Welcome to #TransTuesday! Here we go, this week Tillyvision dives in by timestamps to talk THE INTENTIONAL (!) TRANS ALLEGORY OF BARBIE (the movie), PART 2! Something’s changing within us, and that’s weird!
Before you read this, you should definitely read PART 1 from last week, which contains context you’ll need, as well as the set-up for my reading of what BARBIE has to say about transness, and the beginning of our dive in by timestamps!
6:40 – EVERYONE in this world is artificial, yet it’s very inclusive racially, by disability, by body type. Contrast that with the Mattel executives you see later, who are all cis men. Their races vary, to show you some progress has been made, but…
…neither I nor this movie are claiming racism isn’t an issue. It very much is. But race is used with the Mattel executives later to show you that while there has been SOME progress, it’s not remotely enough, there’s no disability or body type rep, and cis white men still rule.
7:15 – “Money is not speech and corporations have no free speech rights to begin with, so any claim on their part to be exercising a right is just their attempt to turn our democracy into a plutocracy.” There’s no transness in this, but in a movie about a corporate toy, it’s extraordinary.
7:34 – “I have no difficulty holding logic and emotion at the same time, and it does not diminish my powers, it expands them.” This is another connection to The Matrix, specifically RELOADED, where Neo learns to listen to both logic and emotion to find the answer he seeks.
7:41 – In one of the only actual reflections in the movie, we see only Barbie’s eyes in the car mirror, looking up and surrounded by stars. To me this reads like she’s looking forward to the true person she wants to see there, the stars indicating it’s aspirational and feels out of reach.
The thought of seeing the person she wants to see in that mirror gives her literal stars in her eyes, yet even here that reflection is incomplete. SUPERtext.
8:06 – Ken only has a great day if Barbie looks at him. If Ken is the guy society has told Barbie to be, Barbie looking at him is SEEING him. Validating him. Trying to BE him, because society said that’s who she was. He needs her to SEE him for him to exist, basically.
8:30 – With all the “hi Barbies” and “hi Kens,” they’re showing you that they’re all the same. And this is within Barbie Land, which is a lie. The conformity that society wants, and tries so hard to force us into, isn’t the truth.
8:43 – There are no multiples of Allan, he’s just Allan. And he’s kind of ostracized by everyone, right? Look what awaits you if you’re a gender non-conforming man, Barbie. Isn’t it better to be a Ken?
9:45 – When the Kens all want to do the beach off (which will never not crack me up), that’s all toxic masculinity in action, right? Albeit delivered in a comedic way. They all feel they have to PROVE their manliness. ACT the part. And Barbie feels caught in the middle.
Which is how trans women pre-transition feel, because it’s all an act. A costume. A role we never asked for and don’t know how to play. And we’re generally very, very bad at it. Notably, Ken is wounded from this attempt.
So what does it say to you that when the shell of a fake man is wounded from trying to play the part, that Hari Nef, a trans woman, is the doctor who treats him? TRANSITION CAN TREAT THE PROBLEM AND HEAL WHAT HURTS YOU.
SUPERtext.
11:16 – It’s the dance party at Barbie’s house, and there’s some really important stuff going on here. Hari Nef, our only true trans representation in this movie, is the DJ. She’s the one in control of the music.
Not only that, but look at the record itself, on the pink turntable. Remember again from the beginning, pink and blue together is indicative of transness.. And what song is on that record?
Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night.” And if you look at the lyrics… you are about to encounter a whole lot of metaphors for transness and denial and acceptance, friends. It’s an incredibly trans song.
Because the entire thing is about bluster, about hiding the deep sadness you feel, putting on a brave face… faking it. Until, all of a sudden, everything changes. And now it’s not about that at all anymore.
Baby, you can find me under the lights
Diamonds under my eyes
Turn the rhythm up, don’t you wanna just
Come along for the ride?
