Suggestible - The Barbie Movie vs Transformers

Episode Date: July 27, 2023

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.See Claire Tonti LIVE in Sydney this July 30th! Use offer code 'motherhood' for a special deal https://www.clairetonti.com/eventsPlease be aware spoiler timecodes may shift due to inserted ads.This week’s Suggestibles:02:42 Ariane Beeston's Dance Video05:48 Transformers: Rise of the Beasts09:59 And Just Like That S219:06 Barbie (spoilers 22:15 to 29:30)Send your recommendations to [e-mail], we’d love to hear them.You can also follow the show on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @suggestiblepod and join our ‘Planet Broadcasting Great Mates OFFICIAL’ Facebook Group. So many things. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, I'm Jessi Cruikshank from the number one comedy podcast, Phone a Friend, which I strongly advise you listen to. You know what else I suggest you look into? Becoming a host on Airbnb. Did you like that segue? Thank you. I recently started putting my guest house on Airbnb when I'm out of town, and I didn't realize how easy it would be until I did it. If you have a spare room, you could Airbnb it, or your whole place could be an Airbnb. It's a great way to make a little extra money by doing not a lot, which frankly is my mantra in 2024. To learn more, go to airbnb.ca slash host. Bingity bongity bing bing bong bingity bong. It's suggestible time. We lost an episode. We did. We started and then we had to restart.

And Claire was so grateful for going on tour and she loves everybody who came and saw the shows. Now I have to say it all again. I know, and it's not going to be sincere. I know because it's the second time around. Anyway, before we get started with all of that jazz. Whoa. My name is Claire Tonti.

James Clement is here also. We recommend you things to watch, read and listen to usually. And I would just like to say thank you again, the second time around, to everyone who came to my shows over the tour. I just did a tour three weeks. Turns out really loved it a lot. Yeah. Why is that?

Because it was so fun. Because you had three weeks alone? Do a thing that you love more than anything in the world? Yeah, I know. Other than your family, obviously. Also, you did an amazing job. You kept two children mostly alive. Mostly, that's right. But that's okay.

If you're looking good, you'd be like more than 50% of these children are alive. Correct, exactly. That's pretty good for me, quite frankly. You did a really amazing job. It's all about, here's to everybody out there who might have to solo parent. And some people just do it all the time, which, my goodness, my goodness, how do you do it?

It's just about planning ahead, Claire. Living legends. It's just about planning ahead. It's just about thinking what terrible thing is going to happen today and how do I get ahead of that? And that's what you do. And you do that every second of every day. Like someone stepping in wee, someone wetting the bed. Yep.

Someone having a tantrum. Yep. Someone knocking their knee over. Yep. Does that happen? Someone knocking their knee over. Oh, my gosh. I've really slid downhill.

I have a cold now from the plane and a little jet lag still. Yep. What does that happen? Someone knocking their knee over. Oh my gosh. I've really slid downhill. I have a cold now from the plane and a little jet lag still. Yep. And so things are getting hairy in this old brain. It's getting real problematic. I hope it's not going to be too hairy before your show in Sydney this Sunday. Yes, I know. I don't know how that happened. I do know how that happened. I booked a show

in Sydney and then this opportunity came up to go into us and I had to book a tour and then now I'm doing a show in Sydney like the week after I get back. Oh boy. And I have a cold. Who knows what will happen? When this goes out, it's going to be three days away if people are interested in the area.

Holy moly. Yeah, there's still tickets available. So it's in Marrickville in Sydney at the Great Club. Tickets are $25 if you use the promo code MOTHERHOOD. Oh. MOTHERHOOD. You can put that in. One word?

One word. Yep. Any capital letters? No, just one word. Colleen's will put a link below to the tickets, but you can also find them on my website or on my Instagram. And Ariane Beeston, who I've talked about before, is an advocate for cope and a writer, but also an extraordinary dancer.

