Should we be protesting the Barbie movie?

[WheelyCurious]

Back in the bad old days, we used to have "black-face" where white actors would play black roles w/ the help of (pretty bad) makeup... Many objected to this, and now it would be considered nearly unthinkable to have a black role filled by anyone other than a black actor....

In the disability world, we are currently seeing a great deal of objection to "Crip-face" where able bodied people play the roles of disabled characters, and it is becoming much more prevalent to hire actors with disabilities to play disabled character roles. (Not to mention the increasing presence of disabled characters in general)

So are we now seeing "Eunuch-face" in Barbie? I haven't paid a lot of attention to it as the movie has no attraction for me, but isn't the guy playing Ken "intact"? Should we be trying to organize protests outside theaters demanding that similar roles in the future be played by REAL nullos? (Probably would also apply to GI-Joe and similar movies...)

I'm WheelyCurious (albeit somewhat tongue in cheek...)

[Paolo]

Ken was never marketed as a "nullo" or a "eunuch," so no, I don't think there's any issue with an intact man playing Ken.

[Losethem (imported)]

Ken was never marketed as a "nullo" or a "eunuch," so no, I don't think there's any issue with an intact man playing Ken.

Though... I wouldn't mind if any of the actors who played Ken in the movie wished to play the role authentically. :dong:

[Valery_V (imported)]

I have never seen a movie with a similar theme, although of course it would be curious.

(I like to read such stories ).

[Paolo]

I remember as a boy, me and 2 of my friends appropriated my sister's Barbie. We had Superhero action figures, but we had no Wonder Woman. And we couldn't play Justice League/Super Friends without her. So Barbie had to sub. I know my mother had a fit about boys playing with "dolls" until we explained that Barbie was subbing for Wonder Woman. Then it was OK.

[stony666 (imported)]

Though... I wouldn't mind if any of the actors who played Ken in the movie wished to play the role authentically. :dong:

Then the same applies to the most comic book adaptations.

I can't remember He-man, Spiderman and the like have more than Ken below the belt.

It can help the oversaturate movie genre - "Hey you want play a hero, Ok but it will cost you something." .

regards Stony

[WheelyCurious]

Ken was never marketed as a "nullo" or a "eunuch," so no, I don't think there's any issue with an intact man playing Ken.

True but it has long been a running joke about his (lack of) equipment and one could make the argument about not having a nullo play the role as is used about having TABs playing wheelchair user roles... Of course this would somewhat depend on whether one considered being a nullo to be a 'disability' which is definitely debatable (and not a can of worms I want to open)

As an aside to Valery's comment about liking such stories, I would mention the mainstream SF author John Varley, who's work includes a lot of novels and short stories set in his "Eight World's" universe... An element in the universe was the availability of 'body sculpting' to do all sorts of body mods (including sex changes) pretty much on demand... There was occasional mention of a "Barbie Cult" and one short story (The Barbie Murders) involving it. The group basically made themselves into identical versions of Barbie and Ken, including removing genitals, etc... It makes police investigation difficult when all the suspects look the same...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Barbie_Murders

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Varley_(author)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Worlds

It has been a long time since I've read any of the above, and I'm not sure if I still have copies, but my recollection is that the ones I read were good both as stories and for being quite thought provoking in the questions they raised...

While not the sort of stories one sees in the collection (no scenes as such) seems like some sort of fit in the 'eunuch-fiction' category

WheelyCurious

[WheelyCurious]

I remember as a boy, me and 2 of my friends appropriated my sister's Barbie. We had Superhero action figures, but we had no Wonder Woman. And we couldn't play Justice League/Super Friends without her. So Barbie had to sub. I know my mother had a fit about boys playing with "dolls" until we explained that Barbie was subbing for Wonder Woman. Then it was OK.

I agree - I never got into any sort of that kind of toy (possibly because my parent's weren't willing to purchase them for me) but I was always kind of confused about exactly what the difference was between "Dolls" and "Action Figures" - I still can't tell the difference, but I've had an occasional bit of amusement in the past by watching the reaction when dealing w/ kids and using the 'wrong' term for their favorite figures - bonus points for asking them why / what the difference is....

I'm also reminded of the tales a few years back about the "Barbie Liberation Organization" and the game they played of swapping the voices of talking Barbies and GI Joe's....

[WheelyCurious]

Then the same applies to the most comic book adaptations.

I can't remember He-man, Spiderman and the like have more than Ken below the belt.

It can help the oversaturate movie genre - "Hey you want play a hero, Ok but it will cost you something." .

regards Stony

True, but I see a difference in that while the action figures sold were 'fixed' (with varying levels of 'bulge') the 'real' movie / comic book character wasn't... (although I agree that your idea of a price for playing the hero role might make those parts a bit harder to cast...)

OTOH, Ken has no 'real' existence other than as a doll, and at least as I understand the Barbie movie concept, the characters in the movie are still being 'dolls' in a model of Barbies plastic world so presumably would be a nullo in the Barbie skin scene (and Barbie wouldn't have nipples, or obvious pussy (or pubic hair) either)

IMHO because they are playing doll roles, there is a stronger case for their being expected to match the 'original' in ALL respects...

WheelyCurious

[NaturalEunuch (imported)]

When we were kids, my sister had a nullo Ken. I had a nullo G.I. Joe.