Under the lights means everyone’s looking at you. Those “diamonds” under her eyes are tears, which the song itself later confirms. But ignore all that, just find the beat and go with the flow. PEOPLE ARE LOOKING, YOU CAN’T LET THEM SEE HOW SAD YOU ARE.
Oh, my outfit so tight
You can see my heartbeat tonight
I can take the heat, baby, best believe
That’s the moment I shine
These wrong clothes constrict and confine me. My heart is racing. People are going to notice I’m not wearing them right. But it’s okay, it’s okay, I’ve done this before. I’ve done this all my life. I can do it again, it’ll all be fine.
‘Cause every romance shakes and it bends
Don’t give a damn
When the night’s here, I don’t do tears
Baby, no chance
Her romance with Ken, the guy she doesn’t want (to be) is shaking, it’s bending… she knows that’s not what she wants. But no matter! Put that brave face back on, pay no attention to what you want, be who you’re “supposed” to be.
Watch me dance, dance the night away
My heart could be burnin’, but you won’t see it on my face
No matter what my true desires are, I can’t let them show. I can’t show what’s in my heart, because it’s not what people expect or what they want to see.
Watch me dance, dance the night away
I’ll still keep the party runnin’, not one hair out of place
KEEP UP APPEARANCES, BEHAVE AS EXPECTED. Then no one will suspect anything, and you won’t have to confront that empty pit in your soul, the darkness you know is in there telling you everything is wrong.
Lately, I’ve been moving close to the edge
Still be lookin’ my best
I stay on the beat, you can count on me
I ain’t missin’ no steps
She’s getting closer to realizing and accepting the truth, but no, NO! We can’t let ourselves do that, we have responsibilities and obligations to society! No no, ignore it, keep doing what you’re expected to. Ignore that edge! Don’t take the leap! (THE MATRIX does this too)
When my heart breaks (they never see it, never see it)
When my world shakes (I feel alive, I feel alive)
I don’t play it safe
Don’t you know about me?
This is the turning point. Nobody has seen the heartbreak of living a lie, but the ground is no longer stable. It’s rocking and breaking because the truth is emerging, and IT MAKES YOU FEEL ALIVE FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. No more playing it safe. Break free.
This song is SUPER transy, and is very much about that moment of realization when your world DOES shake, and it’s the most amazing and affirming thing you’ve ever felt, choosing to drop the act and live your truth.
That the one out trans person in the cast is playing the music is a CHOICE. The record colors are a CHOICE. Look at what it’s telling you, how it’s confirming what the song is implying. Even more, in this crucial moment in a trans person’s journey, Hari Nef gets another vital line:
13:28 – “This is the best day ever!” For a trans person, yeah it is (at least up until that point). Because it’s the moment your freedom and self-actualization begin.
Given ALL of this, it’s absolutely no surprise that this is when the movie’s most iconic and meme-able line hits:
13:38 – “Do you guys ever think about dying?” It stops the party cold. And in the metaphor of “Dance the Night,” the “party” is going with the flow, doing what’s expected of you, conforming to expectations. That all STOPS.
And this is where I want to remind you of the multiple meanings “dying” has. Because:
Transition is very much about the death of the false self for the birth of the true self.
Transition is very much treated like a real death by cis people who don’t accept us.
Death is metaphorically, throughout history and cultures, a symbol of change. One door closes and another opens. One thing stops so that another may begin. It’s a TRANSITION from one thing to the next.
Do you ever think about changing everything about yourself? Do you ever think about leaving your false old life behind? Do you ever think about becoming your true self? Do you ever think about starting a new chapter? Do you ever think about TRANSITION?
And ALL OF THAT is wrapped up in this one line that hits at Barbie’s crisis point. She’s waking up to her truth and it is CHANGING REALITY. Or rather, her perception of reality. She’s realizing that the reality she thought was all there was… was. a. lie.
She’s in a reflective outfit. There’s no clear picture reflected, and what it reflects changes as the world and lights around her change. SHE is changing.
