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"Barbie" Review (Comedy, High Concept)

For years I have bemoaned the state of the modern theatrical climate. The shameless IP gravedigging in aim of profit has reached a point to where even the general public has grown tired, but this year, two saviours seemingly emerged in the form of Barbenheimer. I love seeing people excited about going out to the theaters and passionately supporting (semi) original, artistically inspired work, but in this case, despite all my visceral and emotional enjoyment, despite the endless parade of marketing and internet buzz, I struggle with the execution and branding of this one. I greatly enjoyed the viewing experience, but I question how much of this was earned and how much gained by force, and how much potential was lost in its style.  

This is a film by and for women, so naturally there is a crucial element to it that I could not truly understand, but I don’t think I am alone in the sentiment that this film was not radical nor transgressive.  For all its well intentioned concepts and jabs, it exercises its ideas firmly within broad capitalist filmmaking, only offering us glimmers of something truly insightful or bold. Misogyny is observed at the absolute surface level through cartoonish setpieces and didactic, heavy-handed dialogue talking down to the audience. As much as I can’t stand this Adam Mckay style of writing, I feel this approach could have been effective in moderation.

The construction of Barbieland, particularly the opening ten minutes or so, is nothing short of spectacular, both in concept and design. The Barbies occupy a pink paradise, a perfect bubble where they believe they have solved all gender issues for the world with the success of their brand, but one day Barbie begins to have doubts and thoughts of death so she must travel to the real world. This sequence demonstrating the perfection of Barbieland and then twisting it (Truman Show - style) is colored in beautiful camp, delicious set design, and a dance sequence so joyous it instantly won me over. Emotionally at least, I was along for the ride, and excited to see the contrast between Barbie’s colourful naivete and the dull brutality of the human world and all that could be explored there. So you could imagine my disappointment when this opportunity is promptly squandered in favor of more blatant setpieces and borderline insulting dialogue.

On Venice beach, Barbie doesn’t make it a few seconds without getting her ass slapped by some guy. Ken talks to a businessman off to corporate work who says, “Oh no it’s still the patriarchy, we’ve just gotten better at hiding it.” And on and on. With this endless barrage of cartoonish stand-ins, the dial of believability both emotionally and logically is pushed so far, separated from reality so extremely there is little hope in caring for the boilerplate characters pushing the main events (the mother and daughter archetypes) And it isn’t as if any valuable commentary is happening in place of this missing core. 

The construction of Barbieland, particularly the opening ten minutes or so, is nothing short of spectacular, both in concept and design. The Barbies occupy a pink paradise, a perfect bubble where they believe they have solved all gender issues for the world with the success of their brand, but one day Barbie begins to have doubts and thoughts of death so she must travel to the real world. This sequence demonstrating the perfection of Barbieland and then twisting it (Truman Show - style) is colored in beautiful camp, delicious set design, and a dance sequence so joyous it instantly won me over. Emotionally at least, I was along for the ride, and excited to see the contrast between Barbie’s colourful naivete and the dull brutality of the human world and all that could be explored there. So you could imagine my disappointment when this opportunity is promptly squandered in favor of more blatant setpieces and borderline insulting dialogue.

On Venice beach, Barbie doesn’t make it a few seconds without getting her ass slapped by some guy. Ken talks to a businessman off to corporate work who says, “Oh no it’s still the patriarchy, we’ve just gotten better at hiding it.” And on and on. With this endless barrage of cartoonish stand-ins, the dial of believability both emotionally and logically is pushed so far, separated from reality so extremely there is little hope in caring for the boilerplate characters pushing the main events (the mother and daughter archetypes) And it isn’t as if any valuable commentary is happening in place of this missing core. 

And so I am massively conflicted towards Barbie. Every bone in my body wanted to love it in the theater, but I cannot ignore the glaring issues with its script and design no matter how dazzling it may be in the moment. I can’t help but feel that this massive opportunity was only realized to half of its potential; held back by misguided direction. I don’t think I will stop thinking about it for a long time, but I do not want to revisit it anytime soon. 

