Part of the people or apart from the people? A critical note on the liberal feminism of Barbie (2023)

clinton peter verdonschot

doi:10.58519/ntj68y62

Part of the people or apart from the people?

A critical note on the liberal feminism of Barbie (2023)

Authors

clinton peter verdonschot

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58519/ntj68y62

Keywords:

Barbie, liberal feminism, Lukacs, Greta Gerwig, Marxist aesthetics, feminist aesthetics

Abstract

Barbie (2023) is both a feminist and a metaphysical film. It is a story of ideas regarding girls and their fantasies and the relation of the two vis-à-vis each other. This critical note draws attention to a way in which the film's metaphysics gets in the way of its feminism. I will argue that the film's conception of Barbie Land and the Real World, as discrete planes of existence, is itself a symptom of the alienated state of existence that Barbie aims to overcome. Consequently, Barbie's escape from this alienated state is doomed to fail from the start.

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References

Gerwig, Greta, dir. 2023. Barbie: Director’s Commentary.

Henson, Jim, dir. 1986. Labyrinth.

Lukács, Georg. 1923. Geschichte Und Klassenbewusststein: Studien Über Marxistische Dialektik. Darmstadt: Luchterhand.

Julita Wójcik. 2001. Peeling Patatoes. Zachęta - National Gallery of Art, Warsaw (Poland). Courtesy of the artist.

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Published

2024-12-31

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 1 (2024): Special Issue: The aesthetic significance of the everyday. Guest edited by Mateusz Salwa and Adam Andrzejewski

Section

Arts & Artists

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How to Cite

verdonschot, clinton peter. 2024. “Part of the People or Apart from the People? A Critical Note on the Liberal Feminism of Barbie (2023)”. Aesthetic Investigations 7 (1): 74-83. https://doi.org/10.58519/ntj68y62.