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Barbie (2023) ✦ Dir. Greta Gerwig

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Good Riddance is the debut studio album by GRACIE ABRAMS Released February 24th, 2023

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I can’t stop thinking about how perfectly Barbie portrays girlhood and growing up… How you’re born in a perfect pink world, where you make the rules and get to prioritise whimsies and friendship and beauty, and then you notice something has changed, you discover that something is wrong with you, and you’re offered an illusion of choice, but even if you’d rather keep wearing your heels and go home and be safe and comfortable, you have to choose the Birkenstock, you have to leave your home, you have to grow up. So you’re thrust into this gritty, unfeeling world, where you’re scrutinised and suppressed, where you want to disappear into yourself, because everything is harsh and big and you are tiny and fragile and inadequate. And as overwhelming and impossible as it seems, you survive it. You find truth in the things you believed in when you were young, the inherent good in humanity, connection and love; your friends who look at you while you are crying, and tell you that they cannot imagine what it is that you do not like about yourself.

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that one scene where ruth shows barbie what it's like to be human and it's just scenes of humans at birthday parties... humans dancing... humans playing in the park... humans doing mundane and everyday things and having FUN meant so much to me. the fact that it didn't include extraordinary things that only a few people accomplish in their lives but rather things almost every human as experienced, or a FEELING that almost every human has felt - joy, happiness, love - was so beautiful and important. you don't need to be the president or a nobel prize winner to be barbie, because barbie isn't about all that. yeah those are things that several barbies HAVE been and it's not impossible to be them, but stereotypical barbie is just... barbie. and she's enough as barbie. she doesn't need to be anything else. she doesn't need to win an award to be happy. she can just go to the gynecologist with the same smile. she's just barbie and that's everything. and who's barbie if not all of us.

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“It’s literally impossible to be a woman.

You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don't think you're good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow, we're always doing it wrong?

You have to be thin, but not too thin, and you can never say you wanna be thin. You have to say you wanna be healthy, but also, you have to BE THIN.

You have to have money, but you can't ask for money because that's crass.

You have to be a boss, but you can't be mean.

You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas.

You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about your kids all the damn time.

You have to be a career woman, but also, always be looking out for other people.

You have to answer for men's bad behavior, which is INSANE, but if you point that out, you're accused of complaining!

You're supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you're supposed to be a part of the sisterhood, but ALWAYS STAND OUT and ALWAYS BE GRATEFUL. But never forget that the system is rigged, so find a way to acknowledge that but ALSO, always be grateful!

You have to never get old. Never be rude. Never show off. Never be selfish. Never fall down. Never fail. Never show fear. Never get OUT OF LINE. It's too hard! It's too contradictory, and nobody gives you a medal or says 'thank you!' And it turns out, in fact, that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also, everything is your fault.

I'm just so tired of watching myself, and every single other woman tie herself into knots, so that people will like us.

And if all of that, is also true for a doll just representing a woman, then I don't even know." -Gloria the barbie movie

this is it. this is exactly it oh my god.

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character development

i just logged into this site for the first time since 2014. i never really used it except to write depressing ass posts. sadly i haven’t really changed much, just gone through a bunch of shit like everyone does as they grow older. i’m able to recognize the some of the problems now, therapy has help since i’ve started a few months ago. i’m able to find hope on some days, find joy in art, music, films, and my cats. the small stuff like coffee in the morning, or when the trees and clouds look beautifully unique every day. there haven’t been many clouds this month. it’s been the hottest on earth. it seemed inevitable to me even back then that climate change would cause problems. it’s not like i could’ve done anything myself to change that (unless my fantasies and delusions of grandeur came true and i could influence society to change for the better. you know, abolish capitalism, racism, sexism, etc.) i’m back on here tonight cause my phone screen cracked. i had been meaning to get back on here since twitter had become even worse than usual. I saw Barbie the other day in LA, and Paramore the day before. A truly wonderful escape from the hell that is my home state. I hope to grind and save money to move before the end of the year. Barbie might be my new favorite movie. i might just dedicate this tumblr page to barbie and paramore. just leaning into the things that spark joy. 

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