Thanks to Moonflower01 on discord and their friend Icy for planting this seed in my brain ^^

I heard the words "Trans Barbie" in the video and the first image that came to my head was just a Ken doll with top scars.

Wait NOT ruining your Barbie is the minority??? It literally never occurred to me to cut her hair or color on her! When someone told me they had she said it's cuz she actually hated it so that made sense.

So, if the how a child treats their dolls/toys is supposed to be a reflection of their own self-image, then the concept of a "Weird Barby" is even more terrifying, honestly.

There was one Barbie with a prosthetic arm and I only noticed because the arm was a shiny gold to match her belt. Also the reaction to flat feet would have made more sense if it was the more common Barbie problem of feet chewed off by a child.

Barbie's moment asking about becoming human felt so good to me as a trans person, I wish I could feel it was intentional. It just reminded me so poignantly of when I was first realizing I was trans. The combo of the montage made me cry so hard

I never saw Weird Barbie as needing to grow to accept herself, it seemed to me she was already doing that from the word go - she lives in her weird house, she has her weird dog, heck, she even introduces herself as Weird Barbie. She seems like she already IS owning it.

I personally believe the whole thing is more of a metaphor of accepting the possibility of becoming disabled or old or ugly, more than a metaphor to disability itself. Barbie and the plastic world she lives in is a picture of our own sugar coating and delusional society, and how we fool ourselves into thinking that all the realities of life like death, violence, age, illness, disability and etc are too far away to reach us until they knock on our doors. Barbie truly embraced life and the joy of living it by accepting these things that seem terrible but are just a part of the human experience, and I believe we would all know how to handle these situations better if we were accepting of their existence and welcoming to let the grief and frustrations of an imperfect life flow out while we move forward. In a way, this movie is about learning to find joy in life despite whatever is on our path, and about acceptance and healthy coping of various types of grief.

They have a ton of disabled Barbies now. I just bought my son a Black deaf Ken. The thing about representing disability is that so many are unseen. A Barbie that uses sign language looks like..what? A Barbie with a neurological disorder is represented…how? A Tshirt that says “I have a headache!” Would be pretty shite. My point is I think part of Barbie’s representation isn’t just the accoutrements that come with a disability, but the fact that a child can take one of those toys and give that doll whatever backstory they choose. Now that I think about it: a Barbie with possible fingers would be very rad.

I’m not used to people being so nice to the Barbie movie when it comes to talking about how it effects minorities. They usually start with a “your valid for liking it if your a girl” and then them tearing apart a film that’s ultimately pretty basic theme wise and condemning it for not sound everything perfectly in its run time

I still think it’s a bit about disability in the human world part. Barbie in general feels neurodivergent. Like she’s socially awkward. She doesn’t understand people, she walks kinda funny, doesn’t get scarcasm. From an autistic or social anxiety standpoint this all fits. There is also an argument for ocd, in that the barbie world works in a pattern that repeats every day, and barbie relies on similar patterns to feel safe

This is a very mature take on the Barbie movie, I love this video.

Wait isn't one of stereotypical Barbies friends supposed to be a doctor? Kinda makes the reaction to her feet worse imo.

So I and my mom watched the Barbie movie for the first time last night, and during the dance scene when the disabled Barbie was onscreen, I found myself asking if the actress playing the disabled Barbie was actually disabled. I also was like "Ah, baby's first criticism of Barbie and Feminism 101". Not to say I didn't like the movie (loved it), but yeah, I wasn't expecting it to be that deep, and it was clear that a lot of heart went into this movie.

I think a trans Barbie could work. As a kid at one point I didn't have any Kens so I would just declare usually the ugliest Barbie is a man and carry on playing. I don't know how a kid would end up with the opposite problem though of having only Kens. Maybe they have a mean sibling that hoards all the Barbies.

Glad to have you back! Haven't watched the movie but it wouldn't surprise me if the film makers knew of the diversity criticism they included but Matell themselves were in the dark.

