The Barbie Movie Review: Nostalgia Reimagined

Speaker 1: 0:03

Hi Sarah, hi Megan.

Speaker 2: 0:19

How are?

Speaker 1: 0:20

you, I'm doing really well, thank you. We are fresh off of a two-week vacation to Florida, so I'm happy to be home. Just getting back into the groove of things. One thing I wanted to tell you is that I finished Vanderpump Rules the most recent season.

Speaker 2: 0:46

What does psychologist Megan think?

Speaker 1: 0:50

Now I want to re-go back and redo the whole episode that we just did and analyzing all the personalities, because I saw so much interesting stuff in there. I was so wrong about Raquel, I think, on that episode. You and I talked about it and I was like, well, I feel like she seems so innocent, she doesn't really know what she's doing, kind of dough-eyed and things like that. Oh my gosh. The last episode I don't know if you got caught up on this or not the secret episode.

Speaker 2: 1:23

I'm not. I really want to be, but I'm not caught up. I have one more episode to watch, oh, my gosh, I'm okay with the spoiler what happened.

Speaker 1: 1:32

It was like nothing huge was revealed. Oh, this new secret was revealed. We all know. The secret was that there was this huge affair Seeing the footage of the two of them after we now know the timeline after those reunion episodes and them explaining how this all unfolded. We know when they got together and things like that they showed footage of the morning after, I think two different times. One was Raquel seeing Tom Sandoval. It was just so cringy, I just felt so bad for Ariana. The other one was Ariana defending Raquel to Tom Sandoval. I was just like, oh, because I feel so bad for her, because I know she's probably looking back on that and thinking to herself wow, did I ever miss this? She was saying how Raquel's her best friend and all this. It's going to take a lot for me to not defend her or be her best friend. You see Tom Sandoval sitting there looking at her, giving her a side eye when she said it.

Speaker 2: 2:36

No, really Okay, I need to watch this to end, you've got to watch it.

Speaker 1: 2:42

I was like, oh, I hope that pricks your conscience, sir, maybe we should do another episode.

Speaker 2: 2:46

Do you think that Raquel is an equal partner in all of this now?

Speaker 1: 2:51

I do, I do think so. I do too. I do still feel for her because I think she got caught up, because she lost all sense of identity. That's what it feels like.

Speaker 2: 3:01

That's scary, or did she ever even have identity?

Speaker 1: 3:06

That's the thing other people are saying on the episode is that she's finding her identity in men when she lost that relationship. Then she's like, well, who am I? She's just doing all this crazy stuff, I think, trying to figure out where the boundaries lie for her. I hope she figured some of that out. We might need to go back and re-analyze. I'm into it. Let's do it.

Speaker 2: 3:29

I'm into it. Let's do it, okay. Well, I got to get caught up on that I know I know it's so interesting. Well, I'm so glad you're back. I knew it. I'm so happy you're back, I'm so excited.

Speaker 1: 3:44

I'm so glad you're back.

Speaker 2: 3:46

I'm so glad you're back.

Speaker 1: 3:49

I'm so excited.

Speaker 2: 3:51

I'm so happy you're back. I know, I know, I know, I know. Yeah, well, I had a really funny thing happen the first day we came back from our trip. You and I live in different towns so, for anyone listening, in between us is another bigger town the day I came back from vacation. In that bigger town is a restaurant that we both really like, but a lot of people like it. It's a very popular restaurant with healthy food and we go there with our families all the time. Okay, yes, you know which one I'm talking about, right?

Speaker 1: 4:23

I do, I do. Do you want to say what the name is? Because I think it's a chain. It's a chain, okay, yeah.

Speaker 2: 4:29

It's true, food, yes, it's amazing, it's so good, okay, it is a chain.

Speaker 2: 4:33

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got back from my trip, I took my girls just the three of us to do some errands and then we just popped in there for lunch. I love that they're old enough now. That that's like an enjoyable experience. I don't have a baby and it's like, oh, this will be easier. We're just going to get a really healthy lunch at one of my favorite places and then go back home and everyone will be full and happy.

Speaker 2: 4:59

So we sit down and right away, the waiter we get I don't recognize him, which there is a few waiters there that I recognize because we go there often yeah, and he was really cheerful and a little bit overly friendly. But I was just like, oh, that's being a waiter, no big deal. And he was just like chumming it up with me and the girls, Like, how are you guys doing today? And so, as the meal progresses, I kind of was like, does he think he knows me? But I don't know him. He was just really friendly. And then, towards the end of the meal, you're going to die. He said to me I'm surprised to see you during the day. Usually you come in the evening with your other daughter, your husband, and you bring a bottle of wine and I literally my mouth dropped because you. I know that you bring three girls everywhere. Yes, you and your husband. When you go out to dinner there, and you and your husband always bring a bottle of wine, they do, oh my gosh.

Speaker 2: 6:07

They thought you were me. Yes, so I don't think we look like that much alike, but I'm like, are we morphing into each other? Yes, I'm like of all the blonde moms in these like big Bay Area cities that we live in. Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2: 6:23

That's so funny, but I looked at him and I think I gave him a puzzled look and he said oh, I'm sorry, I'm. I maybe you're not who I'm thinking of. I think you're someone else that comes in all the time. And I said, oh my gosh, I you're not. I don't think I've met you before. I don't have another daughter. I never bring a bottle of wine anywhere, but I think that you think I'm my best friend and I showed him your picture and he was like, yes, oh well, you two look like twins. I was like this is crazy. We don't. We don't live in small towns. I mean no that's really funny.

Speaker 1: 7:00

It's not like a small town thing. I just couldn't believe it, that speaks to how often I think we both go to that restaurant. Maybe it's a little bit too much and also that's I take that compliment that makes my day that is so sweet.

Speaker 2: 7:16

That is hysterical. I was laughing so hard and I wanted to tell you right away and I was like, well, I'm going to see it because this is hilarious. I think also we have similar orders there.

Speaker 1: 7:24

Yes, I think we do.

Speaker 2: 7:25

We do have similar orders. We have similar orders there tonight. Oh you are, I'll look for this waiter and say, hi, yeah, he was so sweet. He was like a little bit embarrassed at first and then he thought it was really funny, but I just couldn't believe it when he said the bottle of wine. I just was like, oh my God, he's talking about Megan, like. So it's like three kids brings their husband, brings the bottle, because most people don't bring a bottle of wine to this restaurant. I don't think.