[socialisthedgehog]

Why “The End Of Evangelion” Is A Cinematic Masterpiece. (Part 1/2)

(EVANGELION STORY SPOILERS OF COURSE)

With the massive commercial success of the original show, the final episodes of Neon Genesis were under heavy scrutiny, and episodes 25 and 26 remain as the most controversial episodes in the series. At the time, people were confused, there was so much setup into SEELE’s and Gendo’s plans, and so many character arcs that just didn’t happen on screen. Instead, these two episodes were a psychological fever dream in the form of a therapy session. This is because Shinji had been given creationary powers by Rei, but this was only learned after the movie. These episodes are abstract and at first viewing, not clear as to what reality is. There was much confusion, disappointment, and anger, so a movie was in order. (Below: A hate mail from an Evangelion viewer reading,"ANNO I'LL KILL YOU, ANNO I'LL KILL YOU".)

Instead of giving in to public demands and showing a clear ending, tying up loose ends and redeeming characters, Anno did the very opposite. End Of Evangelion is even more psychological and brutal than even the show, it is meta, artistic, and bizarre.

The movie begins with a heavy feeling of grief after previous death’s of Kaji, Kaworu, and a version of Rei. Asuka has just suffered a mental breakdown and is in a coma from a fight with an angel. If things couldn’t get worse, SEELE becomes fed up with Gendo and decides to invade NERV headquarters and initiate instrumentality by themselves. Misato has to rescue Shinji in the attack, and get him into a robot, their only means of defending headquarters. After what Shinji did to Asuka (I will speak on this in another analysis) and to Kaworu, Shinji is stricken with grief and self hatred. In a heartbreaking scene, Shinji’s emotions boil over, as he argues and pleads that he doesn’t deserve to be a pilot and that he is a coward. Misato has no choice but to disregard his opinions and desperately get him out of headquarters, saying that if he didn’t go and pilot she would never forgive him. She even goes as for to kiss him and imply sex as a reward, knowing full well she is to die soon after Shinji leaves in NERV’s self destruction sequence. After this, Shinji is thrust in an elevator and breaks down in tears, sounding not like a child, but as if he is going to throw up, sickened by all the death around him and himself.

Meanwhile, Asuka has been sitting in the bottom of a lake in Unit 02, unable to synchronize from her mental breakdown. She is attacked by bombing, and screams out “I DONT WANT TO DIE”, and has a vision come to her, revealing that the soul of her dead mother was in fact in Unit 02 protecting her. She flies triumphantly out of the water, stronger than ever, soundtrack soaring, and destroying SEELE attack helicopters. SEELE then releases the terrifying mass produced evas, winged beasts without souls, to kill Asuka. What happens next is my personal favorite fight scene in anime, and all film. Asuka takes stride and confidence in massacring all of the evas attacking her. The movement is so real and you can feel every swing, every desperate hack and slice. The evas then come back to life in a freakish and disgusting manner, and attack a vulnerable Asuka with only seconds remaining in her Unit 02. She is hit with the spear of Longinus through the eye, and devoured by the abominations. Even after all of this, she still has fight in her, and reaches for the sky, chanting “I’LL KILL YOU”, until she suddenly speared again throughout her entire body, her eva completely mangled.

Shinji overheard Asuka’s revelation about her mother, and when he asks “Mother?”, his Eva reaches its hand to him all on it’s own. Yui is calling to him. Once inside, the mass produced Evas begin the third impact ritual. Raising Unit 01 and Shinji into the sky in a cross formation with the spear. Shinji then sees the corpse of Asuka, and mentally shatters. It has all come to this, Shinji’s total ego collapse. He lets out a pained, blood curdling scream, and the camera fades into desolate winds. Third Impact has just begun. And intermission plays.

