I watch a lot of different things to understand what is really happening in our world because people give themselves away in many ways and they do so more honestly through their actions than their words. One thing I watch is movies. Movies tell us what is happening in society because left and right fight propaganda wars over them and the public votes with its dollars. With that in mind, let's talk about some rather interesting lessons we can learn from the movie Barbie.
Lesson 1: Feminists Know They Must Hide Their Beliefs.
Hollywood, like corporate America generally, has learned to lie as a matter of policy. They lie about everything to do with film, particularly when they think something will offend. This is why actresses in sleazy roles talk about how they only took the role because it was a "strong woman," why actors and directors scream about how faithful they are to books they adapt even as they gut everything the story was, why they hide budget numbers, why they cut trailers deceptively, why everyone praises moron actors for their intelligence, why actors always seem to save drowning children when right before a premier, and so forth. When a film does something Hollywood knows will not fly with the public, they simply lie about it: we aren't doing that at all!
From the get go, Barbie was obviously a feminist movie. It was written by feminists, directed by a woman who has only done feminist films, and premised on attacking a feminist boogieman... the evil Barbie doll, corrupter of little girls. The scenes they've released address feminist talking points. The film even uses the word "patriarchy" many times -- the zenith of recent feminist dogma. Yet, from the first day of production until only about two days before the film's release, everyone associated with the film denied that it was a feminist movie. No, no, no, we're doing this to love and honor Barbie! There's no feminism in this! Only in the last two days before the release, once they figured they had hooked little girls everywhere, did interviews appear admitting that the film is actually a feminist rant and explaining why the film is "significant" for that reason. So basically... they lied. They lied because they knew feminism doesn't sell with the public so they lied to hide what this film was so people would come see it.
The lesson: feminists know they must hide their views if they are to attract the public, and lying to do so is not beneath them.
Lesson 2: Feminists Lie To Claim Successes They Did Not Earn.
With this film becoming a massive feminist propaganda push, it became vital that it be seen to be a success. Not only does 'success breed success' because of the herd instinct (i.e. people want to do what they are told everyone else is doing) but with them finally admitting this was a feminist sermon, they could not be seen to fail. Failure would equal rejection and would expose their lack of support. They could not allow that. So we have been told...
First, the actual original estimate for Barbie was "it will save theaters." This was turned into a range between $85 million and $155 million, which will not save theaters. That was before the marketing campaign began. About a month ago, this was suddenly lowered to "$120 or more." A week ago, it was strangely lowered again to "$55 million to $85 million" even with pre-sales being in line with $155 million. Two days later, it was reset to $155 million or more. It scored $167 million. That does exceed $155 million, but it's not such a huge exceed that it would draw headlines for any non-ideological films. Indeed, if it had been a Marvel film, it would have been described as "in line with estimates." Instead, hundreds of articles were written gloatingly declaring a victory for this film (and films "headed by women") with most comparing the $167 to the "original estimate" of $55 million (some have claimed $40 million, which seems to be entirely made up and others compare the worldwide opening to the domestic estimate), even though $55 million was never the original estimate and seems to have been a lie meant to let them claim a smashing success.
There's more too. Barbie did not have the biggest opening of the year as all these articles claim. Super Mario Brothers opened to $170 million. That's close though, right? Eeeeeexcept, Barbie lumped in Thursday presales into Friday to boost its opening. In other words, Barbie counted its first 4 days to get to the $167 million opening (a fact dutifully scrubbed from news articles and even Box Office Mojo). If you look at the first four days of Super Mario Brothers instead of the three commonly used to decide an "opening", it actually scored $205 million, blowing Barbie away. Barbie didn't have the biggest preview night either, as they claimed. Its $22 million lost to the $32 million of Mario Brothers.
So all these claims of being the number one film etc. etc. are provably false. So why are they repeated? Because they serve the narrative. They also serve the studio, which knows about herd instinct. In fact, to make sure things didn't go wrong, Warner Brothers only reported "estimated" ticket sales for the first three days so it made sure to beat out the highest grossing female directed film (Wonder Woman) and other recent films. By controlling the data, they prevented any nasty surprises. Racist-left Little Mermaid did that too so they could claim to be the number one film the weekend when they came out. The problem was, Disney overstated the Little Mermaid's first day opening by 25%. That size mistake is called a lie, not an error. Warner Brothers at least was able to back up the estimates after the weekend, but it shows you they were uncertain enough to lie just in case.
