{"id":1984795,"date":"2023-07-28T03:59:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T07:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ken-makes-the-patriarchy-look-awesome\/"},"modified":"2023-07-28T04:02:40","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T08:02:40","slug":"ken-makes-the-patriarchy-look-awesome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ken-makes-the-patriarchy-look-awesome\/","title":{"rendered":"Ken Exemplifies Patriarchy&#8217;s Brilliance"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">8<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fken-makes-the-patriarchy-look-awesome%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1984795&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<blockquote><p>\u201cBarbie\u201d is the most ridiculous sort of attempt\u2062 at\u2062 a feminist morality tale. It\u2019s supposed\u200d to be a\u200d subversive movie \u2062about the\u2063 patriarchy, \u200dbut the best part \u2064of the film is\u2064 Ken, \u200cwho \u200dtakes the patriarchy to Barbieland and makes it look kinda awesome \u2014 at least more fun than the patriarchy in the real world. This is a consistent problem with leftist\u200b storytelling, where they seek to elevate women\u2062 through the politics of respectability and identity and almost always accomplish the\u2062 opposite.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><h2>The\u2062 Problem with Feminist Films<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>The movie \u200b\u201cA \u200dLeague of Their\u200d Own\u201d is both a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/student-activists-at-catholic-university-protest-mlks-pro-life-trump-supporting-niece\/\" title=\"Student Activists At Catholic University Protest MLK\u2019s Pro-Life, Trump-Supporting Niece\">sacred cow<\/a> and a perfect example \u2063of this problem. It regularly tops lists of best feminist films, and because of that it also must \u200cbe included on lists of best sports \u200bfilms. It is a great movie about \u2063an interesting period of U.S. history, but \u2064the men are by \u2062far \u200cthe best part of the\u2064 film. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1293997556\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-c992f26944c582ff04d2c3e15696a1d6 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-c992f26944c582ff04d2c3e15696a1d6\"><\/div>\n<p>The\u200c biggest laughs and most memorable lines are all given to men. Tom Hanks and Jon Lovitz steal every scene they\u2019re in. That was probably framed as deconstructive of toxic\u200b masculinity (though that particular phrase was not \u200bin vogue at the time) because the men are jokes,\u2063 while the women are\u200c heroes. That film is rewatchable, and a minor sports \u2063classic, because\u2062 of the male leads. The women \u200dare mostly dour and serious.<\/p>\n<p><h3>The Problem with &#8220;Parks and Recreation&#8221;<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cParks and Recreation\u201d \u2064was plagued by the same problem. Early on in the show, Leslie\u2064 Knope is a \u200dgenuinely funny and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hunter-was-just-one-spawn-of-the-powerful-who-occupied-a-network-that-might-be-called-family-inc\/\" title=\"Hunter Was Just One Spawn Of The Powerful Who Occupied A Network That Might Be Called \u2018Family, Inc.\u2019\">interesting character<\/a>. She\u2019s got more in common with Michael Scott than Hillary Clinton. \u200bThen\u2064 sometime \u200bin the third season she stops being funny\u200d and starts being successful. \u200cAfter that point, the most memorable \u2062characters are all men. Ron Swanson, an out-and-out libertarian, is consistently the standout. Amy Poehler \u2062isn\u2019t given much to do for most of the\u2063 second \u200bhalf\u200c of the\u2064 series because she \u2063became\u2064 a role model for women in politics. On the left sacred cows must be worshipped. They cannot be laughed at, at least\u200d not consistently. <\/p>\n<p><h3>The Entertaining Side of &#8220;Barbie&#8221;<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>With \u201cBarbie,\u201d Greta \u200dGerwig \u200chas \u2064placed herself squarely within this grand tradition of feminist storytelling that trips over itself trying to beat the Bechdel Test to death, but \u2063instead makes the best parts of the film about\u200d men. Margot Robbie is quite stunning as Barbie, but she\u2019s given\u2063 relatively \u2062little\u200c to do\u2064 except look pretty. \u200dThe few moments of comedy and genuine drama she does have are great, even occasionally meaningful, but \u2064Ryan Gosling steals \u200cthe entire film. His <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ken-makes-the-patriarchy-look-awesome\/\" title=\"Ken Exemplifies Patriarchy's Brilliance\">comedic range \u2064apparently<\/a> has no limits as his character is given total hilarious freedom.<\/p>\n<p>The film this is \u200cactually most similar\u2063 to is\u2064 \u201cLego Batman,\u201d which is \u200dthe better pairing\u200c for \u2063a\u200c double feature, not \u201cOppenheimer.\u201d\u200c In \u201cLego Batman,\u201d Batman is\u200b both the joke and the\u200b hero. Unlike Will Arnett\u2019s \u200cBatman, the whole\u2064 concept of \u201cBarbie\u201d being \u2062meticulously lampooned throughout the \u2064film is simply not very\u200d funny. Most of \u2062the jokes are \u2064simple references to\u200b ridiculous things Mattel has \u200ddone with Barbie in the\u200d past. To diehard Barbie fans that\u2019s probably worth \u200ba grin, but \u200cto the average viewer it\u200b falls\u200b flat.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b99a85ed2e0df7d8c78f78d7ad8b8ce1 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b99a85ed2e0df7d8c78f78d7ad8b8ce1\"><\/div>\n<p><h3>The Ultimate Himbo: Ken<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLego Batman\u201d had similar self-deprecating jokes, but mostly the humor came out in the actual writing and performances. Ryan Gosling\u2019s Ken accomplishes just that. The female characters \u2063are mostly forgettable, \u200cbut \u200cGosling as Ken \u200dshines the \u2064ultimate himbo. Ken journeys\u2063 to discover his purpose beyond Barbie\u2019s accessory, but unlike Barbie\u2019s dramatic character arc,\u2063 his soul searching is less self-serious. He \u2063just wants to make Barbieland fun \u2014 \u2062full of horses, brewski beers, and \u201cThe \u2064Godfather\u201d movie nights.  <\/p>\n<p>This is\u200c all \u2062assuredly part of what writers Noah\u2063 Baumbach and Gerwig think is a devastating takedown of the patriarchy. One gets the sense that\u200d virtually everything in the film is intended to be \u2062taken sideways in some sense. Which makes \u200cAmerica Ferrera\u2019s character feel completely out of place. She plays a normal \u2064mom from the real world \u200dand almost everything she says and does is essentially preaching the feminist gospel. In a fantasy film \u2063about Barbie, it\u2019s jarring, to say the least. Ferrera \u2064is incredibly \u200ctalented as a comedian, but \u2064she\u2019s mostly given lines that were designed to be read from a \u200csoapbox.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being\u2064 a clumsy piece of feminist art, which in \u200bitself is \u2062the most biting kind of unintended satire, Ken and\u200c his fellow Kens \u200dmake up for it in entertainment value. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-c90a0a5c4528fc46cd3a3a09890985d9 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-c90a0a5c4528fc46cd3a3a09890985d9\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Barbie&#8221; is a laughable feminist morality tale. Meant to challenge the patriarchy, it fails miserably. Surprisingly, the film&#8217;s highlight is Ken, who brings the patriarchy to Barbieland, making it seem oddly appealing &#8211; definitely more enjoyable than the real world&#8217;s oppressive system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":721,"featured_media":1984796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1984795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1984795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/721"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1984795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1984795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1984796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1984795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1984795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1984795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}