Barbie (5 Stars)

Today was the eighth day that "Barbie" is being shown in the cinema, and it's still sold out. Almost. When I booked a ticket, there were only three seats to choose from, but in the cinema there were four empty seats in front of me. It's possible to reserve a seat online and collect the ticket 30 minutes before it starts.

What was noticeable is that there were hardly any men in the audience. I looked around before the lights went out, and I could only see three other men. That's understandable, since it's a film about a doll for girls, but it's still unfortunate. Men are the film's target audience. It's a film all men should watch and learn from. As other reviewers have pointed out, every man in the film is stupid, a bigot or a pathetic loser. Those three categories aren't mutually exclusive. There hasn't been a film that puts men down so much since the days of Russ Meyer, who divided men into two categories:

The first type of man is weak and stupid, but sexually capable.

The second type of man is strong and stupid, but sexually impotent.

The women are all strong, intelligent and sexually demanding.

The difference in "Barbie" is that sex doesn't play a role. Or does it? Ken (Ryan Gosling) is embarrassed when Barbie (Margot Robbie) tells men at a building site that he doesn't have a penis. Barbie doesn't have a vagina, but that doesn't bother her. Women are able to do without men. There's a running joke in the film that Ken wants to be Barbie's boyfriend, but she turns him down. She wants them to be just friends. The modern Barbie doesn't need a man.

In the film the universe is divided into two worlds: Barbieland and the Real World. (The capitals are deliberate). Barbieland is ruled by women, who are intelligent and powerful and party every day. In the Real World there's supposedly equality of the sexes, but in practise it's ruled by men, who are stupid and bigoted.

The film highlights the problem with women's equality, a movement which came to public notice in the early 20th Century. The women who led the suffragette movement had good intentions, but they were doomed to fail. Women's equality is impossible, as the last 100 years have shown. If women say "We want to be equal", the men will grin and say Yes, giving them a figment of equality. In large companies like Mattel a few women are promoted to high positions to hide the fact that almost all the bosses are men. The suffragettes didn't go far enough. It wasn't enough that women should be allowed to vote, men should be forbidden to vote. The suffragettes said, "You've been suppressing us for the last 3000 years, so let's forget about it and be equal partners". They should have said, "Now it's our turn to suppress you for the next 3000 years".

"Barbie" contrasts the two systems: women rule Barbieland and men rule the Real World. Is Barbieland a perfect world? Not quite. The film shows the rise of toxic masculinity in Barbieland. The men should be happy to be Just Ken. It's not a bad life.