Speaker 1: 7:53

No, no, they don't no most people don't, you're extra and there is no corkage fee or there is, like you could, you're allowed to bring a bottle of wine in California by the by law. You can bring any bottle of wine to any restaurant and then they sometimes charge you a corkage fee but then they open your bottle of wine for you and they pour it for you and stuff like that, and so you always get like a higher end sort of wine and you're probably paying less and you'd be paying the restaurant. So, my husband, I feel like this is a good savings. Most of us, we get what we actually really want. But yeah, I think it is unusual for this restaurant in particular. So that's, that's really, really funny. I can't wait to tell you.

Speaker 2: 8:34

I know, yeah, and then I was thinking about him like, well, I guess, like over the last gosh it's almost been a year now from when we first met we have bought like all things. Something you're wearing is so cute and I'll be like, oh, where'd you get that? I'll just buy it. And I'm like you do the same, and I'm like you know we slowly are getting more things alike.

Speaker 1: 8:57

I think your daughter even said the other day, right, that you and I are very similar, we're the same, or something like that yeah, yeah, we were swimming at your house.

Speaker 2: 9:06

We hadn't planned on it, so my girls were borrowing your girl swimsuits. And then, after the fact, she's like well, my, you could have gone swimming, you could have worn Megan swimsuit. And I said oh yeah, I suppose I could have, but you guys are exactly the same, which we're not. We've got like a. We've got a pretty big, maybe six different inches. No, not six no. I'm five, nine, you're five.

Speaker 1: 9:33

Oh yeah, I'm way overestimated. I'm five, five yeah.

Speaker 2: 9:36

But that's a big difference.

Speaker 1: 9:37

Yeah, I'm actually, I'm actually five, four and a half, but I, I round up.

Speaker 2: 9:42

Okay.

Speaker 1: 9:43

Yeah, oh, that's hysterical. Well, I'm going to go there tonight and I'll look for this waiter. You can tell me afterwards who it is.

Speaker 2: 9:49

Oh yeah, maybe he'll um mix you up for me. He'll be like oh, who's your third child?

Speaker 1: 9:55

You brought your whole family this time.

Speaker 2: 9:57

Well, um, welcome everyone to Plot and Perspective the podcast about beauty, travel, luxury and more. I'm your co-host, sarah.

Speaker 1: 10:05

And I'm Megan. Sarah and I are best friends. We put the work in to get the most out of life, so you don't have to.

Speaker 2: 10:10

So we are super excited to be back, and we are super excited because today, like the rest of the world, we are going to be talking about Barbie, woohoo, yeah, we've just seen the movie uh, two nights ago and we can't wait to dig in. As millennials who grew up with Barbies, but also as Megan is a child psychologist and I'm a former child educator and now beauty industry expert and moms of little girls, we really have a lot of interest in this movie and we have a lot to talk about.

Speaker 1: 10:47

Absolutely, and we're going to be discussing our opinions of the movie. But, to make it a more meaningful discussion, we're also going to be talking about spoilers. So if you have not seen this movie yet and you don't want to have any spoilers, please stop here and then come back after you have seen the movie, which we highly recommend. Yes, so before we get into like the synopsis of this movie and really start breaking it down and talking about what we think about it because you were the initiator of us going to see this movie, which I'm so glad that you suggested I made you some rapid fire questions about your thoughts on it.

Speaker 2: 11:25

Okay, fine.

Speaker 1: 11:27

I'm ready. Okay, so first one do you give the movie Barbie a thumbs up or a thumbs down?

Speaker 2: 11:35

I give it two thumbs up.

Speaker 1: 11:38

Question two should kids see this movie?

Speaker 2: 11:42

Oh, I'm so glad you asked this question because I've been seeing this all over social media. My answer is no. We'll dig into that later on, but a definite no from me.

Speaker 1: 11:54

Okay, and question three are Barbies good for kids, self-esteem and self-worth.

Speaker 2: 12:01

Controversial, megan, getting you in the hot seat. I know. Okay, let's dig into this one later on as well, but for right now my answer is maybe Okay. So before we jump into the movie, can we just talk about how much fun our night out was seeing this?

Speaker 1: 12:23

Oh my gosh, it was so much fun.

Speaker 2: 12:26

I think that, like I'm just loving my social media feed right now because it's all pink and it's all Barbie, and I think this is part of the excitement of this movie it's giving women, or really anybody interested, a reason to just get really dressed up with creativity and to have a place to go do something really fun with friends. And even if the movie was terrible which it definitely was not this marketing takeover and cuteness factor of just everything associated with it makes it a must see, in my opinion.

Speaker 1: 13:02

Yeah, it was such a fun occasion and, because of summer travel, you and I hadn't seen each other in five whole weeks, which I that's definitely the longest we've ever gone without seeing each other and it was so fun to get all dressed up in pink and take pictures together. And those pictures came out with varying levels of success but at least we have them for documentation reasons.

Speaker 2: 13:28

Oh my gosh, I know. I like noted that movie theaters have the worst lighting ever.

Speaker 1: 13:35

Yeah, I think the best one that came out was like us in a dark theater.

Speaker 2: 13:38

Yeah, like sitting together, it's a little bit blurry. It was so fun. We parked in two different garages, we didn't know it. So then we like came out and the movie theater was between us and then we saw each other like really far away, and then we were like walking to each other. I felt like a little kid, I was like my friend, I was like gonna run to you.

Speaker 1: 14:02

I think we did run to each other and then, but like bystanders looked at us and they're like oh, we're all in pink. It was like a special moment.

Speaker 2: 14:10

Yeah, yeah, and we went to a really early showing. Yeah, because we're moms and we're old, but no, but when we were leaving it was really fun to see. It was a more popular time, like maybe the eight o'clock showing or something, and it was just like a sea of pink and just like eccentric fun outfits and I felt like I'm like this is the movie that people have been waiting for. Like how fun to have something to do that goes with the movie, not just like oh, I'm in my Lululemon's, like running to a movie, like no, it's like it's an event.

Speaker 2: 14:45

Yeah, Whether or not you're yeah, whether or not you're going to an actual event for it or just the movie, it can be an event.

Speaker 1: 14:52

And of course it's like female dominated, you know. So it's a bunch of like best friends and girlfriends getting together to go do something fun together, but get all dressed up. I feel like the last time I dressed up for a movie was like Sex in the City, maybe.

Speaker 2: 15:04

Oh yeah. It's been a long time, a long time since.

Speaker 1: 15:08

I had a theme.

