"Barbie"
Yesterday - a rainy day in northern England. What to do? Shirley was meeting up for lunch with a bunch of other retired practice nurses so I decided to head down to "The Showroom" in the city centre. My chosen film was "Barbie" starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken. I had read some stuff about it - including how the film had riled some sections of the American right who amongst other mean complaints, bridled at the encouragement of "girl power". Also "The Guardian" said of "Barbie": "It’s a riotously entertaining candy-coloured feminist fable that manages simultaneously to celebrate, satirise and deconstruct its happy-plastic subject. Audiences will be delighted." There was singing and dancing and many clever references to plastic Barbie's heyday. The film was colourful, consciously silly and yet rather like a good episode of "The Simpsons" it contained some interesting and challenging not...