Emasculating Ken
"Barbie" as a litmus test: women were advised by one film reviewer to dump their partner if he fails to "get" the Barbie message; to that, men might be advised to preemptively head for the exits if that take-away message is to simply reassign some asserted historical patriarchal role to women. Move over, Ken, it’s retribution time for the years, the centuries, of male domination and oppression. After all, revenge is a dish best served cold.
What can leave the movie-goer somewhat off balance is the way the film conflates two issues. On the one hand, it might be viewed as an indictment of any exploitative social structure. Retribution would thus be seen in the same way that, say, the bourgeoisie deserved every bashing it took under Soviet communism as the Zhivago family retreated to a corner of their Moscow mansion where the proletariat abused their former masters and broke up the furniture for firewood.
The film’s literal coloring (ubiquitous pink), however, would suggest something more targeted i.e. the deconstruction of masculinity itself. People come in two models: women, good, nice; men, the heavier, hairier life-form. The “manly” virtues (bravery, strength, discipline, and, egad, the very idea of machismo) remain admirable only by being quietly reassigned to women. The best a man can say for himself is that he is harmless.
Like Ken.
Just clear out the underbrush and embrace a new world order. The notion that men are fair game, of course, goes way back – from, say, Joyce Carol Oates novels e.g. Foxfire, Confessions of a Girl Gang and on through the parade of books, movies or even the proliferation of male-dissing greeting cards to hammer home the men-are-awful (or at least clumsy, incompetent, showing a lack of fastidiousness when it comes to lifting the seat) message.
The quarrel, and our discussion, however, lies not with feminism per se, but with feminism incompletely or dishonestly or opportunistically pursued. Might feminism's stated goal of real equality also include women accepting their share of the downsides – maybe start with dying in war or otherwise being killed in the line of dangerous duty – not just take the share they find attractive? Be careful what you wish for.
C’mon, man, this movie is just a fantasy, no more than some elaborate cartoon. Yet, to the extent messages subliminally seep into culture, we might as well chat about the way both men and women have been oppressed by the other sex in different ways, or how each gender may experience a lack of appreciation. Or we might even dive into that base animalistic level to probe women taking the active part in initiating sexual contacts, thereby assuming the painful risks of rejection.
We could address these things but of course we won’t. These things are just as absurd as the pink world itself i.e. the largely unspoken conversation of female privilege and the myth of male power. It’s just so much easier to conclude that the last acceptable villain is the prototypical white male.