I didn't quite know what to expect when I clicked on this video, but I really enjoyed your insights. As someone with autism who absolutely adored this film, this actually made me look at it in a different light. I'm glad you liked the film too whilst still acknowledging its limitations.

I really liked the video. I've been avoiding all Barbie Movie related content because I was worried about the movie being spoiled. I haven't watched the movie yet because I was worried about how it would affect me because I've seen a lot of people being emotionally devastated by the movie when it came out. Also, I hope you're recovering well! Take care of yourself. (P.S. I've never been this early before, so that's cool.)

Even though I transitioned, I still don't feel confident in myself or feel good about my body, so the idea of wanting to be stereotypically pretty is appealing. It breaks my heart every time I watch the part where barbie is crying and looks up and says she won't be pretty anymore. It felt so fucking raw and genuine. I've been there before, crying because I felt like I would never be pretty. And I don't think it's wrong to want to be pretty. It's just easy to get sucked into tying that to self-worth.

Personally I think there's a very real possibility that Abby from the five nights at Freddy's movie is meant to be neurodivergent

I have a friend who loves the Barbie Movie deeply, when we watched it together she was nodding happily during the becoming human part, now I wonder if it spoke to her as a trans girl in a way I had missed even as an NB, because she just beams about the choosing to be real aspect when she talks about it.

“So, being human is not something I need to ask for…or even want-I can just *pauses* it’s something I discover I am!” I recently made the first step towards coming out as Nonbinary, I’m also a autistic lesbian and while I agree the feminism and representation is a little bare bones rewatching Margot Robbie after I decided to come out online (I still live in a house where that first part is not accepted) say that jerked my heartstrings and almost brought a tear to my face. Even if that’s not the intent I can’t not see how that message would be affirming for people!

Hope you feel better soon.

Great vid. Kinda wished you'd talked more about the trans stuff (even tho, like you said, it was probably unintentional and a side effect of discussing the trappings of a rigid gender binary as a whole). One line that really sticks out to me was towards the end, where she said to Ken "maybe all the things that you think make you, you, aren't really you", delivered in a way that indicates she's just realizing this about herself. It's a small part and, like you said, nothing too groundbreaking, but I think I relate to it a lot as far as where I currently am in my search for identity. (I may or may not be some sort of nonbinary. Idk. The whole thing is new and weird to me right now so I'm not gonna go into specifics, but it's worth mentioning.) Anyways, fantastic video. Great to have you back. Oh, and speaking of gender and disability in media... PLEASE GO WATCH BLUE EYE SAMURAI ON NETFLIX! IT'S SO GOOD!!! YOU'LL LOVE IT; I PROMISE.

I hope you’re recovering well Oakwyrm! ❤

I am so glad you’re recovering . I was worried about you. The Rona is the worst. Thank you for going over this movie.

Someone else has mentioned the Barbie with no lines who had a prosthetic arm, but I also noticed that the intersectionality was further lacking in that none of the Barbies played by women of color were fat, visibly disabled (I won't exclude the possibility of invisible disabilities, but if they are disabled in a way that isn't seen, then we don't see it within the movie), or trans. And I'm not sure whether to pencil this in as a Barbie problem, a Greta Gerwig problem, or a Hollywood in general problem.

i know that the movie had very base-level feminism and didn't really dive deeper into the variety of injustice and mistreatment women face in the real world. however, since it's such a popular movie, i feel like it's a good way to introduce younger girls (and honestly, even older women) into the idea of questioning society. where i live, misogyny is still very blatant and a lot of women are convinced that this is just how women deserve to be treated. seeing people in the theatre gave me hope that at least a few of them left the theatre questioning their beliefs and realizing that there's still progress to be made. i especially like that the movie didn't bother trying to be vague or metaphorical with the message it wanted to send. it was straightforward and honest, so that there's no room for other interpretations.