[socialisthedgehog]

Asuka Analysis Re - Do

(EVANGELION STORY SPOILERS)

After getting some feedback on the last post I made about Asuka, I’ve seen Neon Genesis again along with the movie, and I have seen that maybe I was thinking about Asuka in the wrong way. In the last review, I claimed that she was a terrible character because of her actions and how she was never redeemed. Looking at it now, I see that she is not a terrible character, I just do not like her, possibly as intended by Anno.

 I believe that Asuka is not supposed to be a villain or a likable central character, or even a good person for that matter. She is a person that doesn’t know how to love or communicate, a traumatized child thrown into an unimaginable situation. She hurts the people she loves and puts up a bratty and overconfident front to compensate for self-hatred, and we never see her learn to get better. This is not typical, which is why I didn’t like it. I wanted them to finally learn to communicate and not treat each other so horribly, but this doesn’t happen. She breaks down mentally, and resents Shinji (understandably after the hospital scene) and herself to the bitter end. I have come to appreciate this ending for Asuka, it is bold and it is more realistic than her getting magically better at the shows finale. 

I think that my dislike for Asuka was mostly in her insufferable personality and her fanbase that seems to delude themselves into thinking she is a good person. I will no longer say she is written poorly, again, I merely do not like her. 

[socialisthedgehog]

Neon Genesis Evangelion, Directed by Hideaki Anno (1995)

Shin Godzilla, Directed by Hideaki Anno (2016)

[socialisthedgehog]

Apocalypse Now (1979)

The End Of Evangelion (1997)

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(MASSIVE EVANGELION STORY SPOILERS) Why Asuka is a terrible character.

Asuka Langely Soryu is one of the most beloved and important characters in the Evangelion story, and I cannot stand her. This is because she has a horrific, bratty personality, and demonstrates no character development in the entire show and shows no meaningful signs of changing even in the finale. Constantly she insults, demeans, and abuses her fellow Eva pilots, Rei and Shinji. She even lashes out against Misato, who has done nothing but house and care for her. Every time she is on screen and has dialogue, it is either verbal abuse towards somebody, or something terribly arrogant. She shows essentially three emotions, anger, overconfidence, or despair.

(TW: Suicide, Childhood Trauma)The reasoning for her behavior is revealed far too late, and does not justify her actions. Only in episode 22 of the 26 episode long show do we find out about the mental deterioration and death of Asuka’s mother. Her mother spiraled into delusions after an Eva experiment, treating a doll as the real Asuka. After her mother tried to kill her, she later hung herself and died. A young Asuka then swore to herself never to cry or become a doll to anybody. This is why she hates people-pleasers such as Rei and Shinji. She sees them as dolls of Nerv and Gendo. She lashes out at them because they remind her of her unresolved childhood trauma. Whenever either of the “dolls” try to get close or vulnerable with Asuka, she deflects and shuts herself out.

This PTSD is supposed to be reasoning for her behavior, making the audience feel guilty for hating on her so much when she was known only as a brat. However, this falls short, and sends a dangerous message about traumatized/mentally ill people. Childhood trauma does not excuse abuse of innocent people. Not everybody who goes through childhood trauma blatantly abuses the people in their lives. What she did was not right. And no depressing backstory is going to change that. Asuka is a terrible person. 

I don’t believe it was Anno’s intention to absolve Asuka of all she has done with her backstory episode, but unfortunately much of the fanbase has interpreted it this way. That it’s understandable how shut out and awful she was to people because of her past. It is not that I do not have any sympathy for Asuka, I very much do, I think that the mental breakdown sequence in episode 22 “Staying human” is one of the most heart-wrenching and dark moments in film. I just cannot say Asuka is redeemed or a good person.

What I believe would have been a better approach to Asuka is to introduce her origins much sooner, and to tone down her brattiness and abuse. She needs to show more emotions than anger and malice in order for the audience to care for her. Maybe she has a small heart to heart with Shinji after a fight, or realizes in battle that she needs them. I could see what Anno was going for, he wanted to defy expectations and not redeem his characters like a typical anime. And while this certainly makes for good dramatic moments, (The elevator scene, the aforementioned mental breakdown sequence) she never grows, never learns. The only sign we get of change is after human instrumentality in the final moments of EoE, where she touches Shinjis face as to say that there is love there. while this is a great moment, it doesn’t make up for the fact that she was so insufferable for the vast majority of the story. I have seen Evangelion 3 times now, and EoE 5 times, and I still cannot see how people love her so much. 

