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I. My first post-pandemic movie. Wearing our Barbie shirts, purchased for the occasion, my friend Billie and I* went to see the movie Barbie the other day (open caption—a great idea!).[0] It was quite funny and clever, surprisingly introspective, and self-critical—even though I think it tried a tad bit too hard to remind us it was being surprisingly introspective and self-critical. As I watched, I had the impression the movie creators couldn’t decide on its identity and message. The central goal was to acknowledge criticisms of the Barbie image, notably, perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards, while at the same time disarming critics from pooh-poohing the overall mission of the movie: to reimagine Barbie in a positive, female “empowering”, light. (That term comes up a lot in the movie.) I think Barbie largely succeeds in making Barbie “cool again”. The question that interests me is: what is the image of empowerment being championed? Continue reading
Error Statistics Philosophy 