Speaker 2: 15:09

Oh my gosh, I know. Yeah, it reminded me of like when Legally Blonde came out getting super dressed up with girlfriends and going up. That was a really long time ago, Gosh, that must have been like 20 years ago. Yeah, it was funny. I we had both just gotten back from big trips and you know, we're like managing unpacking and laundry and our kids and everything and getting ready and throwing an outfit on. I didn't initially like think about how much fun it was going to be. So I showed up to the movie theater and I had a great pink outfit on and makeup and hair done and I had a green juice. Oh yeah, Healthy Sarah.

Speaker 2: 15:50

I love you so much because you're like you looked at my green juice and you were like, um, so I'm going to get wine and popcorn. I was like, oh, you were like you should too. I was like, yeah, okay, yeah.

Speaker 1: 16:05

That's like my favorite dinner of all time is like popcorn with wine. That's such a treat that obviously I never do, but this was a perfect experience and perfect reason to do such a thing.

Speaker 2: 16:15

So yeah, it was so good, it was so fun. Okay, so let's get into our initial impressions. I was just thrilled to see that a Barbie movie could carry so much depth, and we went on the night before it came out, so we hadn't really seen the reviews yet. You know, knowing the director, knowing her past work, of course this is the hope for this movie. But even though I loved Barbies growing up, I have been a little hesitant to push them with my kids, just because the representation it had when we were little. But that representation has evolved and it's depicted very clearly in this movie.

Speaker 2: 17:08

I know that the brand had a big rebrand in 2018 with Inclusive Dolls, so they were included, and this film also very cleverly challenges traditional gender roles, which were like woohoo, girl power yes, I'm like Barbie has grown. So in the movie, barbie Land is shown as a matriarchal society where women are self-reliant, they hold all the powerful positions, and it's a really refreshing take on a toy that has been negatively associated with traditional female stereotypes. So I walked away thinking Greta Gerwig is a genius. There are layers of thinking in this movie. It's the perfect fusion of nostalgia and self-realization. It's idealism and reality. I cried a bunch, I laughed a bunch and I really think that this is a clever film that righted a lot of the wrongs that Barbie did when we were growing up. It really celebrated the world and it being tricky and broken and beautiful at the same time.

Speaker 1: 18:23

Yeah, I couldn't agree more, Sarah. I actually I didn't know a lot about Greta Gerwig before I watched this movie. I just I don't usually keep up very much with media for some reason, and I wasn't sure which way this movie was going to go. I could see it going the Bembo-Barbie way, or I could see it challenging some of the traditional norms, and I'm glad that it did challenge some of those norms that we live with. And the movie also addressed struggles of identity both with Barbie and, interestingly, with Ken. Both of those characters grappled a lot with their sense of self and they were sort of mirroring real world sort of identity crises, which was an interesting thing to watch and analyze.

Speaker 1: 19:13

I definitely wasn't expecting introspection from this film. I even sort of like wondered to myself like what does it say about me that I'm like first in line to go see Barbie? Like what does that say about me that I would do such a thing? And coming from like Berkeley and sort of the, I guess the way that gender roles and things like that are viewed from that community, any hint of traditional gender roles was definitely like frowned upon there. And so I just I remember I played with Barbies but that I was sort of hesitant especially working in that environment, getting my girls any Barbies are definitely like questioned it before I did so. So anyways, I'm glad to see that this movie sort of unpacked a lot of that for me and I didn't, I didn't have to do that myself and I then can like sort of analyze it and talk about it. So a lot of sentiment and things like that. So very cool.

Speaker 2: 20:12

Yeah, yeah, I agree.

Speaker 1: 20:15

Well, should we start sort of with a synopsis of what the what the movie, what the movie narrative was, and then we can sort of analyze it as we go.

Speaker 2: 20:25

That sounds great.

Speaker 2: 20:26

So we're going to analyze it as millennials who were obsessed with Barbies. But then we also have our mom of little girls hat, and then I mean I even have my aunt of little boys hat, because I'm worried about, you know, little boys how they're perceived as well. And then also we have our child psychologist hat, our former elementary school teacher hat and now beauty industry expert hat. So we're looking at this from a lot of different perspectives. I think it was the perfect movie to combine all of our expertise and our interest.

Speaker 1: 21:00

I agree. Yeah, we're looking at this through a lot of lenses. So the movie starts out with some interesting info that I didn't know before watching this movie, and that was that prior to having the doll Barbie, girls really only had access to baby dolls, and that was to help them practice being a mommy. So it sort of was that was the gender role, that was the gender norm is that girls are going to go on to be mommies. Here's your baby so you can practice. And then a woman named Ruth Handler created Barbie in 1959, when her daughter, barbara, inspired her to create Barbie. She was playing with some paper dolls and I guess that that brought up this idea for this doll for her daughter. Most dolls available then were plastic baby dolls and Ruth wished to create a doll that would inspire children to dream dreams of the future.

Speaker 2: 21:57

Yeah, I didn't know this either and this was really great to know it. Also, I did some research on Ruth after we saw the movie and she was really progressive. She was at the forefront of a huge company and she was kind of running the show. So at the time, you know, she was stepping outside of the box and she was stepping outside of gender norms and she was pushing the envelope. And her idea that Barbie would be progressive was a little surprising to me, just being an 80s and 90s child of the Barbie that we saw.

Speaker 2: 22:38

And I ended up watching a documentary on Barbie just yesterday because I wanted to have another perspective on it, and it was done in 2018. And it was called Tiny Shoulders. It's on Hulu right now. It's really interesting, but it shared because I was really curious about why.

Speaker 2: 22:56

Is Barbie the shape that she is right If we're wanting little girls to see themselves and what they can be. That's amazing, that's empowering, that's fabulous. But where did the shape come from? And where the shape came from was baffling to me. I mean, maybe others will have heard this, but basically Ruth Handler's factory in America.

Speaker 2: 23:22

All the men that were running it told her no, they couldn't make it. She brought a paper doll and said can you make a 3D version of this? And they said no, they couldn't. So she went overseas to see what else was being done and she ended up finding a manufacturer that was making basically a doll that looked like Barbie, that was a men's car accessory. So this was a doll that had the shape of the traditional stereotypical Barbie. That came on a little chain that men in the 50s were hanging on their rearview mirror of their cars in other countries and she brought that doll back and then said to her factory this is what I want, but we're going to put different fashion and different careers behind her. And then the men in the 50s that saw that shape agreed, they liked that shape and they said let's move forward with it. And that's why Barbie has the original shape that she has versus the shape of a paper doll, because a paper doll is a much more normalized shape.

Speaker 2: 24:31

Oh that's so interesting.