I am all for flawed characters, but I offer no excuses for  Asuka’s abuse of Shinji and Rei. She is never fully redeemed, and despite her tragic backstory and circumstance, she is not acquitted from her actions. 

[socialisthedgehog]

Some evangelion aesthetic edits made by @anmcrtist and they are lovely oh my GOODNESS.

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(Neon Genesis Evangelion Spoilers)

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Season 1 Episode 8: "The Fifth Laboratory"

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Episode 24: The Last Cometh

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The Impact of Komm Süsser Tod (EoE Spoilers)

Eva is famous for having an intense and psychologically destructive finale, human instrumentality taking place, and after the heartbreaking scene of Shinji strangling Asuka, this song is played. The lyrics were actually changed from Anno's original vision, with his written lyrics being more abstract and (of course) darker. But instead the official released track we have has very direct and easy to understand lyrics, detailing exactly how Shinji feels about the world and humanity as Instrumentality is taking place. "In my heart of hearts, I know that I could never love again, I've lost everything". It is precise, and extremely melancholy. The violins and trumpets harmonize beautifully as the entire world tumbles down. Haunting strings take over in the final half as a simple baseline marches forward, and the piece is ended discordanantly in a piano, reflecting the uneasy and disturbing nature of everything that has happened. This is everything that Shinji has done, the result of pushing everybody and everything out of his life. Now he wishes to not live, the title being translated to "Come Sweet Death" in english. Of course this is not truly the end, but in this scene and moment in Shinji's story this is what it appears to be, "Hopelessness is consuming everybody".

I know, I know I've let you down

I've been a fool to myself

I thought that I could

live for no one else

But now through all the hurt and pain

Its time for me to respect

the ones you love

mean more than anything.

So with sadness in my heart

I feel the best thing I could do

is end it all

and leave forever

whats done is done, it feels so bad

what once was happy now is sad

I'll never love again

my world is ending

I wish that I could turn back time

'cause now the guilt is all mine

can't live without the trust from those you love.

I know we can't forget the past

you can't forget love and pride

because of that it's killing me inside

It all returns to nothing, it all comes

tumbling down, tumbling down,

tumbling down,

it all returns to nothing, I just keep

letting me down, letting me down,

letting me down,

in my heart of hearts,

I know that I could never love again

I've lost everything

everything, everything

that matters to me,

matters in this world

I wish that I could turn back time

'cause now all the guilt is mine

can't live without

the trust from those you love

I know we can't forget the past

we can't forget love and pride

because of that, its killing me inside

It all returns to nothing, it all comes

tumbling down, tumbling down,

tumbling down

it all returns to nothing, I just keep

letting me down, letting me down,

letting me down

It all returns to nothing, it all comes

tumbling down, tumbling down,

tumbling down

it all returns to nothing, I just keep

letting me down, letting me down,

letting me down

[socialisthedgehog]

"It all, returns, to nothing..."

[socialisthedgehog]

Why The Evangelion Story Is A Classic. (Spoilers)

The name “Neon Genesis Evangelion” translates to “Gospel For A New Century” and is very deserving of this title. Being only 26 episodes and a movie, Evangelion has one of the most intricate, iconic, impactful, and groundbreaking stories ever put to animation, or any other medium. It is decades later, and people still debate over this show, still discuss this show, and still love this show, flaws and all. What is so great about Evangelion is that it applies to everybody, it is entirely universal. This is because, above all else, above the great characters and the gorgeous art style and the reoccurring symbolism, the persistent theme of living, just to live is the whole point of Evangelion. The lore, characters, and world are just a beautiful vessel to take us there. (well maybe not the lore, but I’ll touch on that later.) Constantly the question is asked, why? Why does Shinji Pilot the Eva? Why does Misato lead at Nerv? Why should humanity exist if there is no goal? Why continue to live despite pain? We all know how it goes, Shinji gets launched into third impact and ends all life on earth because he rejects all that rejects him. He was constantly abused, insulted, belittled, unloved, and neglected. Aside from Kaworu, he has known nothing but hurt and pain, so why save humanity? He comes to realize that it is first yourself you must live for, and next, the strive to connect to those you love. This is what makes life worth living. “Anywhere can be paradise as long as you have the will to live.” So he decides to return the world as it was.