Glad you are back and all better I don’t know why but every time I hear someone getting sick I think about the worst case scenario

4:18 Not around my peers, but I fell down and couldn’t get up in a Target when I was 29. I couldn’t feel my left leg so I couldn’t properly get up, even with the help of an employee. It took a while and people gathered and that’s when I knew I needed mobility aids all the time. I still feel embarrassed about it.

babe wake up new oakwyrm video dropped also u have no idea how excited i got when u named ur disability cuz i have the same!!!!! YIPPEE

Welcome back!!! i hope your feeling better❤️❤️❤️ Also you should do an update on monster high since your last video on it there has been more autistic and lgbtq charcters that i think you eould love❤️

I'm glad that you're already better after a month! Hopefully your corona after party is short too. Mine lasted more than a year with on and off symptoms

i know it's been said before and it's not even the subject of the video, but i get a little upset when people talk about Barbie not actually being "that deep" or "that feminist." like, it doesn't have to be. that movie wasn't pretending to be anything more than it was -- and i had far underestimated it going in! not everything has to be revolutionary, and i feel like it is a great accomplishment that such a brand would be okay endorsing even this movie as it is already. i just feel like people who criticize the movie for not being feminist enough is really missing the point (one of the main plot points of the movie is that Barbie herself is criticized for not being feminist enough...) great review, thank you. i love being reminded that both you and this movie exist

I hope you feel better soon! I loved the movie, and I loved your take on it. Weird Barbie was my favorite. I am a huge Kate McKinnon fan, and she was perfect for and in that role!

3:48 Oh my I relate to that. I don’t have EDS, but I do have an autoimmune disease that has attacked my nerves. Sometimes I’ll fall and can’t get up, and I’ll just lay there knowing it’ll be half an hour or less, usually less. It’s a weird part of my new normal.

I personally headcannon allan as trans and the doctor barbie used to be an allan doll wich is why too my knowledge they are the only two red heads in the movie

I loved the Barbie movie! And your perspective is very interesting, you do have the point!

This is definitely worth noting. The scene where Barbara handler goes from stereotypical Barbie to her true self more specifically the line where she says being human is not something I have to ask for but something I can just discover.. is the exact where my egg cracked. I’d be willing to bet that scene also cracked the eggs of so many trans people. Specifically trans. Women who have been taught to suppress themselves because men shouldn’t show emotion, and that that is what society expects of them despite the fact that they don’t want to be a man because deep down inside, they actually are a woman. I can’t speak for others, but I can say that is my experience. I suppressed myself so that I would never entertain any of these trans thoughts I’ve had ever since I was a little girl. And actually believing in the gender binary, I never thought that actually being a woman was something that was realistic and then hearing the lines that covering who I am, it’s not something I have to ask the creator of the universe, I don’t have to beg God to allow me to wake up as a woman more as it’s just something that I can discover I am. The movie itself is very surface level for sure, but I’m surprised that there aren’t more trans people talking about this movie and how it has the potential to crack so many eggs. Of course, I have my own flaws with the movie, but that ultimately just comes into how it throws in product placement and how jarring it can be like the scene after Charli XCX speed drive comes in. The car chase is basically just a freaking commercial for GM. And that, even though the movie is claiming to be very anti-corporate feminism, it’s still feels like a very corporate film being produced by Mattel.

There was also the barbie with the prosthetic arm working with the president barbie. Like wheelchair barbie she didnt get any lines so your whole thing is still correct I just thought id mention her.