Speaker 1: 24:32

Yeah, yeah, that's very interesting.

Speaker 2: 24:35

So, Ruth, you know, even though Barbie ended up having this shape, Ruth did have the idea that it wouldn't be so much of what Barbie looks like. She even has a quote saying I didn't want to make her too pretty because I wanted little girls to see themselves in her. So it wasn't what she looked like. It was the dreams of what the life could be for Barbie and then that life could be for little girls when they grew up. So the greatness that Barbie could encompass could inspire little girls, and that was really progressive at the time.

Speaker 1: 25:07

It's interesting. That's so interesting because she wanted the imagination to be open-ended and you can project anything onto this Barbie. But when it ended up happening instead in the 80s and 90s, what was that? This was being projected onto us as this is the perfect thing, this is what we should be, so it sort of reversed itself.

Speaker 2: 25:25

Yeah, and that was not her intention at all, I know, isn't it? So I'm like that plays more into where society was and you know, my perspective is that falls on society. That doesn't really fall on this doll. This doll was maybe a you know, a casualty of where society was, and the larger issues.

Speaker 1: 25:45

It was a representation. Yeah, oh, this movie goes deep. This is a deep topic.

Speaker 2: 25:51

Okay, but let's get back to the movie, okay. So in Barbie Land, the norm is for Barbie and her friends to lead successful, confident lives of independence. Women run everything in Barbie Land, and then the Kins, so Barbie's male counterpart. They spend their time just engaging in beach activities. It's really funny.

Speaker 2: 26:16

The main Ken, which is Ryan Gosling he was hilarious in this he kept saying his job was beach, not lifeguard, not surfer, his job is just beach. But one thing I loved about, you know, this piece of the beginning of the movie was that Ken is longing for a deeper bond with Barbie, but Barbie prioritizes her autonomy and her sisterhood bonds, and this I just love this. As soon as I saw the scene it's really early on I was excited for my kids because I was like, yes, ken is asking if he can stay over at Barbie's house and she says no, because every night is a girl's night and it pans out to show she has a house full of girlfriends ready for a slumber party. And this message is so needed. It's prioritizing female friendships and that prioritizing female friendships has a core, you know, correlation to health and happiness for girls and women of all ages.

Speaker 2: 27:26

And I think that when we were growing up, we had a lot of movies where the girl drops everything for the boy and then there's like the whole mean girl thing and gossiping about each other and being uber competitive and putting each other down, and that mentality has been so toxic and I think our generation as moms now of this new generation, this is being pushed out and there is this more overarching, empowering message around the importance of healthy female friendships. And right away, showing this in this movie was a home run for me. I was like, yes, this is very exciting to see.

Speaker 1: 28:08

Yeah, yeah, that's interesting You're bringing that up Now that you're saying that there was no instance that I can think of where there was any in group, out group stuff with the girls, the Barbies, and I don't remember any like mean girl stuff whatsoever. It was more like a sisterhood of girls supporting other girls. And even madam president was at the slumber party and she says I am here or something like that.

Speaker 2: 28:32

You're welcome, she was great, she was awesome that character was amazing.

Speaker 1: 28:38

I could do with more of that. President, yeah, seriously, yeah, yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, I would feel like there. Yeah, I like them, prioritizing friendships, the wholesome message of like there's no in group, out group, everybody's just hanging out together and it's a big party, but not for the guys. I mean, the guys are sort of excluded from that, which I think ultimately hurt Ken's feelings, and that's where the tension starts to build.

Speaker 1: 29:04

So next, barbie unexpectedly begins to contemplate mortality during a social gathering, and then the following day she finds herself unable to follow her usual routine and notices physical imperfections like cellulite and an eccentric outcast Barbie named Weird Barbie, played by Kate McKinnon, who was absolutely hysterical in this movie. I'm so glad she was in it. Yes, I love her, I do too. She's just amazing. She enlightens traditional Barbie that the remedy to her situation lies in the real world, where she needs to find a child who plays with her along with along her journey. Ken secretly joins her and she sort of begrudgingly accepts his company, and so this was super interesting that she's going to have to go into the real world, and it's fascinating that Barbie's existential crisis is actually triggered by another woman.

Speaker 1: 30:06

She thought it was a child. She finds the child later and it's actually a woman, Gloria, who is played by America Ferrero. She's a real world woman undergoing her own identity crisis, and the interaction between the real world and the toy world creates a sort of unique layer to the narrative. I was sort of moved by how Barbie, who was once a symbol of perfection, deals with physical imperfections. I thought the way Margot Robbie did that was amazing. She's actually such a physical character. She walked a lot like Barbie and then all of a sudden, when her feet went flat and she noticed cellulite, oh gosh, I was like oh, welcome to the real world girl. I thought it was a really bold move that could potentially lead to more inclusive and diverse Barbie dolls in the future potentially.

Speaker 2: 30:57

Yes, I loved that when I saw your note on that, because Mattel did expand their Barbie range in 2018 and it is an amazing expansion, but there, of course, is so much more room there. I mean, this company, I think, is going to do amazing. Everybody would buy stock in Mattel, I know right.

Speaker 1: 31:21

Yeah, Mattel did poke fun at themselves at certain points in this movie, but they also were, I think, co-producer. They weren't going to really tear themselves a new one which other people might have it was almost like damage control.

Speaker 2: 31:36

In my opinion, a lot of the movie where they were poking fun in themselves was damage control for things they had done in the past, and that's interesting to see from a brand that's not common.

Speaker 1: 31:47

Yeah, maybe it's like taking a little bit of accountability and repairing relationship with the public.

Speaker 2: 31:53

It's good to see.

Speaker 1: 31:54

Yeah, it is good to see and interesting to see where that will go. The best part of this whole scene about Ken being in the back of Barbie's car and he's a stowaway and he's going to come with her to the real world was him pulling. She says are you going to come with me or did you bring your roller? Did she ask, you have your roller blades? And he pulls them out and he goes yeah, I won't go anywhere else?

Speaker 1: 32:13

Yeah, I don't know anywhere without these. And you poked fun at me the other episodes ago for having roller blades. I was like see, sarah, I'm cool, like.

Speaker 2: 32:23

Ken, but is Ken cool?

Speaker 1: 32:27

No, it was so funny.

Speaker 2: 32:29

We were laughing so hard during that part. You know, the funniest thing is too, I totally razed you on roller blades because of course we all wore them in junior high, but then they kind of went out of fashion and roller skates are cool now, but when I was in Santa Barbara there was a good amount of people roller blading and I was like, oh man you have to eat your words, sarah.

