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Share How a movie inspired by a toy that has been a staple of American culture since 1959 does at the box office should not be relevant to politics. But today everything is political thanks to a GOP that seeks to move America backwards on just about every front—from reproductive rights to academic freedom to even what is permitted to be part of our nation’s entertainment. We are truly confronted with a GOP that seeks to control just about every aspect of our lives—including what should be allowed in a fun movie like Barbie.

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This review takes a critical perspective of this popular movie; but let’s begin by saying that Barbie is a clever film – it is engaging, funny, well-directed, well-acted, and a little provocative. Yet it is also a very problematic movie if we ‘look awry’ and take a more curious stance. Any Hollywood movie that addresses feminism and patriarchy and at the same time promotes the Barbie corporation Mattel while targeting huge box office success will crash into the very contradictions that this movie did.

There’s spoilers for the Barbie movie and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2  in this newsletter. It probably goes without saying that I loved Barbie. I’ve been thinking about what the theme of this newsletter is lately, as it has clearly transitioned away from being only about non-fiction books by women. Although I still plan to cover that, I’m mostly inspired by my ongoing campaign to defend and honour girl culture, to be the CEO of sparkle commentary.

One should bear witness, in this time of scapegoating, censoring and nascent McCarthyism. In this time, one is also a bare witness, one without the protections of the state, of rights, or of institutions. To witness is to say what there is to see here, against all policing. Because so many remember from 2020 that the police view of the world does not align with their own, this is a real contest, massively unequal in terms of resources and power, but real nonetheless.

Barg’s Catchphrase: “Howlllllllllll!!!!!” (It sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard in your life) Barghest is a shape-shifting boogey animal from English folklore. I call him Barg. Barg can be traced back to the old English word for “Town” and “Ghest” can be traced to Ghost so his name can translate to mean Town Ghost. One of his forms is quite ghostly b… ncG1vNJzZmiln6PAtbHRqJ2toJWssqa3jaysm6uklrCsesKopGioX5q7tb7YZmpmmpGntKmx0q12rqydlMCwwdGcnHZdYnuvs7vWrJxeanabtqTAyKilX62koqyuscOirKZ1opqupbHRaw%3D%3D

Greetings from my new studio. I’m still figuring out the light. I’m still unpacking – boxes and feelings about the flag’s prominence – but for the most part, this is the backdrop. To celebrate the change (and my being done with the bulk of it), I went back and bought the pricey Levi’s Big E 501s I found while reporting this story for Vogue. What. They were 15% off and, to quote my denim spirit sister Meg Younger, “They’re an heirloom.

Today would have been Vada Pinson’s 85th birthday. Sadly, he died from the effects of a stroke in 1995 when he was only 57-years old. His career really isn’t discussed much anymore, but his birthday seems like a good opportunity to remind folks exactly how good he was. Under the rules in effect at the time, Pinson exceeded rookie l… ncG1vNJzZmiokaq5pcPHoqueZqOqr7TAwJyiZ5ufonyxe8Keo56aopbBqrrGZq2anJFivaq60qil

If you’ve read Bill James’ massive book The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, which came out in 2001, then you might recall he took a great deal of time explaining why Willie Davis was a far better baseball player than his actual statistics implied. You can thank your lucky stars that I will not repeat that exercise here, because it involved … ncG1vNJzZmiokaq5pcPHoqueZqOqr7TAwJyiZ5ufonyxe8Gaqp6akaG5br7EppymmpWnwG7DyKWjop1dma63tdI%3D