And she suffered from postnatal psychosis. And when she heard my song Self, who actually, she found me through the wonderful comedian Mark Humphries. Yeah, I met him. Yeah, they're friends. And he came to my album launch and then shared something on socials and she found it through him. And then she sent me this beautiful video of her dancing to it. And I could see in her movement that she had experienced just something pretty profound and struggled and maybe through motherhood. And

there was something in her movement that told me a lot about her experience and also that she resonated with the song. And it was like meeting a kindred spirit. I got to meet her in person actually at the Fearless Conversation about Motherhood Festival that I went to at the Wheeler Centre, which was amazing. And she is just an extraordinary person and she's going to dance on Sunday. So I'm going to sing and she's going to dance. I don't know how I'm going to get through without crying, basically. How am I going to get through without crying? I don't know.

Because I'm here with the kids again. Exactly. You can come if you want. No, I can't. I've got a birthday the night before and then I have to. Oh, that's true. You do. Yeah.

And you know what? I don't want to go to Sydney. All right. I don't want to go anywhere. Nothing is worth going. Oh, that's true. You do. Yeah. And you know what? I don't want to go to Sydney. All right. I don't want to go anywhere. Nothing is worth going. Nothing is worth doing. Except for this. Anyway.

But not for me. So that's happening. So we're doing that on Sunday afternoon, 3 o'clock till 6 o'clock. I'll be performing. Amy Taylor-Kabaz, who is an amazing author and Matrasin's activist, is going to be speaking as well. And what's really interesting, and I think a lot of the great mates have said that in their Planet Broadcasting Great Mates group on Facebook as well, that I thought these events

were just for mothers, right? We insisted. No, but they're really, really not. So it turns out so many of the events I went to had like half men or a lot of couples who came and a lot of people who didn't have kids. And they got so much out of it because really it's about educating about this monumental transition before it's a thing that you're going through so that you're prepared. And I think also people understand and know that they come from a mother or have had experience with mothers. And I think it's really about the human condition. So overall, I just feel like if you're thinking about coming

but you think it's only for mothers, it's absolutely not. It's for everyone. And the rooms that have been my favourite have been the ones where afterwards I've had these conversations with blokes who've come up to me to talk to me about their stories and it's just been extraordinary and such a privilege. But also just these amazing women who are so strong and it feels really radical to be making events like this

that are accessible for women to bring and parents to bring their babies. So if you have a baby in a pram or in their – If you come across one. If you come across one and you feel like just picking it up and taking it along, don't steal anyone's kids. Anyway, totally you can bring them. So it's an accessible event for babies and little people. And it's not a kid's show, but you absolutely can bring Babes in Arms

if you need to. And it's disability accessible as well. So there'll be drinks available and it's going to be a really, really special show. So my first show that I've ever done in Sydney. So I'm very nervous about it and I would love you to be there. I'm also bringing some records and I'll hang around a little bit afterwards. We're going to do a Q&A. It's also supported by COPE and the Gidget Foundation as well. So there'll be lots of experts there to talk about perinatal mental health and the support structures that are around for women in Australia

and families who are going through motherhood and parenthood. Fantastic. And that's it. And shall we get on with recommending some things? We should. Well, I wanted to talk about one thing in particular because you saw what might be your favorite thing of 2023. You look so smug about it too.

You were like, you should see it. And then I got back and you were like, what did you think? And I said, it was great. And you were like, and you looked like he just sat on the couch. What are you talking about? I'm talking about Transformers Rise of the Beasts. Oh, Lord. A movie that you watched with our son.

What did you think, Claire? Ape Link. Oh. Cheetor. Oh, no. Optimus Primal. Here's the thing. Mirage.

Here is the thing. Here is the goddamn thing. I'm listening. I love our son, and I would throw myself in front of a bus for him. Well, if he was like, hey, Mom, throw yourself in front of a bus, I bet you wouldn't. Hey, Mom, if you love me, you'll throw yourself in front of a bus. I would do many things for him.