Speaker 1: 32:52

I'm going to beat you in a race, we'll see. They looked cool too, oh, my gosh so funny.

Speaker 2: 32:58

It was such a funny part, yeah, okay. So next, with his roller blades, ken and Barbie land in Venice Beach, which this was just really visually fun to see. I've grown up going to Venice Beach and it's such like a fun place to spot characters. Honestly, I think if you saw people dressed like Barbie and Ken on Venice Beach, it you wouldn't even think twice, because there's so many eccentric, cool people there anyways. But they land in Venice Beach of all places, and they proceed to stir up a lot of comical incidences and they get arrested, which is hilarious, I think they ultimately get arrested for stealing clothes. The outfits in this are just so amazing.

Speaker 1: 33:50

They're so cute.

Speaker 2: 33:51

They're so cute. In the scene she's wearing like a hot I mean, everything's pink mostly, but like a hot pink western bell bottom pants and a little vest. It's just so cute. But because Barbie and Ken have escaped from Barbie land and they've landed in the real world, the CEO of Mattel, played by Will Ferrell, gets alarmed and calls for their capture. So Barbie has to find her owner. So her owner is Sasha, and Sasha is the daughter, high school aged daughter of America Ferreras character, gloria, and in the scene where Barbie finds Sasha, it's at high school. Sasha criticizes Barbie for promoting an unrealistic standard of beauty, which was great.

Speaker 2: 34:49

I was like thank you for addressing this and I'm happy to see this in the movie. Shockingly, though, barbie realizes that it's actually, like you had said, sasha's mother who is responsible for her existential crisis. So Barbie, gloria and Sasha manage to escape Mattel's CEO and all of his kind of counterparts, all these men in suits, as they journey back to Barbie Land. So there was a lot of powerful points in this part of the movie the interaction between Gloria and her daughter. I think this was the first time I cried, because we have little girls right now and pretty soon we're going to have teenage girls and the daughter is just, you know, not into her mom. The same way, we remember not being into our moms at a certain age, and it reminded me that childhood is so short and in that moment I was like I just want to go home and play Barbies with my girls. It made me want to play more with them, even though that's what I do all day.

Speaker 1: 36:04

I know.

Speaker 2: 36:07

But their relationship was so touching and it just shows the fragility and the importance of the mother-daughter relationship. The film was also so bold in its commentary on the beauty standards. So the confrontation that I mentioned between Sasha and Barbie it really served as a critique of the unrealistic beauty norms that the Barbie doll has been criticized for promoting, which this here was kind of threading the needle to balance the view that Barbie has represented those unrealistic norms. I think is part of the reason that moms our age right now are uneasy sometimes with Barbie because we have these. Some of us so, speaking for myself, have this incredible, incredibly positive memory of playing with Barbies and thinking, you know, you let your imagination run wild and it was just so much fun and walking into Toys R Us and finding the pink aisle and it just was fun and sparkly and pink.

Speaker 2: 37:18

But at the same time there is these unrealistic beauty standards and you know, looking back at where the beauty industry was in the 80s and 90s and the early 2000s, that was a really rough time and the narrow images of beauty that was projected onto us in magazines and media. You know Barbie kind of got lumped in with that and even you know, at the age I am now, it still feels confusing to me and it's like do I want to subject my little girls to that? So I really waited until they asked for it and I do lean towards the childlike doll, which I think her name is Chelsea. She comes from pets and different things but I just feel like that body looks like a child's body and it feels a little more aligned with my parenting style for a six and three-year-old.

Speaker 1: 38:14

Yeah, yes, I think the Courtney one is also sort of a little bit younger looking. We have Courtney's and we have Chelsea's and then there's these little one-inch-sized babies that my daughter is obsessed with. They're like the smallest little thing you could buy and we lose them all over the house. Yeah, I feel like when you were just talking, I was trying to remember like what was my initial impressions of Barbie. I don't remember anyone telling me I needed to look like this Barbie. I mean, what I remember was I loved the outfits, I loved the Barbie Dream House, I had the car.

Speaker 1: 38:50

It was sort of you know this whole, you know a bunch of things, probably great marketing and capitalism at its best, but I liked all the accessories that came along with Barbie and I loved the fashion that came with Barbie. I loved, really, when I played with Barbie, it was getting her dressed and then undressed, and then dressed and then undressed. I'm like the fashion component of it. So I do feel like as we grew up and then the standards became be so thin, be so perfect, when we were teenagers especially with, like Victoria's Secret and all that controversy that's when I started to feel the judgment, and I started to feel the judgment about you never should have played with Barbies, because that's what sort of made you feel like this, and that you know the judgment of my own body based off these images that I was seeing and things like that. But we also know social comparison starts to crop up around you know teenage years, so I don't know. Yeah, like maybe.

Speaker 2: 39:47

Barbie was a scapegoat for other that's a lot to put on a doll. The line in the movie that I loved that the Sasha character says is she says you've been making women feel bad about themselves since you were invented.

Speaker 2: 40:06

And you know, margot Robbie's acting is so amazing and you could just feel that pain for her, and that, you know, made me feel like gosh what the creator or Ruth of Barbie must have felt, because of course this is not what the intention was and of course there were so many things that went into that, not just this one little doll but overall I loved how they addressed it. I loved that they even Mattel was brave enough to speak about how this toy originally had negative effects on some individuals and how they perceived themselves in comparison to the so-called perfect doll. It made me think about, you know, kind of like, how social media does that today, and that feels a little scary. We're not there yet with our kids, but Barbie it was mentioned in the movie that Barbie was designed to be the perfect representation of a woman. It would have been better to not hear that. I think yeah, so often. So it does appear that the toy and the brand have come a long way, but there's still some opportunities.

Speaker 1: 41:15

Yeah, for sure, there's more introspection needed, I think.

Speaker 2: 41:19

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 41:20

It's a gradual process.

Speaker 2: 41:21

But let's jump back into the movie.

Speaker 1: 41:23

Yes for sure. So in the meantime, while all this is going on with Sasha and Gloria in the real world for Barbie, ken becomes aware of the patriarchal system in America and he starts feeling recognized and accepted for the first time. He is even so impressed that he's like called sir and things like that. He just walks around on the streets and people call him sir and he just gets his chest all puffed up and he's so happy about that. Once back in Barbie Land, he influences the other Ken's to assume control, relegating the Barbies to subservient roles.

