Barbie meets her maker

For Quarta's 21st birthday, we had our nails done, dressed in pink and went to see the Barbie movie. I had avoided listening to reviews beforehand; I was not particularly looking forward to it because despite avoiding reviews, I could pick up on the buzz that was pegging this as a radical feminist manifesto ("poisoning the well" would not be an exaggeration). But I was pleasantly surprised. And yet, conflicted. Which is perhaps what director Greta Gerwig intended. I respect her previous work enough to give her the benefit of the doubt... and she has brought forth something I wouldn't have thought possible: a Barbie comedy... with depth.

I didn't play with Barbies growing up. I read Nancy Drew instead. I don't consider myself a feminist and never have; if pressed, I'd say I'm a Christian Classical Humanist. I was mildly surprised to see Barbie brought forward as an icon of feminism at all; that is a very 21st century rewrite of a 20th century marketing strategy that seemed designed more to promote materialism and capitalism aimed at children (must buy all the accessories!!) Also, Barbie was always shallow to me, and self-absorbed in a way that I disliked more as I grew older; she was the stereotypical "cheerleader type" who was the arch-enemy of us smart/awkward girls. Maybe Mattel made Doctor Barbie and Politician Barbie, but I certainly don't remember them featuring prominently, or at all, in the Saturday morning ads. Or maybe, my mother was skeptical about the advisability of Barbie as a role model for me until I was old enough that, when I finally did buy one, I developed a slight aversion to Barbie all on my own. Because I had my loyalties, and they were to Nancy Drew. So, I was going into this prepared to be a bit cynical... and Barbie surprised me by being a bit cynical back, but with a core of human-like compassion that elevates the story above fluff. 

Toy Story taught us that a movie about a child's playthings could have great emotional depth and be appropriate for all ages. I thought at first this was a pink-flavored riff on Toy Story. But there, the toys unquestionably serve their kids and rigorously obey the rules of their world when kids are present, only taking on a life of their own when no humans are around. Here, Barbie herself, played to blonde perfection by Margot Robbie, begins a human-like quest for self-actualization when she wakes up one morning with flat feet and thoughts of death. 

Stereotypical Barbie, after this sudden awareness of her mortality, seeks help from Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), an outcast who resembles what happened to my sisters' Barbie when they tried to turn her into Ken. She is told she needs to leave Barbie Land and go to the real world to find her girl, because she is being affected by her girl's thoughts. So Barbie sets off using all the pink modes of transport available to her... and her counterpart Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, stows away until it's too late to leave him behind. When they reach the real world, Barbie goes into Nancy Drew mode to find out what has caused the sudden self-awareness. It's a quest for the meaning of her life, and ultimately strikes the viewer as religious in nature.

Barbie infiltrates Mattel headquarters, which is in this setting run by an all-male board designed to produce a sense of vast unfairness in the audience and seems a bit of a cheap shot... until you realize that Mattel authorized this movie and will profit from it handsomely. She finally finds her girl (not quite the first one she thought it was), who is also dealing with thoughts of death, but who has some wise advice to give about Barbie's fears: "That's life. It's all change." To which Barbie responds, "That's terrifying."  

While fleeing from Will Ferrell and numerous dark-suited executives who are threatened by her intrusion into the "real" world, Barbie meets her creator, Ruth, played sweetly by Rhea Perlman. Her quest to the "real" world awakes in her a need to become real herself and find meaning by transforming from a perfect doll to a flawed real woman. At this point I realized this was a story more like Pinocchio, or the Velveteen Rabbit.

Meanwhile, Ken is discovering that men in the real world have more agency than the Kens in Barbie Land, where Ken is basically an accessory to Barbie and his only job description is "beach." So, he sets out back to Barbie Land to introduce the concept of patriarchy to the other Kens. When this news reaches Barbie, she enlists the help of the America Ferrera's character and her daughter. They have a little hesitancy about leaving everything to go to Barbie Land, but they decide that Dad will be fine without them for a bit, as he is practicing Spanish on Duolingo.

The battle of the sexes back in Barbie Land is a little over-the-top... but then, this is a comic movie about a doll developing self-awareness so... I took it as comedy. You might cry at parts though.

Barbie is appropriate for older children, but not really for the 8-10 and under set. It has a great deal of irony that will just be confusing to young children and adults who don't fully process irony. And because it posits a "Barbie Land" where women rule and men are just ornamental beach bums, you shouldn't inflict it on men or boys unless they come willingly. (I mean, give Ben Shapiro a break, of course he's going to trash the movie if he was forced to watch it. I would have done the same if I had been forced to watch Rambo.) Others have criticized the symbolism of little girls smashing their baby dolls in the first scene as being a metaphor for abortion, but I wonder if they've ever actually seen little girls play with dolls, because that part seemed humorous to me. Oh yes, and Doctor Barbie was a ringer. Again, I'd caution against ignoring the PG-13 rating.