I would love to see a doll with a crooked back to represent scoliosis. A lot of kids (Including myself when I was younger) feel really insecure when they have this disability. Especially when there is a back brace involved. Personally I refused to wear mine as often as I could get away with because it felt too embarrassing and shameful to have on. That plus it was really uncomfortable. As a result my back is much worse than it would've been had I worn it as often as I was supposed to. Since I'm an adult and done growing, a brace won't do anything for me now. All I can do now is strength exercises for my back and hope the curve in my back doesn't increase

Hii!! From a trans autistic disabled man to another, I love your videos so so very much, they are great food for my brain!! What I wanted to add to the conversation was to ask you to take a look and maybe cover Jello Apocalypse's Epithet Erased!! Specifically the character of Mera Salamin, which in my view, is obviously a disability metaphor. The series's first season is free to watch on KZfaq and the second 'season' has an audiobook, and while Mera doesn't have an appearance in it, Jello has stated she will show up in the third book!! (With a potential character arc? But that is just theory on my part.) The series' main character also canonically has misophonia!! And is oh so autistic coded (even if not intended to and a little denied by the creator?) which I hold very near and dear to my heart because I relate to her so much. Other relevant characters to the discussion are Percival King (headcanonned by many to be nonbinary), Phoenica Fleecity and Rick Shades (Whom I specifically relate to oh so much as well!!) who are also headcanonned by many to be autistic! And as a small token of extra, the series has many canon queer characters like Giovanni, Zora and Phoenica, who are canon bi, Trixie who is canon non-binary, and Molly herself who is canonically ace!! With all that said and done, I hope you have a good time with the series if you decide to watch it, and thank you for taking the time to read this! Good day :]

someone pointed out that the barbie dolls who have flat feet are the ones in wheelchairs (not all disabled barbies have flat feet though) and therefore the whole flat feet storyline makes a lot of sense to me as a disability metaphor. the symbolism of the flat feet is not only being different, but specifically connected to wheelchair using ones in real life dolls. becoming disabled later on in life, trying to work through that and eventually accepting it sounds pretty convincing to me. although I doubt that was the implicit intention of the writers

I will say Alan hit some accidentally-nonbinary impressions. When the Barbies are in charge, he's treated as a Ken, but when the Kens take over, he's alligned with the Barbies. He's never "A Ken" but he also doesn't get the priviledges asociated with being a Barbie, and he's shown as distinctly separate from both.

As a trans woman, watching this movie gave me a sense of disconnectedness. The character I felt the most connection to was Alan. Uninterested in traditional masculinity but still treated the same by Barbies/girl. Growing up socialized as male, I always distanced myself from traditional masculinity, but I also wasn't allowed to explore or embrace femininity. As you mentioned, the Barbie movie's feminism is very entry-level, and it was all things I already had known for years. But my mother and countless other women felt seen in their struggles for the first time. It was strange watching a movie about womanhood knowing that I would never know what it's like to have a feminine childhood. I didn't learn about the dangers women face from the position of a victim trying to stay safe. I learned about them as an abstract, something that I would never have to be on the receiving end of. So while I know about the struggles of womanhood, I didn't live through them growing up and it left me with no personal emotional investment in the end of the movie. It felt like if there was a "Barbie" and "Ken" arcs target demographic Venn diagram I'd be outside both of them