Speaker 1: 42:01

The Ken's changed the Barbie dream houses into mojo dojo casa homes, which that was so funny yeah they kept saying this over and over the mojo dojo, casa homes, yes, which is reflective of the toxic masculinity, and it sort of reminded us of frat houses while we were watching it. It's just a lot of testosterone.

Speaker 2: 42:23

It so reminded me of frat houses and it made me have a deep hope that that is evolving currently, so that when my kids go to school, what was taking place in the early 2000s is going to be different.

Speaker 1: 42:38

Yeah, I hope so too, barbie tries to restore order but is dismissed when she comes Feeling low. She gets a pep talk from Gloria about the challenges of womanhood. Gloria encourages her and Sasha encourages her. In the marginalized toys and the Barbies, overthrow the Ken's Regain control and keep Barbie Land. Barbie Land's constitution is safe from the promotion of male superiority.

Speaker 1: 43:08

And I thought I would just read some of the things that Gloria said that were just so moving during her explanation of the way it is to be a woman in reality To Barbie. And explains it because it summed up a lot of, I think, what a lot of us feel, and even if I haven't felt it, I know that other women have felt these things, and so to have it be expressed and give it time on air, that was really special. So she says you have to be thin, but not too thin, and you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. I totally resonate with that one. Sarah and I always talk about being healthy and we ourselves don't want to try to be thin. We'd want to try to be healthy, really when it comes down to it, but also on the inside. Are we not also judging ourselves? And something I think is one we can consider?

Speaker 1: 44:08

You have to have money, but you can't ask for money, because that's crass. You have to be a boss, but you can't seem mean. You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas. You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman, but also always be looking out for other people.

Speaker 1: 44:29

You have to answer for men's bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you're accused of complaining. You're supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you're supposed to be a part of the sisterhood. But always stand out and always be grateful, but never forget that the system is rigged. So find a way to acknowledge that. But also always be grateful. You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. And it's too hard, it's not contradictory, and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you. And it turns out, in fact, that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault. I'm just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so people will like us. That was like her big monologue.

Speaker 2: 45:23

It was so powerful. I mean I almost can cry again hearing you say it. I was sobbing during this part of the movie. She started it with saying you are so beautiful and so smart and it kills me that you don't think you're good enough. And I think that every one of my girlfriends can resonate with that and that's what we all want to say to each other. But we got to fix that in our generation so that these little girls and boys too, growing up right now don't have the toxicity that we grew up with thinking that you're not good enough.

Speaker 1: 46:07

Yeah, yeah, it's too hard of a needle to thread for anybody and this has been, I feel like, put on women a lot that you can't be any one of these things. So, no matter what, in the end, based on this monologue, we're judged, and we're probably judged more like most harshly from ourselves.

Speaker 2: 46:26

Yes, I know, I know you always remind me of that.

Speaker 1: 46:31

The perfectionism. Yeah, it's such a Well yeah.

Speaker 2: 46:35

Concept. It's such a concept. I love how I can't remember it was before after this monologue but Gloria spoke to an idea for an ordinary Barbie. So Margot Robbie's playing the stereotypical Barbie and they had all the iterations of the different Barbies and Gloria said there needs to be an ordinary Barbie. Let's take the pressure off being anything specific. Just achieve your own personal goals, Move away from perfectionism. And I think they had like a business person in the background saying oh yep, this would sell great. I thought I would buy this doll. I cringe all the time. Being a former elementary school teacher, you see so often in classrooms the idea of a teacher doing a piece of artwork with a child saying what do you want to be when you grow up? And this is such a miss to me. I would never want to ask my girls what do you want to be when you grow up? We want to help teach them that they want to be themselves, want to help them find themselves and they want to be happy when they grow up.

Speaker 2: 47:43

But how about? Let's choose lots of different things that you can do. And I'm going to be this one thing Choose lots of things you're going to do. So I loved that this movie pulled that in. That was a really heavy topic and it was just great to hear yeah, the glory America for ever just blew me away, but she always does. She's incredible, incredible.

Speaker 1: 48:07

Yeah, I'm glad that she was the real, real world person having an identity crisis, because I just feel like we can all relate to her and I, yeah, I love her as an actress. She's so good.

Speaker 2: 48:20

So then, towards the end, barbie and Ken they share an apology, they acknowledge their mistakes. Ken talks about his lack of purpose without Barbie and Barbie suggests he develops an independent identity. But Barbie's still unsure about her own identity. So she meets with Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel, and we didn't know who the the woman, we didn't know who this character was going to be, and I didn't know that it was based off the real woman. So that was really cool to Give her honor. She's obviously since passed away, but give her honor. I did read something after we saw it that her children were grateful and approved of this movie. She has a boy and a girl, so that's nice. And then the character Ruth emphasizes that Barbie's narrative is open-ended and that her transform, transformative history Sends her origins. Mm-hmm, yeah, they really just loved all the healthy identity exploration. It's, you know, such a nice theme, especially coming from Barbie.

Speaker 1: 49:36

Yeah, and I I like that. I feel like one of the take home messages is it's okay if you don't know who you are, because it's all right, like it, and it's okay for Barbie to not know who she is and to to want to explore that a little bit further, and it's open and open-ended movie too.

Speaker 2: 49:52

So in this scene, um, it does feel like there's a miss here there. There's a theme of the patriarchy throughout the movie and obviously you know there's some wrongs that needed to be righted With the way that Barbie has been treated in the past. I actually, in watching the other Documentary, there were two Barbies that it's just shocking that came, they came out. I wonder if you remember one or have heard of it. The first was in the 60s. There was a slumber party Barbie that came out with like pajamas and slippers and the book that she had was titled how to be thin and the back of the book said don't eat. Oh, my gosh, wtf. Are you awful, kidding me for kids, right? So that was the 60s, and then in our generation I don't remember this Barbie, but in the 80s there was a teen Barbie that was all dressed up in fashion and you pushed a button on her chest and she spoke and what she said was Math class is hard, let's go shopping.

Speaker 1: 51:08

I did read about that one. I'm doing my research. Oh my god.

Speaker 2: 51:12

Yeah, so wrongs needed to be to be put in place in this movie, and they did a good job with that, because those are really wrong.

Speaker 1: 51:20

Yes, agreed. Yeah, Barbie should not have been depicted like that or those things said of her. That's awful.

Speaker 2: 51:26

I know it's those are a representation, I think, of you know where society was and where it was. Obviously, that's. That's a different episode.

Speaker 1: 51:34

Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, I didn't know. I just I felt like it didn't. It didn't end in equality, right, right. So, like that, I felt like the big miss here was that, like they, they could have ended this the way we should be, but where they ended it instead is where we are.

