I've gotten into the healthy habit of journaling more than I post about my feelings on the internet, which is great! The only downside is that I don't have a lot to update this blog with unless I'm making new art. Right now, I'm still working too many hours to have gotten my mojo back, so that will just have to wait. The art happens when it happens, and I don't feel any pressure to post. In lieu of that, I'm going to compare two very different movies that I just saw this past weekend, pitting them against each other in a shallow and unecessary comparison post. Spoilers ahead for Barbie and Insidious: The Red Door.
I walked out of Barbie feeling weird. I liked her personal journey where she realized that she didn't have to live the role that life had handed to her. That was relatable and touching. I also enjoyed that Ken came to the realization that he shouldn't base his entire identity around another person. America Ferrera's monologue was cool, but it didn't feel like anything new to me. Clearly, this movie was groundbreaking for a lot of people though. I respect that, but it was also really basic and liberal. It was exactly what I expect from a big budget film made by two giant corporations. I don't expect great leftist praxis OR morality tales from films, but I was surprised that the movie didn't even end with the idea of "We should improve circumstances for women somewhat" considering the subject matter. America Ferrera's character didn't end up on the Mattel board, and instead of ending the movie on Barbie empowering girls (at a school? at a summer camp? Going to college herself? Talking to other women at all...?) it ended with "Btw! She goes to a gyno now lol!" It's so bizarre to me that Barbie highlights these things wrong with the real world (The Mattel board is all men), and then nothing happens about it at the end. The REAL Mattel board of directors has more women on it.
It wasn't like I wanted a "good message" or anything, I just wanted the movie to say something coherent. When a blockbuster film sets up "Here are some things that are bad", I expect them to perhaps address those things in SOME way. It seems like at every turn, artistic voices were kneecapped by executive decisions that muddled the story and muffled whatever the creative team was trying to say. Barbie herself was sad by how women were mistreated in the real world, so I kind of expected them to follow through with her maybe seeking to help women. If the movie said anything, it said "It really sucks to be a woman...but there are some cool parts! That's how it is." The film is a resigned meditation on womanhood with a bubblegum pink paint job.
It was rife with strange creative choices like the Barbies mistreating and then apologizing to characters like Weird Barbie (who they ostracize for her funny hair and being in splits all the time), but then ostracizing Midge for being pregnant...for the entire movie, all the way until the end. I get that she was a doll discontinued because she didn't sell well, but when she's a character played by a woman in a film, it's just too close to how people IRL joke about how "gross" pregnant women are. It's like "Omg women can be astronauts and doctors and the president but...pregnant? LOL nasty!!!!" So annoying. I get that "joke" characters like Midge and Allen don't "need" their stories wrapped up at the end, but...it would have been nice. As an audience, we sympathize with Midge. I liked Allen. Why is it cool to just end the movie on "Anyways, fuck 'em!" It's just...a bummer. It seems so contrary to the rest of the movie's choices to create heartfelt, loving moments with other characters.
After my Friday with Barbie, I spent Sunday with Insidious: The Red Door. This movie spoke to me the way the first Insidious movie did. I really loved it. The same characters from the first movie return, this time, with two of the main characters' memories wiped by hyponosis to protect them from the terrible traumas they experienced. At first, I thought "Wow, cheap choice to just use the same characters again" until the movie started making it clear that they were repeating the same mistakes they did before. Throughout the film, this family slowly uncovered the mystery of their past visits to The Further: Insidious's spirit realm full of vindictive ghosts that want to steal your body while you're astral projecting. They were haunted by new ghosts, old ghosts, and mistakes that went back generations.
The primary focus of the film was on a father, Josh, and his son, Dalton. They're both people who can astral project, and they both don't recall their dealings with The Further. The movie ties together threads of Josh wanting Dalton to be like him (join his old frat, go to the same college), with Dalton discovering the terrors he experienced as a child when Josh was possessed by a demon who tried to beat their family with hammers. Josh then learns that his OWN Dad had the ability to astral project, but his Mom hid it away from him. Josh is literally and figuratively haunted by his parents burying their trauma, and Dalton is haunted by HIS parents burying their trauma (only the Mom remembers, she wasn't hypnotized). Insidious presents themes of generational trauma, repeated mistakes, and stigma surrounding mental illness & family tragedies through the metaphor of terrifying supernatural hauntings. Insidious: The Red Door makes a powerful statement: You cannot forget your trauma, you cannot bury it. You will suffer, and so will your children. You must shine light on it and bear the burden, as painful as it may be. Or else your rotten foundation will crumble beneath you and your loved ones.
The message was coherent, direct, and supported by good acting, well-timed moments of terror, and heartfelt moments between the members of the family in the film. The ending was awesome and was supported by the artistic choices of the entire film before it. With cheesy jump-scares and laser-focus corny storytelling, Insidious: The Red Door ended up being less of a bummer than Barbie.
Barbie is a meditation on womanhood, and how patriarchy fucking sucks. And how you should go discover yourself. And also, buy Barbies please.
And Insidious: The Red Door is a story about how you can't bury your trauma: You must face it, as hard as it may be. And how it's best battled with your loved ones by your side.
Disclaimer: Don't come for me if you loved Barbie and hate this review. This blog post just isn't that serious. Except for my love for Insidious. That's so real.