5:26 I never did that to my Barbies either I looked after them 😂❤

tbh I didn't like the movie very much it just made me kinda dysphoric and annoyed? I know the movie isn't bad cus like I have a trans friend who literally cried during it and my opinion does not come between anyone's enjoyment of the movie!! It's hard to put into words why I don't like this movie so much. It was trying to be campy and sarcastic with it's humor but it just felt too tame? Like it was trying to be sincere but then minimized literally all of women's struggles to just that one speech the mom did and certain things Barbie said in the real world. We entirely skipped like five chapters of misogyny and just landed at "oh my god society has such unrealistic expectations for women!". Which is true! and that speech was good and I understand why it touched peoples hearts! But that is literally only the surface stuff and the sexism I've been subjected to has been the other more serious stuff :/ cus as an autistic person many of those "woman" expectations didn't reach my brain. It just felt really invalidating to me tbh and I know barbieland did the "woman pink sensitive feminine" and "man rowdy tone deaf insecure" on purpose to like show wow unrealistic doll land but it just made me dysphoric? it wasn't like camp enough and didn't do a good enough job at highlighting how unrealistic barbieland is. I'm an enby trans masc and I share basically all my traits with the girls from the movie and it just felt so icky that in this big movie all about women and feminism other kinds of gender expression weren't touched upon ONCE not even as an offhand joke like "oh haha look how stereotypical barbieland is trans ppl don't exist here" Also at the end Barbie had to comfort Ken like he was a child and that gave me the BIGGEST ick. I have had to go all mother bird on so many fucking men because they were dangerous or useless and I really think barbie deserved to yell at Ken for being a selfish asshole. Yes it's fucked up the Ken's were basically ignored and only important as boyfriends but we could've seen Ken's breakdown in a much better scene. Barbie could've yelled at his ass maybe he yells back what pains him and then they make up like normal adults. Also yeah other video essays have talked about how problematic it is to show mattel as this silly goofy haha corporation that omg they're just nice ceos that care about the children pls be nice to us even though our actual company creates horrible plastic waste and other big problemsss ok sorry rant over if you enjoyed this movie I am very happy for you and keep on enjoying it! it was pretty funny at some parts and some things it said were definitely cathartic to hear. Just not for me

feel better!

yoo welcome back, glad ur doin better, keep gettin better too! missed ya lol. nice video

I was just thinking about the fact we never get any lines spoken by the Barbie in a wheelchair when this video appeared in my feed.

I am glad every one is reviewing this one movie from their perspective. Really exciting. I am happy that you specifically are doing it.

A while ago I saw a Reddit post about someone who also had this trans view of the movie and how they thought that they were the only one, I hope that they are watching this video and having a good time

FUCK YES ALREADY CAN TELL BY TITLE GOOD VIDEO

I'm sorry to hear Oakwyrm got COVID. Hope there aren't any long COVID Sx.

As someone who is disabled, I actually see the fact that there are only one or two disabled dolls in the movie as a SOMEWHAT good thing, reason being that it will, I think (and hope) that the lack of representation will get people talking about it, being able bodied people that know someone who is disabled and who is not in the public eye or someone who knows someone who is disabled and is in the public eye, either way, talking about the lack of representation of disabled people and therefore bringing it to the public eye and raising interest in the subject, much like I think videos like this will hopefully do. Edited to add: my apologies if what I said seems convoluted and confusing. At least it makes sense to me lol 😊

I was getting worried about you, welcome back!

Welcome back, hope you feel better soon!

Wow I didn't see the subtle disability in the movie, but this is super interesting. Thanks so much for sharing your perspective!

Im glad you're back and feeling better

Would love to hear your thoughts on Blue Eye Samurai!

I hope your feeling better ❤❤❤

I’m so sorry about catching Rona. I hope you feel better soon.

So glad to have you back!

Heal well! I've been wondering how you've been doing. Always enjoy your takes on media! ^^

I thought Weird Barbie already embraced her weirdness

Sorry to hear about your experience with the rona, please be safe and take care of yourself❤

thanks for the video, and hope your recovery from covid is going well. when I saw barbie I initially thought that the movie was about confronting and accepting change within yourself and mortality. I also think that barbie was/is a satire. that certainly its simplistic, but it has genuine love put in it. just look at those costumes, those sets, and it was fun to watch.

American Girl Dolls (also Mattel) have a decent amount of disability rep in the dolls. And with the vase of building your own you can add a Mashup of disabilities and aids to them.

Hey! I'd be curious what your thoughts are on how the prime series 'in your dreams' handles the curing the disabled character trope

My take on the movie is that it needed more gay. I seriously wish Ken could've found a gay nightclub instead of the patriarchy. I interpreted Stereotypical Barbie as being asexual, but still develops a romantic relationship with Gloria. America Ferrera was the best part of this movie.