Again, why lie? Because these articles are not promoting a film, they are promoting a feminist sermon and it is vital to these people that it be seen as a success, the more smashing the better. "It's historic!" Indeed, there are already articles saying "hey, Barbie was such a success, it showed the public wants feminist films, films directed by women and films led by women... Hollywood needs to accept this change in society." And the fact they are willing to lie to make that case is the lesson. This is the basis of propaganda.
Lesson 3: The Public Is Not Buying Leftism.
But so here's the question, did all of this help? Did the film reach "the public"? We won't know until we see how well this movie does long term, but right now I would say no.
Here's the thing, for an ideological piece to be successful in affecting society, it must reach beyond the true believers. Did Barbie do that? Based on average ticket prices, I would estimate that around 12 million people have seen the film so far. That's less than half the number who watch any generic regional NFL Sunday game (games of the week can get as high as 40 million). That's only 3.1% of the population. That's still in true believer territory. For this thing to "win" ideologically, it needs to get to little girls and their moms, and that has not happened yet. And looking at audience pictures, it seems to have captured exactly what you would expect: Barbie-hating feminists and gay men. Indeed, the film was marketed on floats at Pride parades and almost every woman who has reviewed the film (and repeated the false claims above) goes out of her way to mention her disdain for Barbie as a child. I saw no evidence of moms with kids or straight males.
Moreover, the film has produced zero iconic moments that catch on with the public: go ahead, make my day... use the force... squeal like a pig boy... I'll be back... the boy who lived. These are moments that capture the public's attention and become part of public discourse. People know what these mean and where they come from, even if they haven't seen the film. They take on meaning. Barbie hasn't offered a single image or quote yet that has done this.
So far, there is simply no evidence Barbie, like other leftist attempts, has influenced the public. The only caveat I put on this is that because 'conservatives' are so awful right now, there is no one offering a reasonable alternative.
Lesson 4: Feminists Hate Women.
Finally, we come to something that's been clear for a long time and which this film highlights: feminists hate women. Like all leftist ideas, feminism cloaks itself in talk of equality and tolerance but it seeks power, not equality, and it is highly intolerant to those who don't toe the line. This is why feminists have for years mocked housewives, disdained childbirth, and have undermined "female" values and femininity itself. Like all obsessives, this devolved into the most sniveling, personal types of attacks too. Hence, Hillary Clinton stepping in it when she mocked cookie baking.
Barbie has long been a feminist boogiewoman. Feminists accuse Barbie of causing all kinds of issues. Basically, they have dumped all their insecurities on the doll and blamed it for all of them. She made me feel ugly! She wasn't inclusive. She undermined my career potential! Nonsense. So here comes the film, and it's message is that attractive and femininely dressed women who like men are shallow and stupid and secretly unhappy. This is sour grapes as ideology. Of course, the film also hates men, but men are barely relevant to them. The real target is women. If you are attractive, you are shallow and stupid. If you like "girly things" instead of thinking about death and depression, you are shallow and stupid. If you like men, you are shallow and stupid. That's the real meaning at the heart of this film. The lesson is that feminism really is about unhappy women looking for ways to make themselves feel better at the expense of women who are well adjusted, and they are rather petty about it.
That's the dirty secret of feminism: feminists hate other women and seek to destroy them. There is a ton of evidence to support this, from lying about the psychological impact of abortion and being single to forcing girls into sports for which they are not suited to making them judge themselves by standards they don't want to denigrating the very things girls like... feminism is about destroying other women.
Thoughts?
Lesson 1: Feminists Know They Must Hide Their Beliefs.
Hollywood, like corporate America generally, has learned to lie as a matter of policy. They lie about everything to do with film, particularly when they think something will offend. This is why actresses in sleazy roles talk about how they only took the role because it was a "strong woman," why actors and directors scream about how faithful they are to books they adapt even as they gut everything the story was, why they hide budget numbers, why they cut trailers deceptively, why everyone praises moron actors for their intelligence, why actors always seem to save drowning children when right before a premier, and so forth. When a film does something Hollywood knows will not fly with the public, they simply lie about it: we aren't doing that at all!
