{"id":97509,"date":"2024-02-26T17:22:02","date_gmt":"2024-02-26T17:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/?p=2039332"},"modified":"2024-02-26T17:22:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-26T17:22:02","slug":"why-barbie-poor-things-actually-encourage-toxic-masculinity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/26\/why-barbie-poor-things-actually-encourage-toxic-masculinity\/","title":{"rendered":"Why \u2018Barbie,\u2019 \u2018Poor Things\u2019 Actually Encourage Toxic Masculinity"},"content":{"rendered":"

The two biggest feminist films of 2023, \u201cBarbie\u201d and \u201cPoor Things,\u201d are poised to be heavy hitters at this year\u2019s Oscars.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And yet \u2014 even though both films claim to be overt pro-feminist manifestos \u2014 what both also have most in common is that they actually encourage the very toxic masculinity that they claim to be deconstructing.<\/p>\n

Evangelicalism may hold the true answer they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n

It was a banner year for feminist cinema in 2023, with multiple female-led and created films gaining massive box office or critical acclaim (and often both). Think \u201cBarbie,\u201d \u201cPoor Things,\u201d \u201cPricilla,\u201d \u201cMay December,\u201d \u201cPast Lives,\u201d and \u201cAre You There God It’s Me Margaret?\u201d<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s not a surprise that two of the most celebrated of these movies, \u201cBarbie\u201d and \u201cPoor Things,\u201d would be poised to be major players at the Oscars, up for nominations in multiple categories each.<\/p>\n

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Both \u201cBarbie\u201d and \u201cPoor Things\u201d have many similarities \u2013 both featuring heroines leaving their safe, idealized homes to find themselves and ending up having to smash the patriarchy along the way.<\/p>\n

But the biggest similarity between the two films is that they encourage the very toxic masculinity they claim to despise. This is because they perpetuate the myth, encouraged by misogynists like social media influencer Andrew Tate and feminist films alike, that men can only choose between being toxic oppressors of women or virtuous doormats for them.<\/p>\n

This is a trope that is extremely common in many American films but is particularly overt in \u201cBarbie\u201d and \u201cPoor Things,\u201d which I call the \u201cDoormat Ken or Douche Ken\u201d trope.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Critic vs. Critic: ‘Barbie’<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In \u201cBarbie,\u201d Ryan Gosling’s Ken starts out in the fantasy world of \u201cBarbie Land\u201d with the other Kens and Barbies as a typical doormat \u201cnice guy\u201d who adores Margot Robbie’s Barbie and treats her well \u2013 but never stands up to her when she and the other Barbies demean him or treat them like a second-class citizen.<\/p>\n

He is \u201cDoormat Ken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once Ken enters the real world, he discovers a place where men aren\u2019t treated that way. So he comes back and stands up to Barbie, and then takes over Barbieland (renaming it \u201cKendom\u201d) and turns the Barbies into brainwashed dolls who cater to his and the other Kens every whim.<\/p>\n

We call this \u201cDeplorable Ken.\u201d This is, of course, short-lived. The Barbies overthrow Kendom and restore order to Barbie Land. The day is saved.<\/p>\n

Happy ending!<\/p>\n

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But when Ken is defeated, he doesn\u2019t ever become a proper synthesis of the two Kens. He never becomes a Ken who is able to assert his right to be treated well by Barbie, or to set healthy boundaries or to have a positive relationship with her without dominating her.<\/p>\n

Instead, he reverts to Doormat Ken. He does whatever she says, follows everything she says, and \u2014 along with the other Kens \u2014 accepts whatever status she grants him.<\/p>\n

And it isn\u2019t just Gosling\u2019s Ken. All the men in the story are placed into \u201cDeplorable Ken\u201d and \u201cDoormat Ken\u201d categories. The other Kens also are put back into second-class citizen status and gleefully accept it. Allen, even though he\u2019s willing to defend Gloria and Sasha from the Kens, is rewarded by being yelled at to \u201cshut up\u201d when he asserts what he thinks they should do.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Gloria\u2019s husband is portrayed as a nice guy, but also someone who can (and should be) ignored or put down for a laugh without a fuss. This means that \u201cDoormat Ken\u201d and \u201cDeplorable Ken\u201d are the only versions of masculinity that men are given in the movie.<\/p>\n

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Likewise, the entire plot of \u201cPoor Things\u201d involves Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a woman created from the body of a pregnant woman who committed suicide and the brain of her unborn child, growing into a young woman by defying the control of the men around her and then becoming powerful enough to control them instead.<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s her creator who tries to keep her locked in his house, her fiance who tries to prevent her from leaving with another man (how dare he!), the man she leaves him for who gets upset when she sleeps with other men and steals his money (how dare he!) or her ex-husband who wants to trap her in his house.<\/p>\n

Men are portrayed as bad when they try to set limits on the woman’s behavior for treating them badly. They\u2019re also portrayed as good only when they let her do whatever she wants and never set any boundaries with her. (As her fianc\u00e9 ultimately does at the end of the film).<\/p>\n

RELATED: HOW ‘BARBIE,’ ‘SOUND OF FREEDOM’ DIVIDED THE U.S.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just a problem with \u201cBarbie\u201d or \u201cPoor Things.\u201d These movies merely follow in the tradition of most non-rom-com female-centric films of the recent past which portray men as either toxic misogynists or doormats for the heroine.<\/p>\n

Increasingly so, romantic comedies also now fall under this category. The male heroes are good only if they never stand up to the heroine or tell her that she\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n

There are exceptions, but they tend only to prove the rule. The men either end up dying at the end like, for example, Steve Trevor in \u201cWonder Woman\u201d or Kyle Reese in \u201cThe Terminator.\u201d This is significant because male-centric films do not generally treat their female characters that way.<\/p>\n

Female leads in male-centric films tend to be positive characters who fight alongside the male hero in helpful ways and serve as their conscience to help challenge the man to grow in virtue.<\/p>\n

In fact, such movies often encourage the moral leadership of women and their role in redeeming men. Are their roles limited? Yes. But they are limited largely to positive characters without being doormats. Are women often sexualized? Yes. But even that, their sexuality is treated as a positive quality.<\/p>\n

This could be one reason why it\u2019s often said that one of the most replicated facts in the social sciences is that both men and women have more positive views of women than they do of men \u2014 contrary to what \u201cBarbie\u201d claims.<\/a><\/p>\n

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A post shared by Rotten Tomatoes (@rottentomatoes)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n