Would I watch that movie again? Hard to say. You might have to. Didn't you like the bit with Bumblebee? He jumped out of the plane? I tell you what, I liked the bits with storyline, which I would say every so often there would be five to ten minutes

of dialogue where I was like, I like these characters. The characters are fun. The human characters. Yeah, I like the human characters. I think they're interesting. You're the opposite of a Transformers fan. Exactly. I liked the human characters. I liked the human storyline.

I liked how it kind of wrapped up at the end and you're like, oh, good, great. You even liked the G.I. Joe reveal. Yeah, I did because it's a little journey for the man that was like, oh, I'm so sad and, oh, I don't have anything. And my little brother, he's very sick and he needs things and I'm feeling very sad. And I was in the army but I stepped up and I don't know who I am anymore.

And then he finds himself and he gets to do a cool thing. That, love that. Join G.I. Joe. Love that. I otherwise, boring. So boring. Just like crashing and smashing and bashing. Boring. Also, I didn't like the fact that all the bad guys like crashing and smashing and bashing. Boring.

Also, I didn't like the fact that all the bad guys were huge and the Transformers were kind of small. And I was like, well, why are we on the team with the small ones? Because of their underdog situation. Yeah, but it just basically they just mostly got beat up all the time. Yeah, that's hard. There was very many moments. There weren't that many moments where I was like,

do-do-do-do, Optimus Prime. It was more just like, oh, here he gets bashed again. What about when Optimus Prime is like, I don't even like people anymore. I fucking hate this planet. Yeah. And Optimus Prime was like, this guy's, I'll name myself after this guy. This guy's rude now. Yeah.

I thought he was cool, but he sucks. Yeah. Did you like that? No. Did you like when Optimus Prime was smashed, that dude's head in with a big boulder? I hated that. And Optimus Prime was like, I wanted to kill that guy. I hated all of it.

The only thing that actually made me really happy was how much it made my son happy. Yeah. And I really loved the bit where my son was watching it and the man, whatever his name is. The man, Noah. Noah. He gets to get the armour of Mirage on his own self. Yeah.

And our little person's face, so like my little son's face, oh, my God, he was so into it. He was just like this is the best thing I've ever seen and it's so awesome and that's all I want in life is to be a real-life transformer. And that made me happy. See, I didn't love that bit. I think the design was okay. Traditionally.

There he goes. How long are we going to talk about this for because I had to talk about it last night and I had to watch it last night. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, listen. Traditionally, like it should be like a transforming suit and for? Because I had to talk about it last night and I had to watch it last night. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, listen. Traditionally, like, it should be like a transforming suit and you get into it as a person and then you can change into like a little car, a little fold out car. Oh, that's fun.

That you can scoot around in. He doesn't have any of that. No. It's like on his body. What did you think of Mirage, the character? I thought he was fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's Davidson.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was fun. Yeah, yeah. He's always sleeping with everybody all the time. Oh. Do you know he was fun. Yeah, yeah. He's always sleeping with everybody all the time. Oh, do you know who was fun? The guy who got the guy Noah to steal the car initially. He was fun.

I really liked him a lot. It was all about the breathing and listening to music. I really enjoyed that. Yeah, I bet you did. That was like my favourite bit about the whole thing because those two are my favourite bits. Well, you're going to love this because next year there's going to be a Transformers origin movie and it's going to be set entirely on Cybertron.

It's hopefully going to be the first of a trilogy and it tells the story of a young Orion Pax who becomes Optimus Prime. He becomes a leader, right? And Megatron, they started off as friends, but Megatron was a gladiator in the Cybertron arena. And he was like, I don't like being oppressed. I'm going to make a big war against the leaders of Cybertron. And he was right to do so. But guess what? What? He took it too far. He took it too far, Claire. And so that's something we can all look forward to next year.

But listen, your second favourite movie of the year. Let's talk about this. And just like that. Watching it just like that. Oh, my God. On TV. And just like that. I have to say, your rant, my God.