Here, I have analyzed the finale to the original Evangelion story, but not even scratching the surface to all of the characters personal struggles. Shinji’s lack of confidence and adult figures, Asuka’s concealed childhood trauma, Reis battle with identity and emotion, Misato’s depression and sexual escapism, and Ritsuko’s struggle to connect with Maya or Gendo. It honestly feels sometimes that the writers were taking on far more than they could chew, this is a highly ambitious project that paid off, but certainly not without flaw. 

The flaws of Eva are many, and honestly quite glaring. The show definitely had pacing issues in the beginning, with quite a few filler episodes such as Jet Alone and Magma Diver that offer some character and plot value, but feel like “Angel Of The Week” episodes.  On re-watches however, I have personally found this not much of a problem, as there's still subtle character details left in that make more sense when you have the story in full context, among other things to analyze. The biggest problem with Eva is the overly complicated lore. I offer no excuse to the writers on how bombastic and absurd the lore is sometimes. Imagine explaining the finale to a non Eva-fan: "Mass produced Evas crucify Unit 1 with the Spear of Longinus, Rei consumes Adam from Gendo’s body, flies into Lilith, initiates third impact by projecting an image of Kaworu to Shinji, turning Shinji into the Tree Of Life, and beginning human instrumentality, turning all humans into primordial soup." You sound like a madman. There were time and budget constraints, but that is still no excuse for this horrific storytelling. In order for audiences to be invested, they need to understand some of what is happening, and this can be done without compromising the mystery of the lore or dumbing things down. (Also Side Note: Artistic expression and symbolism are not excuses for graphic sexualization of minors and child nudity.) 

With all of this said, Eva is clearly a very extreme and unconventional project. On one hand it is a masterpiece using grounded characters and a combination of religion and science to tell a story about the human condition. On the other hand, it is a poorly written mess of a story that contains filler episodes and extreme sexualization of 14 year old's. Despite all of these flaws, there is no denying it’s massive impact on anime and the world. It’s reflective of the late 90′s it was spawned from, a time of uncertainty and mistrust, but it’s messaging still applies to today, and will always be relevant. And to me personally, it is a beautiful, dark, twisted story that will never cease to amaze me in concept, ambition, and theme. There may never be a story like Evangelion ever again. 

[socialisthedgehog]

Why Kaworu Is So Loved (SPOILERS)

Only appearing in Episode 24 and briefly in the Rebuilds, Kaworu has a massive following, why is this?

He is a mysterious figure, having the body of a human but the soul of Adam, the father of Angels. Having this soul, he is very wise and possesses superhuman abilities.

More important however, is his connection with Shinji, he is the only one who treats him not only with any form of human decency, but with love, unconditional love. He quickly appears in the show and reveals his love to Shinji, and in the rebuilds it is known that he has been watching him the whole time. He of course works for Nerv and is an agent of Human Instrumentality, so it is not totally clear what is him speaking from his feelings and what is him just working towards 3rd Impact. I, and many others, believe Kaworu was not merely using Shinji as a mean to an ends, but that his feelings were authentic. In Kaworus final moments, he still shows compassion to him, he still loves him. He is the only person in the show that displays how to love somebody, truly, unburdened by the pride and ego of Lilans (Humans). This is what makes his death so heart-wrenching, Shinji must kill Kaworu, the only person who has ever loved him in order to save the world.