My mother would have disliked the fact that the movie portrayed most of the men as buffoons, like too many cartoons and sitcoms of the 20th century. And my harshest criticism would be that Ryan Gosling's Ken was not given the same opportunity for character development. Maybe, there should be a sequel giving Ken that opportunity. I think it would be great if Mel Gibson directed it.

Last Randomday of 2012, with movie reviews

Source: harpercollinscatalogs.com via Katherine on Pinterest

Christmas break is never long enough.  We all know it, I'm just going to say it now for the record.

I bought a clearance-priced replica of the Colosseum for my aquarium.  This was while Quarta was spending her Christmas money on a hamster habitat at the pet store.  Tertia has an irrational fear of animals, and they share a room.  This should be interesting.

Steve and I are not doing very well at doing our Sunday School Greek class homework ahead of time.  We have a date this evening to do that.

Holiday movie reviews:
The Hobbit:  Only Peter Jackson could take a gentle, erudite children's bedtime storybook and turn it(just the first third of it, mind) into a boisterous, 3-hour-long extravaganza that sets new standards for movie technology, and still make it something that almost the whole family will love to watch.  Don't expect it to match the ethereal beauty or artistic cohesiveness of The Lord of the Rings, but take your kids if they are, say, 8 or older and have read it or had it read to them.  (I'm schoolmarmish about reading first.)  Our kids were 10 and up and did fine, even Tertia who gets scared by loud noises.  There's lots to enjoy throughout, and even the intense action sequences have their lighthearted moments.  Well, some of them... I liked the ladder sequence in Goblintown.  The Pale Orc and the Wargs are just freakishly scary.  Lots of nice tie-ins with LOTR, and I very much look forward to seeing future installments.

Les Miserables: LOVED it! I was fortunate enough to see the musical twice; once on Broadway in 1989, once in Washington D.C. on tour.  It has been my favorite musical ever since, and it's wonderful that it has been adapted so well for the big screen.  The songs are not dubbed in afterwards from the comfort of a sound booth; the actors sing in real time, capturing some very raw emotions indeed.  Definitely respect the PG-13 rating on this, please; prostitution, cruelty and desperate poverty make this inappropriate for children.  The Hollywood actors do their bit to make sure a wider audience will enjoy Victor Hugo's tale of grace vs. works, but I have to say my favorite part was Colm Wilkinson (original Valjean) cast as the Bishop with the candlesticks.  I hadn't researched it beforehand; it was his distinctive voice that gave it away.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if America regained an appreciation of the art of telling stories with music because of this movie?  I think it would.

Rainy Randomday

It's wet outside.  Very wet.  Wet enough that I don't really want to go out and run errands.  So I translated my Latin assignments (Caesar and Bede) and baked up a batch of granola.  My class quizzes were graded yesterday, I'm still ignoring all the housecleaning that needs to be done, and I may even aspire to sitting on the couch and knitting or finishing the binding on my feathered star.  I should load Jack's Chain onto the Megaquilter, but even that might be too much...

Steve and I watched Gigi last night.  Neither of us knew what it was about before.  (Pretty young French girl being groomed by her grandmother and great-aunt to be a rich man's mistress).  We're glad we didn't offer it as a treat to the girls, who like musicals.  Can I just say that I will never again be able to see Maurice Chevalier as anything but a creeper?  I mean really, "Thank heaven for little girls?"  Could that even be made today?

Steve was channel-surfing and watching a bit of Lawrence of Arabia yesterday.  That spurred him to look up Lawrence.  Apparently, Lawrence was not his real name; his father's name was Chapman, but because he left his first family and had several children with the governess, they adopted the name Lawrence later on.  So add Lawrence of Arabia to Johnny Appleseed as yet another Chapman who is famous, but not by that name.  We'd like to trade them for the guy who shot John Lennon.

Lawrence of Arabia is one of those movies I just don't get.  I made one good-faith effort to stay awake through it, but I have very hazy memories of desert warfare and political intrigue, only to be jolted awake every so often by the stirring theme music and stunning scenery.  Steve tells me it's a classic political drama.  And I liked West Wing (I know... but it was because of the writing).  So I really should watch it again some decade.

