I watched the Barbie movie twice. The first time was on the very second day of its release. I had no idea what it was going to be. I just thought it would be nice and pink and fun. I think the makers of this movie did such a brilliant job hiding the plot of the movie. Men wearing pink accompanying their girlfriends expected to watch a bunch of perfect looking women dance and look pretty. But instead they saw a commentary on themselves! And not a flattering one! Women who took their little girls to watch a doll movie realized that the movie was not for the daughters, but for the mothers!
And for women like me, it reinforced everything that I already believe in, but in the most hilarious, fun and brutal way possible! Here are my top 10 favourite quotes:
- You have been making women feel bad about themselves since the time they have been invented!
I remember the time I had a Barbie. Even at that tender age, I knew that I did not look like her and will probably not even grow up to look like her. I did not know any women who looked like Barbie. And that is the first thing that a little girl learns when she is too little to understand anything – She does not look good enough!
- Thanks to Barbie, All problems of feminism and equality in the real world have been solved
I remember Doctor Barbie. She had a stethoscope. Playing with the doll did give me confidence that one day I could be like her – a doctor!
But it was not the doctor part that I doubted myself with. I was not sure if I would ever be a tall, fair, slim, drop dead gorgeous doctor.
- That is life, it is all change! That is terrifying!
This one is one of my favourites. The cost we pay for being humans. We all know that change is the only constant. But it is so scary to live with it!
- I would never wear heels if my feet were shaped like this
I stopped wearing heels a few years ago. I earlier wore them everyday. Out of all the things that I have stopped doing such as – getting my eyebrows done, smoothening treatments, face powder, creams on the face, all of which are wonderful lifestyle changes but this is the one that has probably given me the most comfort.
Our feet are not designed to wear heels. I still wear heels sometimes for parties and I feel ridiculous. It makes me unnecessarily tired. I need the energy for exercise so that I can stay healthy, which is more important than being tall!
- Everything basically exists to expand and elevate the presence of men
There is a scene in the movie when a physician Barbie is brainwashed into being content about serving food to her Ken. She needs to be switched back to sanity. It is such a powerful scene. The story of a lot of real, qualified women who can be successful in many fields but they are made to feel that their life should revolve around making a man’s life easy, and making him feel good about himself even if in the process she is made to feel like shit or she may actually turn into shit. In India especially, women in the form of mothers, mothers-in-law, friends, well-meaning aunties all like to fool other women into believing that staying home and cooking for men is a highly gratifying job!!
There is also an entire sequence on ‘mansplaining’ and how women pretend to be dumb so that men can feel in control.
I sometimes hear men comment on how a woman should dress or smile to look pretty.
When I was younger I did not react. Now I tell them, ‘Women don’t exist for your validation’.
- You are going to slow me down
When Barbie is travelling to the real world, Ken joins her from nowhere. The first thing she tells him is ‘You are going to slow me down’. This is one of the more subtle dialogues in the movie. But yeah, the second time I watched it, I noticed it! 😊 I once told my friend that marriage is an institution that stops women from achieving their full potential, slowing and restricting them in every way possible.
- “You are not doing patriarchy too well! Oh no we are just hiding it better!”
What a line! The “good ones” are not good. But they are just the ones who hide patriarchy better. This is what it comes down to! Getting fooled because someone was just better at hiding his true self!
(Not all) men got annoyed that the term ‘patriarchy’ was used so many times in the movie. Hearing the term was annoying for them.
Imagine living in it!
- “I’m just so tired of watching myself, and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us.”
The second time I watched the movie, I clapped after this monologue. A few women joined me. A clueless man sitting next to me said, “We were supposed to clap?”
One of the best things I like about myself now is that I have become quite focused on myself. I don’t care if people like me. I care that I like myself, and do the things that make me feel good about myself, and eliminate the things and people that drain my energy. I am very particular about my self-respect and I realize that it is more important than being liked.
- “Long-term long-distance low-commitment casual girlfriend.”
Ken proposes that Barbie should become his long-term, long -distance, low-commitment casual girlfriend. Oh, how I love this dialogue.
Over the years, I have met so many men who have made this offer to me. They are at best average looking, painfully boring to talk to, borderline uninteresting, insensitive and uncaring, and fail miserably at areas I cannot categorically mention in my blog.
Yet, they have the audacity to feel that their mere casual presence which leaves a lot to be desired should be ‘kenough’!!
- “We mothers stand still so our daughters can look back to see how far they have come.”
This dialogue shows how much of a sacrifice motherhood is, and how it may even be overrated. Fortunately, today women have much more choices than they did earlier. And being a mother is also a choice. As a childfree woman, I know how unkind people can be to women who are not mothers as if that is the only purpose of a woman’s existence.
I don’t want to stand still so someone else can look back to see how far they have come. I want to go far myself, in this lifetime and see how far I have come.