Warning: Spoilers ahead for Barbie.
Come on, Barbie, lets go break up with our boyfriends.
More than a week after the release of the Barbie movie, social media is full of stories of women who say they deeply reconsidered their relationships after seeing the film, which has grossed more than $775 million globally so far.
AITA for breaking up with my boyfriend over the Barbie movie? one woman asked on the popular Am I the Asshole subreddit , before sharing the story of how her boyfriend complained to her about the movies feminist themes after they left the showing.
On TikTok, another woman said the Mattel movie inspired her to break up with her boyfriend after a string of bad behavior on his part: Thank you, Barbie for empowering me, for giving me the confidence, for making me realize I deserve better.
Theresa Arzate, 27, of Dallas, shared on Twitter that her ex-boyfriends reaction in the theater was just the push she needed to call it quits .
Hes a good guy, she told HuffPost, but they were having issues long before seeing the movie. Their lived experiences are pretty different, and the Barbie movie highlighted just how differently they view the world.
I was so invested in the movie that I really didnt even recognize how he was perceiving it until he asked, Are you crying? two or three times throughout, Arzate told HuffPost.
After the movie, we amicably came together to recognize that were just not on the same wavelength, she explained. We could argue till the end of time what gender/sex has a tougher time going through life.
Barbie has helped me graduate out of a cycle of overextending myself into spaces or around people I dont truly resonate with, to get myself back to discovering what I want out of life, she said.
Elsewhere on TikTok, women are sharing how they plan to use what did you think of Barbie? as a litmus test for dating. (It should be noted, plenty of men passed the test easily, dressing up in pink for the movie, or sympathizing with their girlfriends or wives after seeing it.)
If you go see it with a guy who says, Ken did nothing wrong, patriarchy [is] good, then you need to get rid of him, Megan The Fangirl Gotham said on TikTok. [Director Greta Gerwig is] trying to save us all, through Barbie!
Melanie Butler, a 27-year-old from Florida, also posted on TikTok about how she hopes straight women use the movie to get a read on the men theyre seeing. (She recommends Gone Girl for this as well.)
Barbie teaches us to empathize with other people as well as ourselves; if someone is able to express how the movie made them feel rather than just surface-level themes, it shows they can recognize their own feelings and communicate them, Butler told HuffPost.
Many women have said how heartening it is to see their experiences reflected on the big screen: They relate to America Ferreras impassioned monologue about how impossible it is to be a woman (you have to be skinny, but you cant say youre skinny, you have to say youre healthy; you have to strive to be successful, but you cant be mean), for instance, or how quick Barbie (as played by Margot Robbie) is to apologize to everyone around her.
Not all are feeling the love, however. Barbie has thoroughly entered the culture wars and has its share of male detractors. One critic on Twitter called it a two-hour woke-a-thon full of nuclear-level rage against men.
Some conservative pundits , Ben Shapiro and Piers Morgan among them, arent fond of the movie. Shapiro said the movie, which indeed includes ample commentary on feminism and the patriarchy, divides men and women. Shapiro set fire to some Barbies in reaction to the film which he called flaming garbage and woke.
That defensive reaction is what caused Gotham to post about the litmus test on TikTok.
I think when someone tells you who they are, even if its through a movie review, believe them, Gotham said. I saw this as someone who was married for 15 years: These kinds of core beliefs dont change or get better over time, so if you can learn about someone youre dating from something as trivial as the Barbie movie, take the lesson!
The judgment goes both ways, though. Online, theres also been stories of single men who consider liking Barbie a dealbreaker.
Allison Panetta recently was unmatched on Hinge after she told a guy that Barbie is an experience and Oppenheimer is just a film.
I dont think every man needs to be as excited or want to see Barbie as much as their partners, but I think a guy should be able to set aside two hours to see a movie thats important or exciting to whoever theyre dating without putting it down or complaining about it, Panetta told HuffPost.
I do think if a guy has a strong negative reaction to just the idea of seeing the movie or feminine interests then that is a red flag, she said.
Nicholas Balaisis, a psychotherapist in Ontario, Canada, who wrote about Barbies nuanced portrayal of masculinity for Psychology Today, wouldnt necessarily advise singles to use the film for a litmus test, per se. Still, he does think a mans reaction to Barbie is a good way to engage a guy in a conversation about their discomforts.
It might be interesting to explore why they are upset, offended, he told HuffPost. You can use it as a way into an honest conversation about gender and romantic desires. An outright refusal to engage in this way might indicate a lack of emotional maturity and may be a sign that the person is not yet ready for a real relationship.
Allie Fridstein, a mental health counselor in Columbus, Ohio, agrees. While nobody needs to enjoy the exact same entertainment as you, its reasonable to expect basic respect and decency from a romantic partner in the way they talk about things that emotionally affect you.
There is a significant difference between, I didnt like the movie but Im glad you enjoyed it vs. I hated it because it was woke garbage, she said.
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