Secundus just called on his cell phone.  He spent the night with a friend in Beaverton and will need to be picked up at the Max station in an hour.  And Daniel is apparently arrived safe after numerous rides and transfers at Steve's sister's house in Philadelphia, where he will spend Thanksgiving week.  It is making me feel old and strange, having kids becoming so independent.  It will definitely be strange and quiet next week when Daniel is NOT with us for Thanksgiving.

After reading so many Redwall books, Quarta asked to make candied chestnuts when we saw chestnuts at the farmer's market.  So a few days ago I tried this recipe with her.  We used to have a couple of chestnut trees when I was growing up, but I had forgotten the unique texture that chestnuts have.  I took a picture but our main computer - not my laptop - is having epilepsy or something.  And truly, the picture does not look that appetizing.  The jury is out on whether the kids like candied chestnuts.  Quarta is gamely trying to like them but was a little discouraged by the reaction of her school friends, only one of whom even tried them.  The rest of them said they looked like brains... which they do, kind of.

Steve has been on the phone with the Dell tech support people in India quite a bit lately, but the computer still freezes up when you try to get it warmed up after hibernation.  I was going to upload the candied chestnuts picture and this time, it started making a high-pitched whistling noise (I didn't even notice it at first because it sounded almost exactly like my left ear).  Nice.  I don't know how many pictures I'll be able to add to the blog for awhile!  But again, I don't think you're missing much with the candied chestnuts.  They taste better than they look.

I just received the Round Robin letter that has been making the rounds between me and 5 of my college friends for over 20 years now.  There, now I've admitted to it in the blog, and I'm committed to sending it off again before Thanksgiving.  If I can't get the computer that's attached to the printer to work, I might even have to write it by hand.

WIP Wednesday and sneak preview of "This Means War"

WIP Wednesday again! I finished two more Farmer's Wife Quilt blocks this week.  I'm in the home stretch now!  See my layout on the design wall in Monday's post.

Farmer'sWife Quilt block #91: Strawberry Basket.

Block #92: Streak of Lightning.  I liked the purple stripes because they reminded me of the ozone-tinged lightning storms I watched in New Mexico when I was little.

I finished quilting this "Play Ball" quilt that I will be donating to the Cedar Tree auction.  You can't really see, but it's an allover loop/squiggle that works pretty well and went very fast.  It now just needs to be trimmed even and bound.  It will be the third and final quilt I'm donating to this year's auction. 

Knitting and spinning had very little progress this week.  I'm working on my third shawl of the year, Susanna IC's Oslo Walk shawl from Interweave Knits Winter 2010 issue.  I get a row or two done every day that I knit, which isn't every day because my elbow has been bothering me.

Yesterday Steve and I had our first dentist appointments in ... some time; then to celebrate Valentine's day we went out to Thai Orchid and were planning to see "Iron Lady" at the $5 Tuesday showing.  But at the last minute we found out it was canceled to make room for a sneak preview of "This Means War."  So we saw that instead.  Totally different crowd than for the showing of "The Artist" last week.  And totally different previews.

Cute movie... absolutely inappropriate for anyone who isn't married.  It's obviously inspired by the deserved popularity of "Chuck" but it's missing some of the heart and basic sense of morality that Chuck has.  Basic premise: Chris Pine and Tom Hardy play two CIA agents in LA (not sure why a Brit like Tom Hardy is working for the CIA, nor why CIA's LA headquarters should be so palatial, but it doesn't matter) who fall for the same girl (Reese Witherspoon, who is cute like Meg Ryan was cute in romantic comedies a decade ago).  They make some sort of "gentlemen's agreement" that the best man will win, and then shamelessly turn the entire resources of the CIA to opposition research.  Chris Pine plays the same type of irresponsible but rakishly charming character he played in the Star Trek movie, and Tom Hardy does his level best to combine "licensed to kill" with "sensitive new age guy."  Oh yeah, and there's this international bad guy who wants revenge for something completely unrelated and obscure, and of course the obligatory high-speed chase along LA freeways.

The success of "Chuck" has made it obvious that spy thrillers can be combined nicely with the romantic comedy genre.  In fact, I prefer this combination to real spy thrillers.  It doesn't take itself seriously, so it was a nice date movie and had some very funny moments.  It's rated PG-13 but I felt the language, general crudeness, and adult themes put it into R territory and I wouldn't let my teenage sons go even though they are big fans of "Chuck."  Gaping holes in the plot and characters make it highly unlikely it will be up for any Oscars next year.  But there you go.  I don't often get to see a movie and blog about it before everyone else in the world!