(Side note: Even though Kaworus death was far less impactful and personal in the rebuilds, it is worth mentioning that in these remakes he is shown on the moon with multiple graves, some unopened yet. He then says "I hope I get it right this time." He has waited, tried over and over again, all for Shinji.)

[socialisthedgehog]

Ritsuko and Maya:

A relationship we sadly have never seen outside of this one instance in End of Evangelion. Perhaps it was pressure from the studios, maybe Anno wanted Ritsuko to appear lonely so the climax with Gendo would be more heartbreaking. Whatever the reason, it is still a shame that the series shyed away from showing a wlw couple. At the very least, we got this one beautiful moment.

[socialisthedgehog]

First Impression of the first three Eva Rebuilds (SPOILERS)

I am feeling really mixed on these on a first watch. The rebuilds serve as a perfect opportunity to fix many of the plot holes and leaps in logic that the coveted original show and movie had. Many things could have been improved, and I really don't think these rebuilds succeeded as a series.

The Good:

They can stand alone separate, the characterization is also quickened in 2.0. I really loved how (because Anno said that Eva is a story that repeats) there is an air that the characters have lived this before. I liked seeing Rei with more emotion and guts, as well as Asuka doing things like cooking for Shinji. I think introducing Kaworu and showing Lilith in 1.0 clears things up a lot to the unitiated viewer and helps build their importance better than the show. I also appreciate how focused and well paced 1.0 is. The character interaction in 2.0 is done well and also feels natural. (Also I adore the Kaworu x Shinji scenes) Although 1.0 may be shot for shot most of the time, there still is mystery and deviation from the show's story.

The Bad

3.0 and the finale of 2.0 are a complete mess and misstep. The third impact comes so suddenly and without a feel for scale. The introspection is gone and Shinji is all we see essentially, making Asuka and Misato (and all the other characters) far less developed and worse, less empathetic. They are no longer tragic characters that mistreat people that struggle with love, they are one - note, and total assholes. It is a movie, there is less time to develop these people, but some background (ESPECIALLY FOR ASUKA) is essential. Another thing: I am not against the 14 year time jump, it is a bold creative risk they took, and I enjoyed seeing how the world changed. What I have an issue with is how the first half of 3.0 is Shinji and the audience finding out what the hel has been going on, only for Shinji to team up with Kaworu to start a weak 4th Impact. The potential was so there but they missed it with poor pacing, storytelling, and a lack of feel for stakes.

The Ugly

- Overuse of "Beast Mode" by all Eva pilots.

- Inclusion of the child nudity from the original.

- How has "Gille" been fighting angels for 14 years??? How many are there??? What???

- It is never shown how Asuka survives being attacked by Unit 1, or how this affected her mentally.

- Kaworus death has SO little weight in comparison to the original, it isn't heartwrenching because it wasn't by Shinji's hand, no painful drawn out decision.

- It is never shown how Mari survives being eaten by an angel.

- Mari is given nothing to do and is never given background story. She is a hired gun from America that is enthusiastic. Okay???

- Each impact has little depth. The 2nd doesn't convey Misatos fathers decision, the 3rd doesn't jave the heartbreak or mental breakdown of Shinji, and the 4th is built up to be instrumentality, but actually just serves as a slightly deadlier 3rd impact?????

- Likely more I haven't thought of at the moment.

To summarize, I very much enjoyed 1.0, it's changes were subtle, still keeping much of the neon genesis story, but with small improvements and better technology. I liked some of 2.0s changes, and focus on character interaction, but more background for crucial characters like Asuka, Misato, and Mari are lacking. And you already know how I feel about 3.0 by "The Bad" section.

These rebuilds were entertaining, were not cashcow remakes, and retold the series in an unexpected way. But they diluted it, overcomplicated it, and ultimately made a more shallow experience. The kind of escapism that Anno criticised in Eoe. I am, well, disappointed.

[socialisthedgehog]

Descent.

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Asuka's Disturbed Psyche

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"Fly me to the moon..."