Abstract
The two Academy Award nominated films, Barbie and Poor Things follow two women, one imagined from plastic, and the other imagined from an amalgamation of parts including the brain of a child, and their journey from sheltered life to the negative reality of women’s treatment in society. Where Barbie was a hyperpop, pink fantasy of imagined girlhood and the lasting impact of capitalism upon adolescent girls, Poor Things was a hypersexual, fish-eye fantasy of a man’s idea of a liberated woman in a capitalist world. Both Bella Baxter and Barbie must come to terms with their identity as women in relation to the world outside of them and the patriarchal subordination women continue to endure. In my presentation, I explore the similarities not only of Bella and Barbie’s journey, but also how both are surface level attempts at a much larger conversation on the continued issues surrounding women’s oppression and objectification, both reaffirming a white, cisgender, heterosexual ideal of womanhood. Using works surrounding white feminism and technocapitalism, Barbie and Poor Things are analyzed and critiqued for their lack of feminist depth and the role media plays in advancing the discussion of women’s rights.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Feminist analysis and theory