It's so bad. Yeah, it's bad. It's us and because I couldn't watch it while I was overseas and so I thought I will come home. What do I want? I want to watch something that will like switch my brain off. I've had it's been like a huge tour and so many things happened and I just wanted to process everything so that I'll watch something fun.

I've literally had to turn it off mid-episode. Yeah. I don't think that happens to me that often. I really was like, I can't watch this anymore. I think people should embrace just turning a thing off. Oh, God. Just be like, no, I'm not doing this. But the fact me, you remember me from season one.

I remember you. I held on even though there were moments in the first season where I was like, this is awful. Overall, I still loved it. This time round, I actively hate Overall, I still loved it. Yeah. This time round, I actively hate most of the people in it. Do you enjoy its realistic depiction of motherhood in your 50s? Oh, my God.

It's horrendous. It's so horrendous. One of the things that I hated like more than anything was how little it is grounded in any kind of reality for women at that age. Like there's just no reality. All it does, and I know that it glorified wealth in the actual whole show, but it was more maybe we were at a different point then, but also it was grungier.

It also felt. It felt grungier. It felt also like them being poorer, it was more like aspirational. It's like, oh, a treat, a bag that I really like. And now it's like I've got 100 bags. This is exactly it. And I hate everything. And my problems are my, someone stole my $30,000 Birkin bag and now I found it again. Or like, oh no, I couldn't get to the Met Gala or whatever. It just does. There's no, there's no feeling of any real problems or struggle. There's also

zero chemistry between the cast anymore. I think There's no, like the chemistry that existed between Miranda and Charlotte and Kerry is like fizzled to nothing. And so then the new cast of characters, I like them individually as actresses and I do. I think there is some funny and good stuff. Yeah, I do. Occasionally you'll be surprised and Sarah Jessica Parker is excellent. I mean, individually they're doing a really great job with a terrible script.

A terrible script. You know what it feels like and I said this to you last night. Michael Patrick King does not know what it is like to be a woman in their 50s or 60s. I don't know. I'm not there yet. But he does not know and he's writing them all all of the women he's writing like very wealthy catty gay men all of them in all the different contexts and i know he has women

it's a pretty niche thing to make every character like that right but don't you agree yeah there is definitely elements of that elements of that and there's zero chemistry between Shea Diaz and Miranda as well. There's like those scenes are unwatchable because you just don't believe for a second that they are actually a couple. It doesn't feel realistic or funny or sexy. So it's just like. No, it's uncomfortable and not fun. And then like Miranda was wearing a ridiculous straw hat

and walking into a tattoo parlor to look for robots to put on her body and it just did not feel at all real. And then that scene where, and it was on the way to being something that could have been great. So Shade Diaz's character is going to record a live recording and it's a very big deal for them. They're about to, you know, cry on stage and they've been rehearsing for ages. And Miranda has her phone on her and Brady calls just before to say that he feels.

That's her son, if you don't know. Yeah, correct. Exactly. I know this would be so boring for anyone who doesn't know the show. But Brady. Try watching it. Brady is like, what, early 20s. He's just broken up with his girlfriend, Amstead, and he's saying to her that he feels like

killing himself over it. Yeah. And so she's understandably completely rattled and so worried and shocked and she'd been missing his phone calls because she's in L.A. with Shay. And L.A. with Shay. And so then Miranda lies and keeps her phone on her when she's not supposed to. And then obviously it goes off during Shay's big scene.

And then the reaction of Shay after it is so not correct. Like it's just not the way it would actually go down. Because, yes, Shay is really mad at Miranda, obviously. It was a very embarrassing moment. But then Miranda explains that her son is having suicidal thoughts and she's on the first flight home. She's so worried about him. And instead of Shay saying what a normal human being would say would be,

of course, oh, my God, I know this happened and I know it was a big deal for me but also I'm so worried about your son, of course you're going to fly home. They basically say Brady's just a child and he'll get over it and it'll be fine. And that in a nutshell shows me how little they understand about writing humans in this. I don't know.