From the get go, Barbie was obviously a feminist movie. It was written by feminists, directed by a woman who has only done feminist films, and premised on attacking a feminist boogieman... the evil Barbie doll, corrupter of little girls. The scenes they've released address feminist talking points. The film even uses the word "patriarchy" many times -- the zenith of recent feminist dogma. Yet, from the first day of production until only about two days before the film's release, everyone associated with the film denied that it was a feminist movie. No, no, no, we're doing this to love and honor Barbie! There's no feminism in this! Only in the last two days before the release, once they figured they had hooked little girls everywhere, did interviews appear admitting that the film is actually a feminist rant and explaining why the film is "significant" for that reason. So basically... they lied. They lied because they knew feminism doesn't sell with the public so they lied to hide what this film was so people would come see it.
The lesson: feminists know they must hide their views if they are to attract the public, and lying to do so is not beneath them.
Lesson 2: Feminists Lie To Claim Successes They Did Not Earn.
With this film becoming a massive feminist propaganda push, it became vital that it be seen to be a success. Not only does 'success breed success' because of the herd instinct (i.e. people want to do what they are told everyone else is doing) but with them finally admitting this was a feminist sermon, they could not be seen to fail. Failure would equal rejection and would expose their lack of support. They could not allow that. So we have been told...
This movie is historic! It's opening is the biggest opening ever for a female directed film! (Our time has come!) It's opening is the biggest movie ever for a film with a female lead. (Society wants women leads!) This was the biggest opening of the year! It had the biggest preview night ever! It blew away the initial estimates of $40 million to score an incredible $167 million ($300 million depending on the article).But is any of this true? Well, no.
First, the actual original estimate for Barbie was "it will save theaters." This was turned into a range between $85 million and $155 million, which will not save theaters. That was before the marketing campaign began. About a month ago, this was suddenly lowered to "$120 or more." A week ago, it was strangely lowered again to "$55 million to $85 million" even with pre-sales being in line with $155 million. Two days later, it was reset to $155 million or more. It scored $167 million. That does exceed $155 million, but it's not such a huge exceed that it would draw headlines for any non-ideological films. Indeed, if it had been a Marvel film, it would have been described as "in line with estimates." Instead, hundreds of articles were written gloatingly declaring a victory for this film (and films "headed by women") with most comparing the $167 to the "original estimate" of $55 million (some have claimed $40 million, which seems to be entirely made up and others compare the worldwide opening to the domestic estimate), even though $55 million was never the original estimate and seems to have been a lie meant to let them claim a smashing success.
There's more too. Barbie did not have the biggest opening of the year as all these articles claim. Super Mario Brothers opened to $170 million. That's close though, right? Eeeeeexcept, Barbie lumped in Thursday presales into Friday to boost its opening. In other words, Barbie counted its first 4 days to get to the $167 million opening (a fact dutifully scrubbed from news articles and even Box Office Mojo). If you look at the first four days of Super Mario Brothers instead of the three commonly used to decide an "opening", it actually scored $205 million, blowing Barbie away. Barbie didn't have the biggest preview night either, as they claimed. Its $22 million lost to the $32 million of Mario Brothers.
So all these claims of being the number one film etc. etc. are provably false. So why are they repeated? Because they serve the narrative. They also serve the studio, which knows about herd instinct. In fact, to make sure things didn't go wrong, Warner Brothers only reported "estimated" ticket sales for the first three days so it made sure to beat out the highest grossing female directed film (Wonder Woman) and other recent films. By controlling the data, they prevented any nasty surprises. Racist-left Little Mermaid did that too so they could claim to be the number one film the weekend when they came out. The problem was, Disney overstated the Little Mermaid's first day opening by 25%. That size mistake is called a lie, not an error. Warner Brothers at least was able to back up the estimates after the weekend, but it shows you they were uncertain enough to lie just in case.
Again, why lie? Because these articles are not promoting a film, they are promoting a feminist sermon and it is vital to these people that it be seen as a success, the more smashing the better. "It's historic!" Indeed, there are already articles saying "hey, Barbie was such a success, it showed the public wants feminist films, films directed by women and films led by women... Hollywood needs to accept this change in society." And the fact they are willing to lie to make that case is the lesson. This is the basis of propaganda.
Lesson 3: The Public Is Not Buying Leftism.
