Love this! People aren’t talking enough about Alan. I interpreted Barbie’s message to Ken at the end as an uplift to patriarchal men. “Figure out who you are without me. You’re not your girlfriend, your house, beach, etc. Those things aren’t really you. It’s Barbie. And it’s Ken.” (Something like that). Her message to be your whole self - to not conform to patriarchal expectations - is quite liberating, way more so than representation in the empire, a patriarchal structure of power anyway. Alan simply modeled Barbie’s plea to Ken. Both Alan and Barbie demonstrated the feminist uplift.
This essay helped my daughter and I end our back and forth about Ken. Thank you! We loved Alan for all the reasons you listed, but also because he did not stop in 1990. He was her “boy Barbie” in the 2000’s. He came in a set with Midge!, a little boy, and grandparents! So now we can discuss why Midge with Alan, and the whole idea of parenting/family/married Barbies is rejected in this movie. Lol!
Love this! People aren’t talking enough about Alan. I interpreted Barbie’s message to Ken at the end as an uplift to patriarchal men. “Figure out who you are without me. You’re not your girlfriend, your house, beach, etc. Those things aren’t really you. It’s Barbie. And it’s Ken.” (Something like that). Her message to be your whole self - to not conform to patriarchal expectations - is quite liberating, way more so than representation in the empire, a patriarchal structure of power anyway. Alan simply modeled Barbie’s plea to Ken. Both Alan and Barbie demonstrated the feminist uplift.
I totally loved that takeaway and felt the same way! It's all about everyone feeling like they can be themselves regardless of gender!
This essay helped my daughter and I end our back and forth about Ken. Thank you! We loved Alan for all the reasons you listed, but also because he did not stop in 1990. He was her “boy Barbie” in the 2000’s. He came in a set with Midge!, a little boy, and grandparents! So now we can discuss why Midge with Alan, and the whole idea of parenting/family/married Barbies is rejected in this movie. Lol!