Quote Susan Faludi, Barbie vs Odysseus

 ====

Among the many afflictions distorting our current politics, one has gone unrecognized: We’re in the midst of a zero-sum struggle over which gender gets to own the hero’s journey … Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Mr. Nolan’s “Odyssey” are the same objects with different shapes … The hero’s struggle resonates so universally because we’re all up against monsters of one sort or another …  That’s at stake in the zeitgeist shift between “Barbie” in 2023 and Mr. Nolan’s 2026 he-man travelogue: Which sex gets to own that ennobling elixir? … It’s no longer Menelaus fighting Paris for the possession of Helen — it’s Menelaus versus Helen. Or Odysseus versus Barbie.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/23/opinion/culture/heroine-journey-odyssey-barbie.html 

====

Brilliant analysis by Faludi.  But if it is women vs men for ownership of the stage, as she frames it, then we are doomed by a mentality of dominance and war.  The Barbie movie is more about women being heard and getting fair and equal voice than it is about a "zero-sum" battle to dominate men.  This is brought out, say, in the immortal monologue by America Ferrera.

It starts out this way:

It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don't think you're good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we're always doing it wrong.

You can read the full monologue, which took a long time to craft, here:

https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a44640422/america-ferrera-full-barbie-monologue/

The Barbie movie is about advancing the collective consciousness of civilization to a higher level of ethics technology (see my many blog essays on this, like Lightcraft, 5/25).  Whereas Odysseus is a status quo myth, and does not advance our ethics technology. 

====