There's just so many elements to it where they're trying to make Miranda comedic but it just makes her look kind of, but, you know, that idea, like it just, oh, it makes me so mad because there was an opportunity and a show there to show some real depth and growth and a show where that many women in their 50s and 60s are the central stars. Plus you could explore their sexuality in a way that doesn't feel gross. Yeah. And a show where that many women in their 50s and 60s are the central stars, plus you could explore their sexuality in a way that doesn't feel gross.

Yeah. Whereas I feel they're mostly the sex scenes in it are almost deliberately disgusting. And I don't mean that in that like seeing people in their 50s and 60s. No. In those moments are disgusting. I don't mean that at all. I mean they're making scenes that are gross and I don't really want to watch. Yeah.

And I don't know whether that's. I think that's a chemistry thing when you're watching two people who clearly don't. Have chemistry. And then you're like making them like forcing them together. Yeah. It's just so. It's weird.

It feels very strange. I thought it was the same with Carrie and Big in the first season at the start when they're like, these two are a couple. And it's like, why the fuck would these two be? What an awful combination of people. See, I believe their chemistry. Not in their nude stuff. I still did, but I just didn't.

I'm glad he's dead. I don't know if I've reiterated that enough. I know. I just, I actually loved those scenes. I thought there was chemistry there. I mean, I didn't really if I've reiterated that enough. I know. I just, I actually loved those scenes. I thought there was chemistry there. I mean, I didn't really love the sex scene that they did. No. I felt like that wasn't subversive.

It was, that's what I mean. They're taking it a little too far. Also, even the people that are making Carrie date, remember every time she would date somebody, there would be like a thing about them. Yeah. Whether it be weird or good or interesting and then a strange thing. And now it's just like, he's a boring, nothing them. Yeah. Whether it be weird or good or interesting and then a strange thing. And now it's just like he's a boring nothing man that you can just

like have zero chemistry with and then at the end go, no, maybe not. And then there's no like where's anything in this? Yeah, exactly. The jazz guy. The mayor that wanted her to pee on him. All of these things, you know? But yeah, exactly. There's just none of that things, you know? But, yeah, exactly.

There's just none of that. The sailor, exactly. There's none of that. Burger. Exactly. With a post-it. Exactly. There's just no humanness in them.

I think that's the other part of it. It looks too glossy. Yep. It doesn't look gritty. Like the initial series looked really gritty and had a real edge to it, whereas this feels like just it almost looks like an ad the whole time, which we often think when it comes to the ads. It does feel like is this an ad for like BetterHelp or some, I don't know.

Yeah, it's too shiny and polished and everything in it is too colorful Like a car insurance commercial or something. Yeah, like everywhere, every flat, every house is not lived in. It doesn't look real. One of the beautiful things about Kerry's flat particularly was that it really felt lived in. Yeah. You felt like, because I watched that show so many times,

I felt like I could have lived in that flat. It's slightly grimy and slightly just, yeah, human and real and that's what's so sad to me about it. And then it's also you're watching these actresses who are really, really excellent have to kind of, you know, Sarah Jessica Parker is excellent. Yeah, she's really good. And the scenes where she has to read her memoir into a microphone. I thought all that was pretty good.

Really good because she's excellent. Yeah. But it's a terrible script good. Really good because she's excellent. Yeah. But it's a terrible script and there's no real depth to it. And the saddest part about it is like the rampant capitalism and consumerism and that kind of really tone deaf, utterly wealthy like echelon that like maybe I think they thought it would be sexy and aspirational, but actually it's just tone deaf and incredibly unappealing.

