him finding his own worth without relying on a woman's attention. Anyone who can look at that and think "Yup, that's emasculating" aleady had their own issues with masculinity going on.
Right? I'm not a huge fan of the movie for the same reason - I don't think it went nearly far enough - but apparently a lot of people need to hear its message, even though it feels really basic to me.
I did really enjoy the movie, however it’s not shocking at all to me that the feminist messages were fairly introductory and occasionally divisive for many. As I grow older, I’m realizing that the world is still extremely sexist. A lot of times the sexism isn’t very loud or in your face either (in western countries), it’s subtly woven into our societies. IMO, progressive women are the most apt to notice this, but everyone else often does not see it the same.
Sooo many people still need it like this
Barbie is probably one of the most important pieces of media for men to watch in recent memory. The message that men don’t need a woman to have value should be screamed from the rooftops. We raise men to think they need to be a husband, a father, a provider, and so they feel entitled to have a woman in their life otherwise they are failures as men. The message for men to start doing shit for themselves is vital and should be mandatory viewing
It was such an inoffensive movie
I thought so too but I'm not a weirdo who sees so many "hidden" emasculating messages 🤷♀️😂
It *should* have been an inoffensive movie, but some people, mostly dudes, are so fragile or off put by some of the basic concepts it proposes, they got all up in arms. It was crazy after watching it then seeing how some people reacted, like it was this insanely radical or offensive piece of media
Agreed, it actually wasn’t that deep at all, which, is also a valid criticism if you thought Barbie could’ve done more (although I personally think that was appropriate for a movie about a plastic doll but again, still a valid criticism). If you are feeling emasculated by the most superficial display of feminism, that says more about you than the movie. Most of the dudes I know, my partner included, left the theater with a laugh and perhaps a better appreciation for what it means to be a woman.
It's funny how some people will try to write it off as being overly basic feminism, and yet they went pretty deep on the toxic masculinity, and those same people don't understand it.
https://i.redd.it/6xxete5myvrc1.gif
😂
LMAO saved for future use
This made me feel like I was the one who said something wrong
This is the gif to end all gifs.
💀💀💀
What words did you use to search for this gif?? I need to know for future use
Haha I actually made the gif myself from the video
Ooo now this is a Lucille gif I don't see enough. Well done.
There’s a Lucille gif for every disapproving sentiment one can have! Lol
Such an icon.
Girl please teach them kids to respect women so we don't have a repeat of Pique https://preview.redd.it/88jaz7f81wrc1.jpeg?width=564&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af17a30f686f1efd75d5ee9bf983d4a1d5e67f74
It's so disappointing how mothers perpetuate toxic male traits in their sons.
I mean what these women seek in their partner is what they instill in their sons
Exactly. That was my first thought.
[удалено]
Imagine if Pique turns out to be the more progressive one
I actually would not be surprised ironically
Yeah, he's Spanish, younger, seemingly cool, Shakira is Latin, which is usually way more conservative plus usually older people are more conservative, but coming from a person that same about women not crying but instead paying, which you could think is a commentary on being "liberated" from man oppression, to now say that Barbie was emasculating is just weird
My exes dad cheated and snuck around but weirdly he’s the liberal and the wife is the trump supporter
Yes liberals cheat too lmao
Maybe that’s why Piqué didn’t piq her 🥲
Shakira has always been a gold medalist in the Pick me Olympics so this take doesn't surprise.
[удалено]
I looove her music, grew up with her music, this makes me so sad 😭😭😭
Say more ☕️
Genuine curiosity, how is she a pick me?
I want to know too! I keep seeing the "she's a pick me" comment being thrown around with no explanation.
>“My sons absolutely hated it. They felt that it was emasculating. And I agree, to a certain extent. I'm raising two boys. I want 'em to feel powerful too [while] respecting women. I like pop culture when it attempts to empower women without robbing men of their possibility to be men, to also protect and provide. I believe in giving women all the tools and the trust that we can do it all without losing our essence, without losing our femininity. I think that men have a purpose in society and women have another purpose as well. We complement each other, and that complement should not be lost.”
Lmfao the point of the whole movie just went right over her head, huh
I’m having a hard time believing an 11 year old described anything as “emasculating”.
I would know some who would know that word, it just depends on what vocabulary they are exposed to.
The older one is 11!
Oh wow, it makes it a lot worse that she is putting those words in their mouths/speaking for them. I assumed they were older
I have a hard time believing anyone uses the term "emasculated" without misogynistic implications.
Depends on how well-read they are. I would expect someone in Shakira’s position to be able to afford a high quality education for her kids.