Speaker 2: 51:54

Right, which is they can ends up asking if he can have a seat in the Senate or the house, or the kids ask and the Barbie say no, and that was disappointing because I think there was an opportunity for women to be the bigger person here. We can do better. This world Overall would be a better place if little boys growing up right now are Empowered to dismantle the patriarchy for equalization, versus being marginalized and made to be a fool, regardless of how things have been in the past. Right Like there's a movement to just equalize what's been wronged, but I Think we could do so much better, so that was disappointing to not see that there.

Speaker 1: 52:44

Yeah, and I think the whole focus on Patriarchy and, honestly, the way the kens are depicted, I, if I had sons, I would be concerned about them watching this movie because it depicts men as basic doofuses and they don't have any, you know, intelligent thought in their brain. They just take the first idea that comes to them. The first idea that comes to them is patriarchy.

Speaker 2: 53:10

So it's all this huge like testosterone movement where of course there is a percentile of men like that. Yeah, I know, I'm not saying there isn't, yeah, but to generalize yeah, and I.

Speaker 1: 53:23

I would hate for boys Like your, your nephews or whomever, to see this and think this is what women think of me you know I don't like that either. So yeah, I feel like the patriarchy part. I still am struggling with how to Interpret it myself, because I do think some wrongs needed to be right. I talked to my husband about it. He's like look, men, have had our run, we have had our run. No, it is your turn.

Speaker 1: 53:48

It's okay, like movies, like this are gonna hurt us and I was like okay, that's interesting to hear you say that because, like, my thought was like, oh well, this isn't my husband, like that's not how he, you know, I don't know. Yeah, I just sort of felt bad it for a second for that gender. But I mean, in general, it's probably cathartic for women to watch this movie and see us take over for a second. Yes, it's been so long, or maybe never, but yeah, I feel like that was something I sort of struggled with a little bit.

Speaker 2: 54:14

Yeah, I struggled with it too, because, you know, you mentioned my nephews, and when I look at their little faces and their little eyes and what I want for their future they're not responsible for all this crap that's gone on and let's enter the discussion right here, where we are, and make an impact in 2023 on little boys right now, and that is Is equality. We don't need to be, you know, making up for the damage that was done, because then we're not any better than them, right? We're just playing this same gender war game that Isn't really beneficial to anyone. So, being the bigger person and promoting equality- yeah.

Speaker 1: 55:00

I totally agree, yeah, I agree, and this is a little bit above, I think your, your nephews, where they are right now. But like the idea of like sponsorship comes to mind for me. So this like in the business world or in academia, it's like when somebody uses their power and status to promote somebody who's marginalized and ultimately that's sort of where we should be right. Like the way that things are right now is that men still tend to have a lot more power. We know they get paid more and so, because they're in those positions, they can sponsor women, which is like you promote them, you push them into the roles that they should be in and even if they don't think they should be in it, you still push them to do it. And that sponsorship and like ultimately we're talking about like reality. That's one way that we can work together as genders and work together to promote the equality that we're looking for.

Speaker 1: 55:55

And I do I do wonder, like I mean I know that there's already been like some news about this, but like this movie, some dudes are saying it's like promoting gender wars and stuff like that. I don't think that that's the case, at least I hope not. I do wonder like the other way this could have gone? Is that like Mattel CEO, who's played by Will Ferrell, that he was the bad guy? Like, ultimately, that's where I thought it was going, me too, me too, he would be such a good bad guy, such a good bad guy, right? But then does Mattel want to actually be the bad guy in their own movie? Probably not, probably not. But they were the ones telling Barbie to get back into the box.

Speaker 2: 56:30

Yes, yeah, that would have been a nice ending.

Speaker 1: 56:33

Yeah, I mean the attention has to come from somewhere and I totally understand that. But did it need to come from the rift between men and women?

Speaker 2: 56:40

I don't know, yeah, yeah, yeah. So then I think it the movie kind of concludes with Barbie Resolve's to being human and she moves to the real world. And then later Gloria, her husband and her daughter Sasha accompany Barbie, who is now known as Barbara Handler, her first appointment with a gynecologist. She's way overly excited for that appointment. She has genitals now. I just think it's just. It was such I loved it I want to see it again During rapid fire, when you asked about taking your child. I've been seeing you know lots of stuff on social media about if you would take your child or not and the reasons that we agreed we wouldn't. When it, when the movie first opened, it's so visually appealing and bright and girly and beautiful and hyper feminine and we both were like, oh, our daughters would love this and we said we can come back, we can see it again, yeah.

Speaker 1: 57:46

And then I don't know how far in it was, it was like scratch, barbie mentions death and we were like, oh, no Right, as soon as that happened, I mean ultimately, like leading up to that, like maybe 15 minutes in all that precursor stuff with like all the Barbie house and all her stuff and who she like all that was so like nostalgic for me. And then I was like, oh, my middle daughter really wanted to come see the movie initially, and so I was like let me just see if it's appropriate. But when the thoughts of death came up I was like, Okay, nope, she's not, she's not old enough for that. I think you got to be a little bit older, older to see this movie. We did see children in the theater with us, so how old do you think those kids were? Like?

Speaker 2: 58:30

Oh, they were little four, four, five.

Speaker 1: 58:33

And they did not last.

Speaker 2: 58:35

No parents, they didn't.

Speaker 1: 58:36

Don't try. I wouldn't even try. They didn't last because this is not a cartoon Right, and it gets into adult themes pretty quickly and those are sort of maybe even boring for kids. I think we saw lots of kids being escorted out throughout the movie, yeah, it gets into depression, death.

Speaker 2: 58:52

And then there's all that I think you and I said to our girls yesterday, because they said, oh, you went to the Barbie movie without us and we said, oh, that was a adult Barbie movie and later we can watch the Barbie cartoon for your age on on TV and that just kind of shut it down. There, I think I would probably say teenagers like 13, maybe 12, depends on what they're, where they're at maturity, wise.

Speaker 1: 59:20

Yeah, yeah, I think that's about right 12 to 13, where they wouldn't blink, you know, when you hear about death or things like that. You know at that age you can sort of understand things like that. I think you know between five and nine ish, or you know, probably a little bit too young.

Speaker 2: 59:39

Yeah, our absolute favorite quote of the movie. Another time that I cried was at the end. They said we mothers stand still so our daughters can look back at how far they've come. And I was like, oh, that's so empowering.

Speaker 1: 59:58

And it is, and so sweet, yeah, and it really touches touches us moms too.

