To tell you the truth, no Barbie shilling or character actress or any of my other running gags here.

Yeah, especially after the last weeks. I'm sorry.

I'm out of the loop here

That position has been filled. Sorry.

Perhaps buying a copy of the collector's edition Blu-ray of the Golden Globe winning movie, Barbie, will cheer you up.

Plus, I bet she made enough from that movie to basically disappear for a year or two.

Jaime King and Jaime Pressly be like "we still exist too"

I think the plural is Margots Robbie.

Jesse, what the fuck are you talking about?

Could you define woke?

The messages got from it are:

"the patriarchy" is not a good thing, but even the idealized "the matriarchy" has problems too, and whatever we have going on right now isn't really working

a man's value is inherent to himself, it doesn't come from a job or a relationship. (I suppose this applies to women too, but it was Ken who had to learn this lesson).

Men need to support each other more rather than compete with each other

Societal expectations for women are impossible to attain

I stopped reading your comment with you used the word woke.

You should give it a spin. I was nothing like I imagined, and I had few preconceptions. Wife and I went, her first American movie theater experience!

As a man, I felt Ken. I got where the guys were coming from. Sometimes I wanted to cheer, "Fuck yeah that's what it's like being a man!"

My wife teared up during America Ferrara's famous rant. Hell, I felt that. I won't link it. You gotta see it in context, but it works on it's own.

It's goofy as fuck, in case I'm making it sound overly dramatic. But it sure puts a screwdriver into American sexual roles and twists.

Anyway, it was better than it had any right to be. I did not expect what I saw and came away with.

Your assumptions aren't true at all. It looks like it's heading that way part-way through the film, when Barbie and Ken are at odds with each other. And then it goes ahead and empowers all the men as well. It's certainly critical of toxic masculinity but I think it's empowering for both men and women overall. Obviously your Ben Shapiro types were offended by it because it's not trying to appeal to incels, and it is woke, but not in a bad, inauthentic way.

I don't think it's really supposed to re-popularise the line of toys either. Sure, people who liked the toys when they were young will probably find details they appreciate, but it's not meant to sell the toys. It's not aimed at the demographic (young girls, typically) who would want to buy dolls. It's not an R-rated film, of course, but I'd say anyone under 12 probably isn't going to get much out of it, and it's probably much more enjoyable for adults overall. It's pretty philosophical and thoughtful, and has quite a lot of metaphors and symbolism that would be lost on younger viewers.

Rather than aiming to sell toys, the film is the product; it's a way to make money with the Barbie brand from audiences outside of the toy-buying demographic. And it achieved that (by being a good film).

Awfully fully formed question-but-really-I-wasn't-interested-anway you got there.

Hrm, so taking your post serious for a second, you could not be more wrong if you tried.

Including the toy thing, the whole movie basically dunks modern Mattel every time it can, continuously, and only praises the original inventor of Barbie and her ideals for the toy. But specifically not what the modern C-suites made of it.

The movie is also extensively about learning to survive to insane and unachievable expectancies modern society has for women, and at the same time about men learning to define their self-worth from within instead of via competition and rivalry.

It's... damn smart, honestly. Far more so than the movie has any right to be. Left me utterly impressed.

(Oh and "woke" is just the past form of waking, you're using it wrong)

This movie captures the female experience better than any movie I've ever seen. The nuance was amazing. And for those who didn't get the nuance, there is a big speech at the end to bring you up to speed. Plus you get to look at Margo Robbie for 2 hours (if you are into that sort of thing). I recommend checking it out.

Your assumption could not be more wrong. The movie empowers men and women and is very entertaining at the same time. You should try watching it.