MovieChat Forums > Barbie (2023) Discussion > Shouldn't an actor of color have been ca...

Shouldn't an actor of color have been cast as Ken?


It's very surprising in these more enlightened times to see that Ken hasn't been cast as a character of color.

This would have been a terrific opportunity to add some diversity to this film and impress upon young white girls, who may have grown up idolising / playing with Barbie, that there are other less problematic choices to make when considering a partner these days...

Very surprised that they weren't more inclusive in this one.

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yeah, cast Taika Waititi

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I was thinking someone more like Michael B Jordan.

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He's certainly handsome enough 😍

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All the Ken dolls in the movie are ugly.

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You're just trying to start some shit.

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And be trans too.

I'm completely outraged.

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Mixing Black men and White women is a crime against humanity.

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yes it is crime against humanity, unless the white girl is morbidity obese and disgusting, then the brothers can have her

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unless the white girl is morbidly obese and disgusting
Make her a dishwater blonde and you will have the Black Man's Kryptonite:!

specifically an overweight white or Asian (non black) girls with colorful eyes. (Preferably) green, gray, blue.
The more unhealthy and average looking the better (white and Asian men's unwanted women in society) she's most definitely the Black man’s Kryptonite.
https://www.definder.net/Black_man%E2%80%99s_Kryptonite Must be true. I found it on the internets.🤣🤣

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🤔 I'll bet studio executives considered it.

A tricky $$ equation is

Would the media buzz created by casting a black man as Ken increase the box office significantly over casting Ryan Gosling?

Possible, but casting Gosling seems like a safer bet.

For sure their advertising budget could be close to $0, the media would do all the heavy work.

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What a fucking idiot

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Are you referring to one who chooses to resurrect a dead thread that they don't like? I'm assuming so and I've got to say, I concur. Just completely idiotic 👍.

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Yeah - That's completely nuts re-raising a thread which had been dead for months just to complain about it...

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Isn't Malibu Ken a black dude?

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No, that's Compton Ken you're thinking about.

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Does he wear a clock around his neck?

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U know it, G! Gots a clock and a ton of gold chains around they neck.

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Word

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to yo mutha!

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No, because Ken will be a dumb white male in this.

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That's true. Ken, like most Sitcom Men, is the "idiot of the family", and the woman always has the brains. It's been this way since the Stone Age (See: The Flintstones).

Black men can no longer be idiots, and certainly not criminals like the old days. (See: Rockford Files). Ever notice that in any cop show now, almost all of the Sergeants, Chief of Police, Commish, etc. are black women?

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black girl magic

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It's true (the first part; as a supporter of POC, I don't particularly agree with you, nor staunchly disagree with you, on the second part). For all the talk about how misogynist art/pop culture has historically been, most sitcom men have traditionally been portrayed as morons since the birth of TV, and women as the voice of reason. Supposedly pop culture is controlled by men, and pushes out a misogynist, patriarchal narrative, and yet, all these sitcoms/shows, like The Flintstones, The Honeymooners, The Simpsons, Barbie, always portray men as the waste-of-space fifth wheel, so, what's going on here? Are men in control? Or maybe these 'misogynist' powerful men are simply simping... 🤷‍♂️

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Since before the birth of TV. It was the same in radio sitcoms, and in vaudeville sketches before that. Hell, the ancient Greeks probably had dopey husbands in their plays.

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But I don't understand? Thr patriarchy and systemic misogyny? Am I a bad guy for simply asking someone to make sense of this all? 🤷‍♂️

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