But so here's the question, did all of this help? Did the film reach "the public"? We won't know until we see how well this movie does long term, but right now I would say no.
Here's the thing, for an ideological piece to be successful in affecting society, it must reach beyond the true believers. Did Barbie do that? Based on average ticket prices, I would estimate that around 12 million people have seen the film so far. That's less than half the number who watch any generic regional NFL Sunday game (games of the week can get as high as 40 million). That's only 3.1% of the population. That's still in true believer territory. For this thing to "win" ideologically, it needs to get to little girls and their moms, and that has not happened yet. And looking at audience pictures, it seems to have captured exactly what you would expect: Barbie-hating feminists and gay men. Indeed, the film was marketed on floats at Pride parades and almost every woman who has reviewed the film (and repeated the false claims above) goes out of her way to mention her disdain for Barbie as a child. I saw no evidence of moms with kids or straight males.
Moreover, the film has produced zero iconic moments that catch on with the public: go ahead, make my day... use the force... squeal like a pig boy... I'll be back... the boy who lived. These are moments that capture the public's attention and become part of public discourse. People know what these mean and where they come from, even if they haven't seen the film. They take on meaning. Barbie hasn't offered a single image or quote yet that has done this.
So far, there is simply no evidence Barbie, like other leftist attempts, has influenced the public. The only caveat I put on this is that because 'conservatives' are so awful right now, there is no one offering a reasonable alternative.
Lesson 4: Feminists Hate Women.
Finally, we come to something that's been clear for a long time and which this film highlights: feminists hate women. Like all leftist ideas, feminism cloaks itself in talk of equality and tolerance but it seeks power, not equality, and it is highly intolerant to those who don't toe the line. This is why feminists have for years mocked housewives, disdained childbirth, and have undermined "female" values and femininity itself. Like all obsessives, this devolved into the most sniveling, personal types of attacks too. Hence, Hillary Clinton stepping in it when she mocked cookie baking.
Barbie has long been a feminist boogiewoman. Feminists accuse Barbie of causing all kinds of issues. Basically, they have dumped all their insecurities on the doll and blamed it for all of them. She made me feel ugly! She wasn't inclusive. She undermined my career potential! Nonsense. So here comes the film, and it's message is that attractive and femininely dressed women who like men are shallow and stupid and secretly unhappy. This is sour grapes as ideology. Of course, the film also hates men, but men are barely relevant to them. The real target is women. If you are attractive, you are shallow and stupid. If you like "girly things" instead of thinking about death and depression, you are shallow and stupid. If you like men, you are shallow and stupid. That's the real meaning at the heart of this film. The lesson is that feminism really is about unhappy women looking for ways to make themselves feel better at the expense of women who are well adjusted, and they are rather petty about it.
That's the dirty secret of feminism: feminists hate other women and seek to destroy them. There is a ton of evidence to support this, from lying about the psychological impact of abortion and being single to forcing girls into sports for which they are not suited to making them judge themselves by standards they don't want to denigrating the very things girls like... feminism is about destroying other women.
Thoughts?
Hey Andrew, interesting points.
ReplyDeleteI have no interest in seeing this movie, so it's hard for me to have an opinion on it honestly.
Here is a pretty good summation of the film from a creator I like to watch from time to time; The Critical Drinker:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J7aJtGphVs
You might get a laugh out of it...
-Kyle
Hi Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI have no desire to see it either, but it is awash in interesting lessons. I actually follow the surroundings of films a lot to see what sells, what doesn't, what tricks are used to sell movies, and obviously whenever politics crosses the path of a movie. This has been the most political film on the left since Little Mermaid with all the "media" engaged in trying very hard to make sure it gets the right spin all around.
That is an amazing review. It's right on point. It also points out that the media is not giving honest reviews.
ReplyDeleteFeminism = hate
Andrew
Yes, that reviewer is excellent. I like him more than the Red Letter Media crew as far dissecting woke politics in modern films goes.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, you should consider reigniting your CommentaramaFilms reviews if your ever up to it and have the time... I've had some good reads over on that site.
-Kyle.
Kyle, I think about it from time to time, but I can't think of the last movie I saw that was worth talking about. It's literally been like 10 years since Hollywood made anything that wasn't pure formula.
