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Notes -
Those articles were from a time when feminists thought women cared about being pretty because they were brainwashed into it. The new Barbie movie comes from a new strain of feminism where caring about fashion and makeup are okay. I don't understand when, how, or why the change happened, but yay?
Your post makes me think the movie could've been truly amazing if the script was revised to say that women are essentially equal in status to men now, but that both men and women feel listless. The movie as it exists implies that women are second class citizens, and the plight of the Kens (so far as I can tell) is meant to be read as "what if men experienced the same existential crisis women so? Wouldn't that be crazy?" But despite the film's bias, there is still a plausible centrist egalitarian reading there. I wonder if there was internal conflict behind the scenes over whether it's okay to portray the complicated nature of modern manhood and womanhood without explicitly saying that women have it worse.
I saw a copypasta on /tv/ that edited America Ferrera's monologue to be about men, and I think if it was toned down to be less incendiary, it would've been great if Ken delivered it.
"You have to be masculine, but not overly masculine that it's toxic. And you can never say you want to be manly. You have to say that you embrace your feminine side which is just as powerful... but you still have to be manly. You have to have money, but you can't ask for money because that's pitiful. You have to be a boss, but you must never tell a woman what to do. You have to make the decisions but you also have to listen to what women want, which they don't know, before you make a decision that will always be wrong. You're supposed to make time for your wife and kids or you're a cold and distant father, but not so much time that it hurts your career, or you're a failure of a provider. You have to be unselfish and think of others, but you can't be too selfless or people will see you as weak. You have to tolerate women's bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you're accused of being whiny and told to man up. You have to be chivalrous but not so much that it's chauvinistic. You have to be kind to women but not so kind that you're creepy or boring. You're supposed to be strong and confident for women, but not so strong and confident that they feel oppressed or that you make other men angry at you. You have to be romantic and spontaneous but not naive and cringeworthy. You have to take the initiative and make a move without being told to, unless of course your attention is unwanted. Always be grateful for your privilege and feel passively aware that being a man is easier than being a woman. Remember that this is the 21st century and it is time to think of women as equals but also remember that women are oppressed and dis-empowered, so do not think of them as equals. You have to never be too weak or too strong, never be too kind or too cruel, never be afraid or cocky, never be too quiet or too loud. And you must never, ever complain. Because you are a man, everything is easy for you and everything that goes wrong is your fault."
A movie like this couldn't exist today. It'd be pilloried for being stuck 20 years in the past. But it'd be great.
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