I loved this video it was really interesting! 2 things you didn't mention but i thought were kinda interesting points was at the end it's a breef joke about barbie going to gynecologist because she is smooth and in a scene with weird barbie we briefly see the gay ken doll i thought those were both interesting moments that kinda related

I wanted to say I wish you well, my mom had to deal with corona while being internally disabled, and it only made her so much worse with lasting consequences. I hope you the best in recovery and ask you not to rush back into youtube if it isn't the best for your health.

I'm glad you're doing better!

Hearing 4:12 struck a chord with me, because ive had this happen multiple times as a kid with growing frequency, but have been told by my mom for the longest time that im just clumsy. This is the same mother who actively makes fun of younger me's efforts of finding back pain relief through various methods, citing me as some pampered spoiled brat rather than a child who was in frequent pain trying to remedy this. Idk. Wild stuff. Just watched the barbie movie so im gonna go finish the video now :3

Thank you so much for sharing your perspectives :) really enjoyed hearing your thoughts ^^

I could not relate to this movie, as someone who is a trans man, i felt like everything I ever dreamed of having in life relating to my gender was overshadowed by this idea that men are misogynist meatheads and that if you’re not a cisgender woman you’re missing out on life.

This is great. I also love your presentation voice.

Wellcome back. Hope covid wasn’t to hard on you

I'm disabled (autism), and I couldn't relate to Barbie.

I ligit left the theatre and thought, well I’m 100% shure that everyone’s gay .

I like your videos! Have you ever watched Our Flag Means Death? I'd love to hear your take on their representation of queer, disabled characters!

yay welcome back man ^^ get well soon

This is not an angle for a review that I expected on Barbie, but I am very intrigued..

Hi! Really enjoy your channel. Have you considered doing a video on hbo max's Doom Patrol?

There’s also a barbie with a prosthetic limb that was part of the supreme court I think!

For when an Entrapta or Toph video essay, Oakwyrm? Please...

Missed you so much!

Movies are an artform, just like poems, or a painting hanging in the gallery. The people who created them had a meaning behind them, and hid those messages within, but as time goes on, and their original meaning has been lost, it now leaves them up for interpretation. When I look at a painting in a gallery, I may interpret what the artist was trying to convey in a totally different way than my friend. These interpretations can't help but be based on our own personal bias, and experience of the world. And even if it doesn't match what the artist would say, none of us are wrong. What I'm getting at here, is even if the original message of some parts of the Barbie movie weren't intended to reflect the story it conveys to you, doesn't mean you are wrong in saying that is what it means. In fact, hearing different takes on pieces of art is what makes them so interesting. In the end, art should move you, and make you feel. Whatever way you need to look at it in order to get there, it's correct.

Was curious to hear what another disabled person thought! Yeah, Feminism 101 doesn't touch on the intersectionality just yet.

0:36 what song is this

9:22 I didn’t even know one of the actors was trans 😭

could you do A.I.C.O. Incarnation? Just watching it at the start? Seem good about people in wheelchairs, but then she walked, and it could have been better if she had help along the way. but can you review it please

Where do we send you video requests, and is there anything I'd need to know? (Btw, anyone reading this can answer too)

10:45 its more than just that, i was discussing the lack of representation in doll lines with my parents after seeing the barbie movie, they say they are "very inclusive", and yet when i said i would be excited for a canonically gay/trans/intersex mainstream doll, they laughed it off and told me it would never work. and when i later brought up my excitement that the animaters and story boarders of the earlier barbie movies subtly headcannoned barbie as sapphic, my mum told me to, quote, "stop making everything gay. it doesnt need to be gay". they have also mentioned in passing that plus sized dolls arent going to be a mainstream thing i am a openly out genderfluid (also uses trans as a label), omniromantic and plus sized person. these are heavily liberal millennials, and the people ultimately signing off on the doll designs are... rather far from that. so frankly, i dont think we're going to get any form of major representation in doll lines for quite a long time.

