Diablo Cody Exited Sony's Failed Barbie Movie Because of Troubles with the Feminist Twist

[shangri__la]

Original 'Barbie' Writer Exited Sony's Failed Movie Because 'They Wanted a Girl-Boss Feminist Twist on Barbie' and 'That's Not What Barbie Is' https://t.co/Wl4aJA0Ivu
- Variety (@Variety) July 7, 2023
Sony Pictures originally had the rights to Barbie and spent years trying to get a movie off the ground. Actors such as Amy Schumer and Anne Hathaway

Comments

[syvlie0o0]

Yeah, I see where she's coming from. People now are talking about Barbie as some feminist hero because she was an astronaut and a lawyer and whatever. but I always just viewed it as a blond doll with big boobs and an impossibly tiny waist that gave girls body image issues.

[quinnmorgendorf]

but I always just viewed it as a blond doll with big boobs and an impossibly tiny waist that gave girls body image issues

I wasn't allowed to have Barbies when I was little and this was my mom's rationale. She also hated that her foot was shaped to only accommodate high heels lol.

Joke's on her though because I have body image issues anyway.

[2_on]

it's the same people saying paris hilton is a feminist icon

[halevy]

The resurgence of Paris Hilton's popularity is astounding. I know someone who is happy with her resurgence, along with some of Lindsay Lohan's.

[corrykennedy]

Yeah I find it really weird that people are reconning the career barbies as a feminist statement instead of a way to sell more dolls by adding a new outfit. is it really a feminist statement if you're marketing to girls with career aspirations by selling them a barbie in a nurse uniform?

[anterrabre]

Context means a lot. Barbie was doing these things in the 50s-60s when "nuclear families" were definitely a thing and if a woman went to college it was to get a Mrs. degree. Barbie taught a lot of girls from that era that it was okay to perhaps aim higher than being a housewife. Not that being a housewife is in any way wrong; it's a choice but the problem is there were extremely limited choices for women back then.

It's also the same reason why Diahann Carroll was considered so groundbreaking in the role Julia, because not only was it a Black woman in a non-stereotypical role, she was also a working woman (something you did not see on TV a lot back then regardless of race)

[archersangel]

Julia was also a widowed single mother, which was a first for TV. If I recall.

[primimproper]

Barbie is a lot of things simultaneously.

What Gerwig and Baumbach absolutely smashed (via the teaser trailer) is how radical Barbie's 1959 emergence actually is in terms of offering young women something other than baby dolls to condition them into their then-lone domestic role. And it very nearly didn't happen - male buyers at Barbie's first trade show unveiling where resistant to purchase, leading Ruth Handler to cleverly get Barbie on a TV spot, thereby causing girls to flood into stores asking about Barbie to the point these buyers had no choice but to buy.

By the late 80s/90s, discourse on Barbie seemed almost exclusively about body image issues, but I often wonder how much of that really was an organic response from the girls playing with Barbie versus the influence of media with their tendencies toward sensationalism/fear porn. I personally never had a comparison thought, and the body I was comparing mine to was actually my mother's (who is a male ideal in her own right).

I think the framework of Barbie's story should also

[alwayspolaris]

A great, nuanced take!

[kittenishgirl]

I don't disagree with you but I also find it interesting that Barbie was an astronaut before American women were astronauts. When women couldn't have their own bank accounts or home loans or be astronauts, Barbie was an astronaut and had a dream house. I think that counts for a little, back then. It's just these days it's normal.

[anterrabre]

Exactly.

[totteringg]

Yeah, I’m pretty sure there’s been a fair amount of research on this and what actually happens is parents feel better about the inspiring Barbie backstories but the message the kids actually take away from them is overwhelmingly the terrible body image stuff.

[sugary_placenta]

I need to go look for this research because in all honesty, playing with Barbies never gave me body image issues. Seeing societal beauty standards/celebrities and hearing shitty comments from the people around me did that. To me, Barbie was a pretty doll I could dress up, buy cool accessories for, and ultimately end up cutting her hair because I thought I was a hair stylist.

[totteringg]

Yes those things obviously also contribute to body image issues? The point is that in comparison to dolls with more normal proportions or non-human dolls, Barbie has a much larger negative impact on body image and kids don’t care about the career stuff (girls who played with Mrs Potato head were more likely to say they can do any of the jobs boys say they can do than the girls who played with the doctor Barbie).