I recently saw Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie and James Gunn’s Peacemaker TV series and realized that they tackle the same contemporary issues from different angles.
The world is changing, the patriarchy is eroding, and gender parity is becoming more normalized and celebrated. Nearly two out of five Millennial women are college educated (the most in US history). A record number of women ages 25 to 54 are entering the workforce. As result, there are more women in positions of power, authority and expertise.
But not all people view this as a good thing. There’s a section of males that view sharing power as losing power. You can view their vitriol on certain news networks and YouTube channels that I won’t bother to mention here. There’s even an insidious online movement that targets emotionally insecure men and indoctrinates them with sexist ideology– rebranding misogyny as “motivation.”
This is why it’s so refreshing to have Barbie and Peacemaker satirize society’s outdated gender norms in creative and fun ways. The characters of Ken and Peacemaker are both lovable doofuses whose lack of self awareness is the source for great comedy. They stumble through a world that doesn’t really need them and pull ridiculous stunts just to get attention from the opposite sex.
Barbie is subversive because it has positive feminist ideas nestled within the plastic coating of a popular girly doll. Peacemaker is subversive because it takes a jingoistic superhero with a racist dad, and has him confront the weaponized patriotism that’s taken root in America. The brilliance of these two stories as a pair is that most women are going to go see Barbie and most bros are going to watch Peacemaker. People are more receptive to self reflection when the truth is presented as a punchline.
I suppose it takes crazy stories to get people to think about serious issues. While society still has a lot to learn about gender equality, the overwhelmingly positive response to Barbie and Peacemaker shows that people are willing to listen. So keep listening, laughing, learning, and creating, everyone!
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