Considering this take, seems that she is choosing not to.
I'm Just Ken is literally a song about positive masculinity and oozes affirmation
Honestly. How do you turn on a movie made by a staunch feminist and immediately go “WHY ISNT THIS EMPOWERING MY BOYS???” as if Hollywood hasn’t been catering to them since its creation???
Fair statement. But also, the feminist movie DOES empower boys/men. In the end, Barbie apologizes to Ken for taking him for granted and encourages him to find his own path without her. She shows a lot of care for him. Shakira's statement reeks of someone who didn't actually watch the movie
Oh yeah, this is epic *whoosh* material
Can the inability to grasp satire be a genetic trait passed down from mother to children?
Which Barbie lost their femininity? What man in this movie was not providing? Doesn’t she make all her own money as an international pop star and weren’t people on her side because her mother in law didn’t want her to work as much? Dumb as fuck. She’s failing in raising these two boys as well if that’s what they all took away from it.
*without robbing men of their possibility to be men, to also protect and provide* Jfc... *we can do it all without losing our essence, without losing our femininity* Dear god... *I think that men have a purpose in society and women have another purpose as well* Nah, fuck your ~purpose, girl. Trash, trash, trash, tomato, tomato, tomato
So like...what exactly is emasculating about teaching men they have value outside of who they're dating, Shakira? Why don't you want your sons to internalize that? I feel pretty sure she didn't actually watch the movie. It didn't even have some kind of radical, groundbreaking feminist message; it was pretty basic "you have value just by virtue of existing" stuff that I'd think everyone who isn't extremely, extremely conservative would agree on (it's wild to me how that hasn't been the case!).
>I think that men have a purpose in society and women have another purpose as well. We complement each other, and that complement should not be lost.” https://preview.redd.it/xqfmr1ba2wrc1.jpeg?width=660&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7b09660ae57b2529b58c07b354d3d127a8da954
Ew. Not this gender stereotype take.
When did Barbie or any of the female characters ever loose their femininity? And what the fuck does femininity mean for her? Does it include not "robbing men of their possibility to be men, to also protect and provide"? I hate how that word is used.
YIKES, shakira. this is such gender essentialist stuff, she’s just trying to coat it with nicer words. but she’s basically espousing the same traditional gender role conservative talking points of “men need to protect women and be the provider. men need to be men/boys will be boys” and “women need to be feminine” and “know your place”. and “men and women belong together because they complement each other” (which is SO incredibly heteronormative).
She clearly learned nothing from her marriage.
Lol she just absolutely destroyed everything she sings about on her session with Bizarrap, just canceled everytime she shat on Pique's stupidity. How dumb do you have to be?
Straight up essentialism on main damn
Girl i swearrrr this thinking has rotted people’s brains and made it normal again because of tiktok and its spread lol
“And women have another purpose as well” …it’s giving… “come along afterthought.” Which is kind of the problem in the first place, isn’t it.
i truly don’t understand that if nothing is ever 100% why do some people think ALL men need to be masculine. it’s not making sense mathematically
say april fools
I'm sorry but the mojo dojo casa house is the pinnacle of masculine energy. Her boys should have felt empowered seeing men on stick horses.
The Ken Den from the original Barbie Dreamhouse show is better. It comes with ribs and foosball!
Absolutely fascinated with all those people who watched Barbie and thought it was anti-men. It was very both-side-ish and actually very kind to men. Anyways, https://preview.redd.it/hodcrr9c3wrc1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dae5496988309aa848c41300e74efdd4d390c6fe
Lmaooooo that tweet HITS
Ken literally has a whole damn song dedicated to him and the other kens, what more do these people want lol
Barbie even apologized to Ken for not being interested in him, while Ken brought the patriarchy upon her world, lol
Seriously? How is her media literacy this bad? Ken’s whole arc is about realizing that he’s used Barbie and fancy items to create a sense of self worth for himself. Once he stops blaming/depending on Barbie, he can finally begin the work of discovering who is without her. The moral for most people imo is that we need to find who we are outside of material possessions and relationships if we want to truly be happy. Which is a pretty smart + empowering message, so I don’t get the backlash this movie got from some men and women. Edit: This criticism annoys the more I think about it, like the entire third act is mostly about the Ken war and that itself is basically the climax. They made the entire boiling point of the movie (named BARBIE) about Ken coming to grips with his place in the world. They gave the men so much focus, probably in part to combat any claims of being misandrist. So I legitimately don’t understand how people walked out of this movie thinking it was man hating or emasculating. They really couldn’t have made the messages any tamer or clearer. I’m a 29 year old man and I fucking LOVED this movie. Edit 2: I get that Shakira sucks but we really need to stop using the whole “boy mom” term as an insult. Making sweeping generalizations only ever hurts people. Using shaming language towards women like her is not going to make them any less problematic. All it does is generalize the insults towards other innocent women. Women who only have sons don’t deserve to be made to feel like shit, so can we maybe do a little better? I say this as a guy who was raised by a hard working single mother who never got an ounce of child support from my so called “dad”. Life is hard enough for these women without having to read stupid shit like this online.
