Onur Tukel is a writer, director and illustrator. Some of his films include Catfight, The Misogynists, Scenes From An Empty Church and Summer of Blood. He co-wrote the children’s books Let’s Make a Movie! and The Legend of Halloween with David Gordon Green.
Barbie. $600 million domestic box office. $1.4 billion globally. It was big. Triumphant. Cathartic. A cinematic miracle. Yeah, I know, it came out last year – it’s yesterday’s news – but it’s probably more relevant now than it was then. And you know why? Because Kamala Harris is the new Democratic nominee for President. I hope she wins. I think she can. I also think she could find a nimble strategy for winning in the narrative of Barbie.
Simplicity. That was the key to Barbie’s success. It was about women vs. men. Women working together. Listening to each other. Being heard. And to see all the Barbies come together to conquer the Kens who had taken over Barbieland – oh, it was so cathartic! What a narrative! Women empowering each other to conquer men, albeit in a compassionate, clever way.
But the narrative! So beautifully simple. Women against men.
And women won!
And the box office won!
And the culture won!
For a few beautiful months, it was like the old days of cinema, when everyone saw the same movie, because they wanted to share in a collective experience.
Kamala, I implore you. Take a cue from Barbie. When it’s time to pick a VP, pick a woman!
It’s exactly the catharsis this country needs – Trump being defeated not by one, but two women! What an incredible narrative! Everyone will want to be part of that history.
Let’s look at Trump’s current narrative. Someone takes a shot at him and now he gets to play hero, martyr and savior simultaneously … not to mention victim, which is pretty ironic, when you think about it.
What’s a better narrative than an assassination attempt? Kamala Harris picking a female running mate. God, it would be beautiful. Republicans would be terrified of it. And it would bring out so much misogyny from those who truly hate the idea of women in power. Hopefully, women would respond to this with their ballots.
When Hillary picked Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate, I felt deflated. It was a lost opportunity. Maybe it was a different time then. It was before the #MeToo movement and there now seems to be more of a consensus that women should support each other.
Have you seen Thelma and Louise lately? It’s aged like fine wine. It’s still so satisfying to watch Louise shoot that piece-of-shit thug in the heart after trying to rape Thelma. Later, the two heroines accost a perverted truck driver, whose large phallic oil rig represents toxic masculinity, years before that term became mainstream. It’s so satisfying to watch that big metal dick go up in a ball of flames. You could argue Thelma and Louise has a bleak ending, but not necessarily. When those final credits roll, our heroes are flying.
Strong women taking down two male clowns – this November, this narrative. Please!
There’s another Thelma in the cinemas right now, played by June Squibb. She’s a 90-year-old woman who takes matters into her own hands when a male criminal scams her out of $10,000. It’s so much fun! There’s nothing like seeing a determined woman win!
Movies are still the greatest art form for showing us an idealized version of ourselves. We see courage on the screen and it makes us want to be braver. We see underdogs standing up to bullies and we imagine ourselves doing the same thing.
I’ve been lucky enough to make a few movies over the years. One of them Catfight, is about two women who continue to beat the fuck out of each other over a four-year period. In the background, a newly elected male president has started a war and reinstated the draft. The women are angry and broken and take their rage out on each other. I used to hear it a lot from my feminist friends. They told me women hate each other and that jealousy often kept them from supporting each other. Now I’m hearing the opposite.
After Catfight, I made a movie called The Misogynists, about two affluent white men celebrating in a hotel room on the night of Trump’s 2016 victory. They hire two female sex workers, who aren’t thrilled with the idea of being sex objects on such a disastrous night. And when the women are exposed to some revolting behavior, they decide to take a stand. Ultimately, it’s up to the female hotel manager to save the day and throw these toxic men out for good.
Use Barbie’s narrative and Trump loses. I wouldn’t be suggesting this if the movie hadn’t been such a hit, but its popularity shows that the world loves sisterhood. Sure, the Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark rivalry is fun to watch, but it’s way more inspiring to hear them praising each other.
America was denied a female president in 2016. It would be so exciting to see it actually happen this time. But dammit, women are due! So, let’s vote in a female president and a female VP. That is the kind of change that would inspire children for generations. I can’t imagine that mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts and uncles would turn their backs on that kind of choice. I have a hunch that the same America that voted for Obama would show up for this ticket. I certainly hope they show up for Kamala on her own. But a two-woman ticket? Oh, what a romantic notion.
And I’m already hearing the reasons why it shouldn’t happen – two women in power would embolden hostile leaders overseas. We have to get over this kind of fear-based thinking. Besides, Trump is counting on this kind of cowardice to get re-elected. That’s why he drones on and on about how Putin and Kim Jong-Un and Iran will be well-behaved if he’s reelected.
It’s time to be brave!
Kamala Harris and a female running mate!
They can win! Big!
And what a great juxtaposition – two strong women defeating two colossal dildos!