ReplyDeleteI watched several of his reviews and he's quite insightful. Funny too. He's also very good at pinpointing the ideological essence of "woke," which is something a lot of people can't do.
Andrew
I know of at least two Republican senior women who must have gotten fooled into thinking it was a “thing” to go wear pink and see the film. Your points are interesting, and absolutely true. The only two films I have interest in seeing are song of freedom and Oppenheimer. Of course, I no longer go to commercial theaters so I will wait til available to stream in my own theater. I suspect the main problem the left has with
ReplyDeleteSong of Freedom is it stars an openly conservative actor, James Caviezel.
I am actually enjoying the writers guild strike. Catching up on reading some of the Harry Bosch books I had missed over the last 30 years
Jed
ed, I'd like to see both. Oppenheimer in particular interests me. Both the topic and Nolan directing are huge draws for me. The cast looks really good too.
ReplyDeleteThe marketing for Barbie was ruthlessly brilliant. It sold this as an event. 'A fun moment for women of all ages to come together and celebrate Barbie. Wear pink and come sit with millions of others you share something with.' I'm really surprised more people haven't fallen for it. I guess we'll see what word of mouth does.
'Conservatives' unfortunately, played into this with impotent calls for boycotts and whining about it -- the Barbie marketing team has actually turned these whines into memes quite brilliantly. (LINK). They have far more views than the movie itself and are in danger of giving the film its iconic moment.
The problem is rather than pointing out that this film was anti-woman and anti-motherhood and anti-female choice, they whined like incels that this was unfair to men and made men seem weak. Waaah. And calling for a boycott meant they became losers in the next news cycle once the film made even $100 million (LINK). Stupid.
If they had understood that the problem with the film is that it is anti-woman and anti-motherhood and anti-choice, and made that charge (without the boycott knee-jerk), I suspect those Republican women would not have gone.
As an aside, did you know Matt Gaetz went with his wife to the opening (LINK) even as they called for a boycott? So was he trying to fight the film's message or just trying to fund-raise? Seems kind of obvious.
Andrew
Sorry, "Jed." I'm having all kinds of trouble typing tonight!
ReplyDeleteNo worries, I have trouble typing every night😉
DeleteGood point Andrew, most big films from Hollywood have just been crap these last 10 years. I can only recall a few small scale films that have been good…. But definitely nothing earth shattering.
ReplyDeleteNow that I think about it, the only entertainment I've been watching for the last year has been reboot Doctor Who re-runs pre Season 10 and stuff on youtube lol.
-Kyle.
Kyle, I've been watching classic Dr. Who lol!
ReplyDeleteThere is so little worth watching these days. It's honestly shocking how bad films have become.
Interestingly, I've been introducing my daughter to older films and she's been blown away. She actually said, "I have no idea how bad modern movies are until I saw some of these films." She said that after seeing Ghostbusters and Blazing Saddles.
Andrew
“The flowers are still standing!” I love Ghostbusters, good stuff.
ReplyDeleteOh man Andrew, your gonna get me on a ramble:
Classic Doctor Who is great! I have watched the full series on BritBox via Amazon. Lots of missing episodes for the first two Doctors. Despite it looking so cheap, its very engaging.
The John Pertwee series (3rd Doctor) is excellent (sans the dated environmentalism). The Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart was an excellent foil against the Doctors ideals; without being heavy handed. Tom Baker's run was great too (The Leela/K-9 side character series, followed up with the Six Segments to the Key of Time was all fantastic IMO).
Heck, Most all of classic Doctor Who is good, I really loved it… the show reminds me of a more intimate version of Star Trek TOS. Colin Baker, despite his ridiculous outfit, was in my opinion a fairly underrated series run… its a shame he and the Peri character got thrown under the bus with a truncated send off.
The final Doctor (before the show was cancelled/rebooted) got it rough though. Absolutely terrible writing with childish side characters.
The reboot series was hit and miss throughout but was over all pretty good until season 10. They really screwed Peter Capaldi, who was IMO one of the best Doctors, even with the truncated story lines. He was an excellent charismatic actor and he was perfect as the Doctor IMO.
I could go on a massive tangent about the Jodie Whittaker Doctor: terrible writing, acting and obnoxious awful side characters… speaking of feminism lol! I will just leave it at that. Goodness I hate woke crap. They really did kill Doctor Who.
-Kyle