Yep. Just looks vapid and horrible. But, you know, it doesn't feel fun. Yeah. Which is, I think. It's not fun, is it? No, it's not fun. You see, when Billy Dee Williams turned up and he's like,

hello, I'm Billy Dee Williams. I really do love that. And I'm like, do you know who that is? And you're like, I don't know who that is. I'm like, it's fucking Lando Calrissian, Claire. He was cool. He was like 100 years old. He's so cool.

He's so cool. Anyway, let's move on from it just like that because it's just making me and just feel terrible. So funny. Anyway. Introducing Uber Teen Accounts, an Uber account for your teen with always-on enhanced safety features. Your teen can request a ride when you can't take them.

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See app for details. Maybe, no. Anyway, Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer? Yeah. I don't even understand what Oppenheimer is. Oppenheimer? I hardly know her.

That's a joke. No, let's talk about Barbie. Yeah, let's talk about Barbie. Because I haven't seen Oppenheimer yet. I don't even really know what it's about. Well, we did a little bit on it while it wasn't recording. Yeah, we did. But basically, for those people who don't know.

You said, basically explained it's like teams during World War II and something to do with nuclear bombs. That's right. Good. I probably wouldn't like it because there was no ape link in it. That is true. My favorite character of all time. Anyway, tell me what you thought of Barbie.

Barbie. The best movie I've probably seen in a very, very long time. Wow, that's pretty standard. A lot of people like it, Claire. It's making the most money that any movie has this year. I know. It's a pretty normal opinion. I know.

I'm trying to put sentences together. Put your spin on it. Put a spin on it. What's your unique perspective? That's what people want to hear. No, this is the thing. I feel like everyone has said all the things already. All right.

A couple of things I will say. These are probably incredibly obvious. It's a feminist masterpiece. Sure. It is an absolute feminist masterpiece. Margot Robbie, utterly brilliant. Ryan Gosling, bloody excellent. The whole cast, perfection.

I agree. From start to finish. Ryan Gosling, bloody excellent. The whole cast, perfection. I agree. From start to finish. I love the fact that Greta Gerwig has just done the most incredible job. I need to watch Little Women. Her Little Women. It's really great. Yeah. The script and the direction, it's so layered.

It's so much fun while also incredibly gut-wrenching. I hated Barbie as a kid. I played with Barbies but they made me feel so bad about myself that I kind of had this horrible relationship with Barbie and I really actively didn't want to watch it. Everyone was so excited and I really didn't want to see it because I just felt like I have such a problematic relationship with that whole idea of like body image and the blonde kind

of bombshell idea and just blonde kind of bombshell idea and just my experience of Barbie was not that it was liberating but that I just felt like I could never look like her and it made me feel shit basically. You know, my feet would never just stay up on little tippy toes. Sure, yeah. What I loved about it too was two of my favourite characters, other than obviously Margot Robbie herself because she's brilliant,

Kate McKinnon plays Weird Barbie. And one of the genius things about that and also this whole movie, I have to say, could easily have been the worst thing that's ever been. Absolutely, 100%. Which is what is so fascinating. It could have been the emoji movie. They took a giant swing, like a giant swing. It's kind of like the idea of explaining Star Wars to someone and going,

well, that's going to be a giant embarrassing flop, and instead it's utter genius. This goes back to the thing that I always say and it rarely happens. Anything can be good. Anything. Yeah, but it's about layers of execution. Most things aren't though. Exactly, but this took such a big swing.

So Kate McKinnon's character, Weird Barbie, is just heaven. She's so funny. She's so charismatic. The physical comedy is excellent. The commentary around perfection and imperfection and what makes a good woman and what makes a good Barbie, quote, unquote, all of that is just so great. America Ferreira's character is a mother and it turns out she- Spoiling it now, are we?

