some of you need to make your bed and have a shower with a soap that smells nice, and then sit in a chair near the window and have tea with milk and read a hardcover book and see how your creative block is after that tbh.

i'm not saying creative block isn't a real or difficult phenomenon. i'm saying creatives have a tendency to neglect themselves physically and emotionally in favor of manic bursts of productivity. a little softness and clean sheets and a bagel will go a long way. make a playlist and light the fancy candle you've been saving for a special occasion. life is a special occasion.

Also, props to Allan???

He's a doll most people have never heard of. He got discontinued forever ago cause he was perceived as gay by consumers and they didn't like that.

But I love that he had an actual role in Barbie. He was very queer coded, yeah, but he didn't like when all the Kens turned to Patriarchy. He was so uncomfortable that he wanted to abandon Barbieland all together. He knew it was wrong.

And then he helped the Barbies get themselves back. He had a pink jumpsuit and sunglasses and went out all stealthy to get the Barbies in the van. He even voted at the end to keep the constitution the way it was.

Big Allan fan over here.

I went and saw Barbie and overall I liked it and I had a good time. But. I do have a couple pretty significant issues with it.

In short:
1. I think it's line of argumentation had gaps and its point got muddled.
2. Their depiction of the real world lacks nuance.
3. The idea of the Ken's fell short

Elaboration (with lots of spoilers) below

Keep reading

barbie (2023) is the definition of the "diversity win!" meme, and i think that's okay on the surface as long as the leftist viewers are conscious of it and explain to the neolib viewers that feminism NEEDS to be significantly more than that.

i went to see it with my mom and my sibling. my mom was uncomfortable because she's a ""centrist"" and she gets uncomfortable any time someone says the words "feminism/t" "patriarchy" or "genitals", and my sibling was uncomfortable because, while they still very much are hurt by them, they don't know how to pinpoint radfem takes when they see them yet.

so yeah while a wheelchair user barbie getting a full ten seconds as the main front and center dancer on screen in a musical number and a black barbie being president and a fat barbie standing up and saying that her emotions make her a better and more capable leader and a trans barbie being treated as just another one of the girls is all super fucking important and super fucking awesome to see in a major motion picture that i'm hoping got blowout numbers this weekend-

i can also be sad. i can mourn for the six year old girl that watched it with her mom that got told by helen mirren in a fourth wall break that if she grows up to be as pretty as margot robbie, she's not allowed to cry if she gets called ugly. i can mourn for the teenager that walked out behind me and said "but what if i don't want to be a mom? is that normal?" i can mourn for my younger sibling that left confused about their body and their place in the world because female humanity (according to greta gerwig and noah baumbach) is intrinsically linked with motherhood and raising children.

i can be THRILLED that this movie is leaving (cis)sexist men and conservatives raging, i can be so excited that there is a mainstream movie out RIGHT NOW that called out every disgusting behavior we see in modern patriarchal societies, but i can also be devastated because it missed the mark so, so badly.

Something I found very interesting about the Barbie movie was the Ken’s mimicking of patriarchy. I’ve seen some comments putting it as a stance of men’s inherent desire to oppress women but would argue it much more reflects the socialization process many young boys experience that encourages them take on misogynistic views. The kens do not resent the Barbie’s. They’ve grown up in a society the Barbie’s run and the adore and love them. I think you could say that reflects the early stages of life for many boys where often the main role models they know are women, their mothers (as they often have a more involved role than fathers) and eventually their teachers, which women still make up the vast majority of early childhood educators.

The Kens also notably lack a sense of brotherhood at the start of the movie. And it isn’t until they’re in the real world our main Ken experiences positive male attention and approval (which is only due to him also being a man). It is that desire for approval from his male peers that initially drives him to believe in patriarchy.

There is of course also the underlying struggle of his unrequited feelings for Barbie, but none of the kens truly resent the Barbies. They don’t actually want them as oppressed servants. Yes they want their attention, but even during kendom we see them happiest on their cheesy guitar playing group date. They begin oppressing Barbie’s not because it’s what they actually want but rather it’s them mimicking the behaviour of men.

And that is why I think it makes such a great ode to the socialization of young boys to be misogynistic. Boys do not have an innate hatred for women, nor is it something they naturally grow into of their own fruition. But rather it’s a patterned of learned behaviours they in most cases initially mimic for the approval of other men or to gain attention, but overtime becomes a very real ideology then adopt and believe in and likely pass on.

>>> dopey, effeminate, bumbling beta male

>>>>beat up 7 construction worker kens and won.

He chokes out a man with a shovel.

Give earring magic ken his cock ring back you cowards!!!

#ReleaseTheCockRingCut

found this informative, about how studios are going to attempt to use influencers (particularly small ones) to try to cross pickets by paying a lot for movie promos, and that SAG-AFTRA likely will not let you in if you do this. my suspicion is they're hoping people won't understand the implications so wanted to spread the word!!

Very important note here, yes.

PROMOTION is part of an actor's job. And it's one of the things they're not allowed to do on strike.

SAG Actors are not allowed to do promotions at ComicCon this year. They can attend, as long as they don't:

• Participate in specific-show promotions (e.g. "five years later - actors of X series")
• Talk about their current work
• Talk about upcoming work

They are encouraged not to attend at all, in part because those are complex issues and it's easy to trip on them.

TikTok and YouTube INFLUENCERS are likely to be contacted by studios and told, "how would you like to make a LOT of money, talking about this show?"

...Do not take the poisoned bait.

That counts as crossing the picket line, and would result in:

• Being banned from SAG-AFTRA membership for life, and
• Possibly being blocked from other union jobs if they find out that you scabbed during a strike.

Whenever people try to tell me to ship "moral ships" I like to think about how inherently immoral it is to flirt with service workers at coffee shops where they're obliged to be nice to you so... many coffee shop AUs are like. Immoral. But given that they are a fantasy where this is instant romance without the fear of trapping a service worker in an uncomfortable situation that's tantamount to workplace sexual harassment, I enjoy the cutesy coffee shop AUs immensely.

And that's basically my attitude towards all fantasy. There's lots of things I enjoy in fantasy that wouldn't work IRL. Enemies to lovers. Sudden kisses. Miscommunications in relationships. Codependency. Fight sluts who physically assault each other while emotionally connecting.

Once you start ascribing your morals to the fiction you consume, you tend to miss the issues in even the most innocuous, innocent seeming scenarios. It's easy to judge other people's fictional enjoyment until someone points out your innocent coffee shop AU is romanticised workplace harassment.

But it's all fiction. It's a fantasy. That's why it's fine.

A lack of education around things like consent, healthy relationships, self respect and respect of others, bodily autonomy, etc, has made people think they can rely only on fiction to tell them what right - but that's dangerous. And unsustainable.