Speaker 2: 1:00:04

It touches us right. And we were in the bathroom after the movie, we were talking about it and another mom chimed in and yeah, we were all talking about it and I was like, oh, I mean, this movie had some really incredible parts to it and really good messages.

Speaker 1: 1:00:19

There was a lot of comedy in there. So in addition to Kate McKinnon, there was Michael Sarah from Arrested.

Speaker 2: 1:00:25

Development.

Speaker 1: 1:00:28

He was Alan, a random doll that was never replicated like the other Barbies and Ken's, and he never heard of him. His tagline is I'm Alan Ken's buddy, all his clothes fit me. I think he ends up being on the side of all the Barbies throughout all of this, which was really cute.

Speaker 2: 1:00:47

Yes, he is so funny, I'll watch anything he said.

Speaker 1: 1:00:51

I know me too. Yeah, I was glad that there was some levity there with him in it.

Speaker 2: 1:00:54

There was a lot of really great casting. Yes, you know what I thought, though I at some point my sister and I both really love Ashley Graham and we had seen something and we thought she was in the movie, but maybe it just was that she was attending an event for it. But wouldn't she have been the best friend of Barbie? She's so striking and she would have included the body type inclusivity as well as just broadened the inclusivity, the scope.

Speaker 1: 1:01:28

Yep yeah, and she wasn't in it. Yeah, that's interesting. You saw her, maybe at a premiere or something like that. Yes, maybe they asked her and she said no, maybe she was too busy or something. She would be like an iconic person for that movie oh, I know right. Bringing it back to my initial rapid fire question. As a former educator turned beauty industry executive focused on progressively evolving beauty, what do you think are Barbies good or bad for children's self-esteem?

Speaker 2: 1:01:59

I love this question and I'm I can't stop thinking about this with regards to my own girls. It definitely depends on the kid. It is just so important to allow pretend play as often as possible, especially between the ages of zero and five, but through all ages, pretend play utilizing any type of toys or objects that the child is interested in. I love the theory child led play. Our generation was kind of given Barbies because you're a girl and this is your toy, and lots of boys in our generation were not given Barbies. But you know, we know better now that, no matter what gender, allowing the child to play with whatever they're interested in is so key and it really can lead to them developing a healthy sense of confidence, a healthy sense of identity.

Speaker 2: 1:03:06

But, with that said, if I had a child that was only interested in stereotypical Barbie, I would also remember that the parent controls the environment. So the environment that we're providing for our child is so key. Would I provide a kitchen full of only donuts if my child that's their favorite food? No, because that's not healthy. So I wouldn't provide a playroom full of only Barbies, because that's not healthy. So I do think that I won't try to pull my kids away from the Barbie aisle anymore. I had kind of done that, but I think I'll show them all the options available. Sometimes I don't even walk down that aisle because I just think of my childhood and like, oh, it's just going to all be one. But now, after the movie and watching the documentary and looking it up online gosh, there's so many different types and we might take a trip to Target and look at all those and talk about them, because I think there's some good options out there now.

Speaker 1: 1:04:08

Yeah, I think that's a good point. I do let my kids sort of walk up and down all the aisles and only really my middle child is interested in Barbie right now. And even if my kids, my young guests, might pick up a Barbie, but then when she gets to the truck aisle she put Barbie down for a truck, things like that will happen. And so I usually go in there and just say you can pick one thing and we can pick up one thing, but when we want another thing we got to put that first thing down. So I think it's good to provide all the options and then if you have a girl that's interested in Barbie like my eldest doesn't like Barbie at all, she does not like Barbie, but she loves fashion so you can actually buy like fashion forms for girls with fabric and then they can make their own fashion that way instead, and that's another way to maybe experience that Barbie fashion without the Barbie part of it.

Speaker 1: 1:04:58

That's so cool. Just like an idea? Yeah, she'll do that for hours. She loves making outfits.

Speaker 2: 1:05:04

That's so cute. Yeah, I think we're much more evolved with our kids now and I think that after seeing this movie and doing the research for this episode, we can kind of drop some of the negativity that we came out of our childhood with it.

Speaker 1: 1:05:19

Yeah, definitely so good job Mattel.

Speaker 2: 1:05:23

Good marketing ploy here, oh man their marketing team like they must be working overtime. They all need raises. I mean the marketing on this has just been incredible.

Speaker 1: 1:05:33

Well, they've been trying to get this movie like out there since 2013. Oh really.

Speaker 2: 1:05:37

Yeah, it's gone through lots of iterations.

Speaker 1: 1:05:39

Yeah, there's been a movie about Barbie in the works since 20 years. Yeah, obviously not, with Margot Robbie is the major person. They've gone from person to person to person, though, which is super interesting.

Speaker 2: 1:05:52

How sad for the people that are not. Margot Robbie, I know she's lucky, okay, so should we jump into our takeaways? Yeah, I think so. This has been so fun, okay. So overall I think it's a really fun, super cute movie with really heartwarming and inspirational moments paired with a lot of depth. An incredible soundtrack, really fun dance scenes. Visually just adorable. The makeup and the hair are so beautiful.

Speaker 1: 1:06:23

Oh, totally agree. If I had a teenage daughter, I would take her to this movie, but any younger, I think we're going to skip it.

Speaker 2: 1:06:30

Yeah, I agree. We think Greta Gerwig did an amazing job. So did Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and Kate McKenna. Yes, she's awesome.

Speaker 1: 1:06:44

Yeah, and then Barbie has always been a way to chart larger movements in the culture, and this film was definitely representative of where we are. I just wish it would have pushed past that a little bit and helped evolve to a better place of equality.

Speaker 2: 1:07:02

Yes, totally agree. And then, lastly, I just love how this film promoted that if you have a strong feminine side, which you and I both do, that it shouldn't narrow what type of work you want to do. And I think with our generation we have both felt that and we should be able to lean into both lean in to exactly what you want to do and lean into what you want to look like, and no matter those two things, they can go together. And that Barbie has been an expander for women in this, and this movie kind of depicted that and that makes me excited for my daughters and their future.

Speaker 1: 1:07:47

Ooh girl, that's a whole other episode. Let's tag that.

Speaker 2: 1:07:52

Let's remember that one. Let's get Rosie on for that one.

Speaker 1: 1:07:54

Yes, exactly, love it I know this was so fun, so fun, and thanks everyone for tuning in. Please rate, like and subscribe, and catch us on Instagram and Facebook at Platinum Perspective Podcast. Thanks, thanks, bye, bye.