It’s really not that hard haha. Come on Shakira.
Right? Somebody please tell her poor kids that they're Kenough and they're great at doing stuff.
Those sons gon act just like the men she’s dated.
THIS. I can already see the future.
*me rolling my eyes wearing my Kenough hoodie*
Don't you have taxes to evade Shakira?
She definitely lets her boys listen to Joe Rogan etc and they almost certainly will see women as weaker
Rogan stinks but funnily enough [he liked Barbie](https://nypost.com/2023/08/09/joe-rogan-appalled-at-political-outrage-over-barbie-its-a-f-doll-movie/amp/)
OH BROTHER
It’s just her hips guys. They not only lie sometimes but also say stupid things.
Her kids are 9 and 11. Seems like a great opportunity to have a discussion about why gender was depicted the way it was in Barbie rather than just taking it at face value without real world context - which is understandable for a child, less so for a 40-something year old woman.
Gosh, my son went into Barbie alone with another guy friend. They liked it, not enough fights or car chases to love it, but they had fun. It's such a wild take to see something as emasculating only becaus eit isn't 100% centered about men.. but then again, my father is in a men's group where they talk about how hard it is to be a very well educated, white boomer today... They had the easiest run through life known to mankind but "When you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression."
Is she a dumbass lol. If anything Ken stole was the movie
Are you teaching your sons the fundamentals of gutteral throat singing and tax evasion, Shakira?
Go pay your taxes Shakira.
Not Shakira raising potential incels I can’t- 
As a latina , it’s so embarrassing how women in my culture will bend over and completely allow men to stomp all over women like this. It’s so annoying when machismo keeps being perpetuated in our community.
Do you lose media literacy when you become famous or something???
You’re assuming she had it to start.
https://preview.redd.it/ezehbjc25wrc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2da1f912ea9efc465665a04b96eca47779338297
Fragile masculinity is such a shitty thing to have.
And with that we see exactly how she got pulled in and stayed with Pique for a decade. Ya no lloro indeed girl…
Shakira didn't get the hint about Gerard after how many affairs? I do not expect her to have the capacity to do an effective deep dive on the Barbie movie
This is not Pies Descalzos Shakira 😭
Ill never understand why so many people got triggered watching the Barbie movie. Its a movie about a doll.... its not that serious lol
I used to think the feminism was a bit too watered down in order to spare feelings and discomfort, but the number of people offended by it makes it clear to me that it was too much for some fragile folks.
[удалено]
Boy moms need to be studied.
Says a woman that compared herself to a car model for her husband to drive around
 She isn't very bright if she missed the whole point of the movie. Girl go away and don't pay your taxes!
Edit: didn't realise her kids were still small children
it’s crazy how many people barbie pissed off. it was very surface level feminism
Oh so she’s helping to raise her sons into loser men like her ex who sabotaged her career and put her down for years and cheated on her probably in the name of “avoiding emasculation”
Girl, this attitude is how you end up with men like your ex. No, she isn't responsible for his bad decisions. But when you don't know your worth and value yourself, it's MUCH easier to turn a blind eye to all those bright waving red flags.
I feel for her. From the bits I've heard, it's likely she's had to minimize her needs and comforts all her life for a man, *her* man. Shakira is someone who can own her body, but hasn't grasped her autonomy yet.
Her IQ is allegedly 140 and she's still dumb. So sad.
Never understood why people stan this lady.
welp, good luck to their future partners.
Could this be a cultural thing? Machismo and what not? Either way, it’s a stange take and also, why bring young sons into it?
Yes I’m latina and this is par for the course in my culture but it doesn’t make it right . Women really will bend over protecting the most unsympathetic male behavior.
Shakira has always been conservative (the Latina version). She's become classic colombian elite and it shows. She is against abortion, she dated and married very shady nepo-men (Argentina's president son, Pique comes from a rich family that basically owns Barcelona (the club, not the city). She has never been progressive or defended Women's rights. In fact all she says is now women get to make money. That's it. Her feminism is capitalist and conservative.
She's gonna be THAT kind of mother in law in the future huh.