I just watched the movie for the first time last night, so I’m extra excited to watch this video!

My wife has EDS-H, and she suffers a lot, too. I'm sorry it's so suck to live in this capitalist hellscape

I laughed my @$$ off at this movie! I loved the "baby feminism" message and understood the intention since it was about a doll for little girls. Your disability" take" on it was very insightful, given her "deformity", balance issues, and thoughts of death, which sound like orthopedic disabilities, dyspraxia (an autism symptom I used to have, which made me unable to play sports as a boy), and depression. You're right about the tokenism, given that Black, Latine, and Asian dolls were first made in the '60s, after a child psychology study showed that African American children preferred White over Black dolls, due to segregation. Trans, disabled, and plus-sized girls need more Barbie dolls like themselves! Stereotypical Barbie, Ken, and Alan need some therapy! The Queer Eye cast needs to come and give makeovers to all the Kens, LOL! 😂😆😄😅🤣

I will admit it was fun seeing Mattel in some manner admit to earring magic kens existence

awesome video!

i think the beauty of the barbie movie is that it's about how the world isn't perfect but in a self referential way, they don't criticise the ceo hard enough but that's also the point, they can't, they don't mention enough femminist things but i'm not sure what people want them to do, this isn't "the violinist argument, the doccumentary" it's barbie, i would like a cinematic doccumentary by contrapoints and philosophytube explaining all there is to know about feminism through the lens of barbie but it's also important to understand that's kind of the barbie movie's point, in the end barbie doesn't become ceo to save barbie land from capitalism, it still sucks and she's doing her best to live her life despite it. if anything i think they really nailed it because a ton of people are talking about how the barbie movie is flawed with them even getting significant facts wrong like midge's controversy being about that people were confused about her age, not the fact she was pregnant, and it never being mentioned her design was originally plargised of a german doll, but when it comes to the feminism i think they really did their best to make the movie something special and they did, but also everyone is talking about how it's not enough because that is the point too, it's very odd that barbie land doesn't really get a happy ending and the ceo's are not that scary but you just know that the real ones are evil but told them to tone it down, the tokenism i think is totally valid because that's the point, they're making a movie that's a bit more diverse but the barbie brand can't keep up forever because it isn't able to interact with humanity enough and the primary point of the movie still is inclusive because even if barbie was disabled she would never be accepted completely into a capitalist society, she will only be okay as long as she's successful accourding to unachievable standards, i also would like to add i really felt seen as a disabled woman by her not getting a job at the end and her just being her, we don't know what becomes of her because it's ok no matter what happens, they explicitly state that you are not your belongings, fashion, but ALSO career, which means this is one of the rare movies who actually sees me as a worthy person because it inspires empathy for barbie when she's at her lowest regardless of what she can achieve, she isn't the only person who can save the day, she can still be a part of it and feel better but it's not a "do this or the world will end because you stopped being functioning" type of heroism. ken also faces hardship that he can't take over the real world but he can go to barbieland where money is weird so his job of "beach" is perfectly valid while in the real world he can't be a patriarch because of his lack of job and education. they also don't fall into the trap of saying you don't need a successful job but you DO need one, and yes disability money from the govt depending on the country you live in might not be enough to live on and barbie probably wouldn't qualify, but barbie doesn't tell ken he should be happy with the job he has, she says he needs to figure out who he is without it. and sure he gets to keep it, but it's about treating people right because they are people which implies some huge things about capitalism. also it's the right thing to do to interpret things as they look from a disabled perspective, the way people discriminate us is by saying our perspectives aren't valid, to say they didn't mean things a certain way or they try to escape accountibility for their actions by saying that if they forgot our rights then it's not actively choosing to ignore them and we shouldn't be so upset, and "this harmful stereotype of a lazy person doesn't apply to disabled people' when it does, you can't death of the author your way out of having your writing mean what it looks to mean,