SevenOfWine

is likely coming from a place that is uncomfortable with the kernels of meaning in the film. … in part because the gender of the critic you linked to is also male.

Nah. That's just an ad hominem. The linked article was the second to top link when you do a quick google.

I know the right disliked Barbie because it was feminist. (Mattel denies the movie's feminist, btw. Which should also tell you something. Presumably they were worried it'd cost them money in feminist utopias like Saudi Arabia).

I liked the movie, but was simply pointing out it was also purplewashing for a company with a poor reputation. Which it is. That's a left-wing feminist argument. I mean, the movie's fun and it was super pretty, but patriarchy isn't really all that funny is it? Andrea Dworkin this ain't.

to mere corporate dissent generation when both can be equally true. ... I have to presume is what the creators of the film actually cared about

They can't be equally true in a movie made by a large corporation. IRC Margot Robbie made $50 million. Understandably if you're getting paid that much, you aren't going to spend much time dwelling on stuff like their treatment of women in their factories:

https://chinalaborwatch.org/mattels-unceasing-abuse-of-chinese-workers-an-investigation-of-six-mattel-supplier-factories/

Instead you'll focus on the pretty outfits and avoid mentioning femicide during press junkets.

I remember giving the joystick port on my C64 a wet willy to activate cheat mode on a game. No, I'm not making that up.

Indeed.

If I do high effort stuff that takes an hour or more, I’m just discouraged by the lack of even comments. ... Do you all even want that (seriously)?

This article and my comment are about mugshots not arrest records. But it is good that you point out why arrest records are important.

Why do you think Mattel, a company that's been accused of profiting of child labour and whose dolls have been shown to be damaging to young girls body image, made a Barbie movie?

Nah.

The reality is that this Mattel using feminism to shift product. It's fundamentally no different than when brands pretend to be gay friendly through marketing, to distract from their past and current record. Or when an oil company pretends to be green.

In the case of Mattel, their dolls have causes young girls body image problems and have been accused of using child labour

A relevant bit from a guardian article:

So, what are those bevies of pink-bedecked filmgoing females supposed to make of all this? They will see seductive but dubious stereotypes embellished rather than subverted. Muddled messaging may dispel rather than stimulate any impulse to crusade. What might therefore leave the most residual impact is Sarah Greenwood’s luscious production design. A clear call to action does in the end emerge: go forth and buy the products of the film’s sponsor, Mattel, and its galaxy of commercial partners. If Barbie constitutes a triumph, it’s a triumph not of feminism but of the patriarchy’s so far most unassailable scion – capitalism. Women have been spending millions to watch a giant advertisement more likely to bewilder than inspire them. And now they’re spending millions more on the merch. Mattel’s (male) chairman and CEO, Ynon Kreiz, has plenty of cause to be pleased. But feminists? Perhaps not so much.

They haven't even been convicted yet, they're supposed to enjoy the presumption of innocence, and yet they're being shamed and punished.

The dead naming really isn't cool either, although that's probably bottom of the list of worries trans people have when interacting with the police given the horror stories I've heard.

Capitalism commodifies dissent. It turns protest movements that argue against the unfairness of the current system into a product or marketing campaign to sell their imaginary solutions. The Barbie is a prime example of this.

I liked the I'm Just Ken song though, and it was a fun movie, but still.