Are we doing some spoilers? Okay, maybe I won't. Well, all I'll say is she- No, I do want to do a bit of a spoiler because I think this is important. Why don't we go from here? We'll say let's do spoilers from now. All right, okay. So this is a really important point to make,

which I'm sure other people have made but I love so much. Spoilers, by the way. Spoilers. So America Ferreira's character is a mom in the real world and she has a daughter, a teenage daughter. Now there's a reason that Barbie is having kind of thoughts of death and like starting to feel like a human as opposed to everything being shiny and perfect all the time, which is the whole plot really. And then Margot Robbie's Barbie is trying to get back to being normal

and a normal Barbie and trying to get rid of all of these kind of human thoughts. And that's why she has to go on this adventure to the real world to try and find the child that's playing with her to fix everything. But it turns out it's not her daughter that's playing with her. It's the mother, America Ferreira, who's been drawing Barbie and having thoughts of death and all of that stuff. Yeah, and cellulite.

And cellulite and everything. And what makes me cry every time I think about that and why it's so genius is that mother and that woman is all of my generation. Like that's us at this time. Yeah. You know, and that's a broad sweeping statement. But it brings the film right very close into the heart of what it means to be a woman in their 30s and 40s as a mother right now.

And I know there's like shades of this movie that are very poignant for tween girls. There's stuff in here obviously for women in their 60s, 70s, 80s. I would say there's stuff in here for men also. There is heaps of stuff for men in there. But not all men. No. But this particular sort of plot line made me cry so much

because I think in history there has never been a more complex time to be a woman. I'm not saying a hard time because obviously women now have so much more autonomy and freedom and financial stability in a lot of ways, not always, but it's so complex for us now. And sometimes we're sold the idea that we have more freedom, but actually once you become a mother, you start to realize that maybe you don't. And the system is still rigged against you just in a different way and expects you to also work and fit into all these extra boxes that maybe 50 years ago

women didn't have to fit into in the same way. But, I mean, through human history women have had fucking, you know, very hard lot in a lot of different ways. And I'm a white, privileged white lady so woe is me. But I will say the crux of the whole thing covered in the comedy, the brilliant soundtrack, Mark Ronson, and there's a beautiful song that's sung by Billie Eilish that just like makes you weep.

Charlie XX does this incredible song too in it. There's just like the soundtrack's amazing, the colours and the spectacle and the nostalgia in the costuming and the set design is utterly gorgeous. Yeah, because they're all little things made big, right? Yeah, they are and there's so much of it that you remember. And then the commentary around the inventor of Barbie and how this is a spoiler too but actually it's a woman, about how Mattel is really run by all men and that the world is run

in a patriarchy in the real world and how the contrast of Barbie land and how everything is run by all men and that the world is run in a patriarchy in the real world and that how the contrast of Barbie land and how everything is run by Barbies. And I hadn't realized later on, I was looking at some commentary around this and Margot Robbie was in an interview was saying how in 1965, women couldn't hold a credit card, but as a Barbie, they could be an astronaut. And so even though you have this really complex, and I had as a kid in the 90s, a really complex relationship with Barbie, she made me feel bad about myself. I mean, I know she's not a real person. Well, I think they talk about that in the movie.

They do it so well. They do the perspectives of like if you hate Barbie. This is why. And her teenage daughter, America Ferrero's teenage daughter, yeah, basically schools her on what's wrong with her and why she's the symbol of capitalism and patriarchy and all of this, you know. But actually you realise, no, she was a lot of other things too ahead of her time. Yeah.

And there's a little line I saw in an article which I thought was so, so spot on. I mean, you know, there's so much commentary that's excellent. Just that to be a woman is so incredibly hard because of all the contradictions of things that you're supposed to be, you know, strong, but not too strong, soft, but not too soft. Be a great mother, but also be a career woman, you know, like be thin, but don't say that you need to want to be thin. You're just to be healthy, but actually you do need to be thin, but actually you don't, but maybe embrace your body, but also is it right? Is that, you know, the right thing, but don't talk about body image, you know, like just all of the layers of complexity,