You do NOT have to conform to gender roles or stereotypes. You do NOT have to be whatever gender someone told you that you were based on your external genitalia. You do NOT have to look or act a certain way. You only have to be who you truly are.
13:56 – “I don’t know why I said that. I’m just dying to dance.” Ha ha, I didn’t really mean it. I mean, yay being a conformo! Hooray cisness! Notably FAKING being part of the status quo gets the party going again.
We then get the shot of the dance floor mixed with the disco ball, where you can see the reflections in it are all warped. Again, Barbie’s world is changing. And LOOK at those colors, all those pinks and blues right up against each other. Transness!
14:31 – Ken wants to kiss Barbie but she’s just smiling. This is the first time we’ve seen these two alone together, a famously romantic couple for half a century. And remember, in the Matrix, every kiss was a moment of vital self-acceptance between Neo and the woman he was inside.
BARBIE DOES NOT KISS HIM. He leans in and she, pointedly, does not. She is REJECTING the man she never knew how to be, never wanted to be. No thank you, please, leave me alone.
14:45 – Ken: “I thought I could stay over tonight.” Barbie: “Why?” Ken: “Because we’re girlfriend/boyfriend” Barbie: “To do what?” Ken: “I’m actually not sure” Barbie: “I don’t want you here.” I. DON’T. WANT. YOU. HERE. (you man) SUPERtext.
16:04 – Barbie’s startled awake, not joyous like before. She’s back in pink, the lies and doubt about what women are supposed to be… and she’s not even fake smiling. It’s not right. It doesn’t fit. Because she’s not THAT kind of woman. And so everything is now WRONG.
Her hair when she wakes up, the shower, the food. THE WORLD IS WRONG. REALITY is wrong. This is (a comedic version of) what it feels like when you have dysphoria, but the world says the problem is YOU and not that the world has made no place for you in it.
And for the first time, we see Barbie IN that royal blue I mentioned, which remember stands for CONNECTION. And that’s what she’s experiencing here, connection with her true self, for the first time. And the world doesn’t treat her right.
16:41 – Her fake toast is burned.
16:48 – She gags on fake milk which now shows as expired.
17:03 – She floats down to her car like before, but falls.
All the things that should bring you joy make you miserable and go wrong. SHE IS EXPERIENCING GENDER DYSPHORIA AFTER WAKING UP TO HER TRANSNESS.
17:21 – Barbie’s feet flatten for the first time. She’s shocked and weirded out, because her BODY IS CHANGING TO ONE SHE LIKES BETTER and she has never ever experienced that before! (do you SEE how trans this is?)
18:10 – Barbie shows the other Barbies her flat feet and LOOK at those responses. Screaming, yelling, mock barfing. Do I even need to tell you how society responds to trans people when they learn about some of the body changes we might need??
18:33 – “You’re malfunctioning.” Again, this is how cis people have treated trans people in our society for a very long time. “Anomalies,” “disordered,” “wrong.” Again see the trans tuesday on TRANSMEDICALISM for just how deeply cis people felt (and forced US to feel) those things.
18:43 – “You’re going to have to visit weird Barbie.” Barbie: “I have never visited weird Barbie.” “That’s because you’ve never malfunctioned.” We don’t talk to our subconscious, and in fact ignore what it has to say, when we don’t want to know what lurks within.
18:53 – “I heard she used to be the most beautiful Barbie of all, but then someone played with her too hard in the real world.” The way you’re treated impacts your thoughts of self, even in your subconscious.
This is how implicit biases creep in. See the trans tuesday on IMPLICIT QUEERPHOBIA as a starting point.
And then see the trans tuesday on INTERNALIZED TRANSPHOBIA for just how insidious societal biases can be, and all the ways they mess us up.
That’s all for this week, and we’ve still only just barely gotten started. Next week, we’re gonna try to do something about this part of ourselves we’ve just realized, and maybe it’s not gonna go the way we think.
Tilly Bridges, end transmission.
tillysbridges@gmail.com