like speech that she does, America Ferreira's character to the camera is just so spot on. They did like 60 different versions of it. And some were like really angry and some were like funny and I think they really, what they settled on I think was really. Perfect. Yeah. Perfect. And I guess what I wanted to say was there was a little comment in an article about how not only is it complex to be a woman,

it's complex to be a doll representing a woman. Yeah, sure, yeah. You know, because me, I had a horrible relationship with Barbie until I watched this movie, which, you know, because me, I had a horrible relationship with Barbie until I watched this movie, which, you know, maybe that's capitalism at its finest. Maybe it is. But that in itself made me think too because I thought, yeah,

she can't just be one thing. Yeah. You know, like actually she has to represent everyone or she represents no one. And so it's not enough that she's an astronaut and aspirational in her career choices she also now has to face a whole lot of criticism over her body image but then you think about like we talked about gi joe yeah it doesn't have to face any of that fucking bullshit gi joe is just a character

i mean they're fighting cobra that's not nothing that's a big deal claire but you know gi joe is just gi joe yeah whereas like like Barbie has to be everything to everyone and then gets criticised for all of it. Not that I'm not saying that I want my daughter to play with Barbie in the form where she's like all blonde and tiny waisted and like chippy toes forced into high heels and big busted. There's nothing wrong with that body type as well or being blonde. I just mean when that's the only way that's represented.

Yes, absolutely. In this very long-limbed kind of impossible body style. I thought it was really, I mean, it was interesting how they were, they weren't all different characters. They were all Barbie, like all the Barbies in Barbie Land and they represented like different people. Yeah, which was excellent and so beautiful. And so I just thought loved it.

I also think it's not, there's been talk and I think anybody who kind of understands this, I know we've got to wrap it up, it's not, I think it's a pro-men movie, genuinely. I do too. I think it is like it's got a really good message of like, because there's kind of this minor Ken uprising that happens and it's all, without getting into it, we've got to wrap it up, but I think it does something really interesting with that, you know,

the perspective of, you know, what's the place for men in the world, you know, today. Anyway, we've got to wrap it up so we can't get into it. It's such an interesting conversation though. Yeah. Can we pick that up? We can pick it up right now. Yeah, can I make this phone call and then pick it up?

Yeah, let's do it. Because I would love to hear a bit more about your perspective. Or maybe we can talk about that next episode let's do it next episode should we wrap it up now yeah i'll quickly do a review i'll quickly do a review claire you want to do the show you can just do it in app that's right reviews are back baby i stopped reading but now i'm reading and this is i'm josh 100 who says five stars by the way just in any app a gun a guy and some podcasts if i had a gun with five stars and I was in a room with five podcasts, I'd shoot Suggestible five times.

Oh. So there you go. Thank you so much. Thank you. We'll be back next week for more Suggestible. In the meantime, why don't you just do anything else, you know? Yeah, correct. Exactly.

Or just very quickly, if you want to recommend us something, you can email the show, suggestiblepod at gmail.com, just like Sean has, and his email is so great. It just says, hello, I suggest that no one watch The Idol on Max ever. That is all. I watch some of The Idol, and I agree. It's fucking atrocious. Thank you so much, Sean.

It's the worst thing maybe I've seen this year. Well, we've been to suggest for podcasts, and we will come back next week to talk a little bit more about James' perspective on Barbie, because I just wanted to hear more about that. I thought that was really interesting. Well, I already talked about it on my podcast, The Weekly Punt. I know, but I don't listen to that show. What? Everybody listens to that show. You don't listen to tons of time. It's universally

loved. I don't get weird comments. Zero weird ones. Normal. Alright, thanks everyone. Okay, thanks. Thanks Collings for editing this week's episode. We've been Jess with the podcast. Bye. Bye. We can wait for clean water solutions. Or we can engineer access to clean water. We can acknowledge Indigenous cultures.

Or we can learn from Indigenous voices. We can demand more from the earth. Or we can demand more from ourselves. At York University, we work together to create positive change for a better tomorrow. Join us at yorku.ca slash write the future.