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For fantasy fans, it truly is the best of times, and the worst of times. On the bright side—there’s more magic wielding, dragon riding, caped crusading content than ever before. Yay to that.

On the other hand, have you noticed that with all these shows, something feels … off?

No, that’s not just adulthood stripping you of childlike wonder. There is a subtle, yet undeniable decline in how these shows are being made, and your eyes are picking up on it. Nolan Yost, a freelance wigmaker living in New York City, explains the shift in his now viral Facebook post.

The post, which has been shared nearly 3,500 times, attributes shows being “mid,” (aka mediocre, or my favorite—meh) mostly to the new streaming-based studio system, which quite literally prioritizes quantity over quality, pumping out new content as fast as possible to snag a huge fan base.

The result? A “Shein era of mass media,” Yost says, adding that “the toll it takes on costuming and hair/makeup has made almost every new release from Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu have a B-movie visual quality.”

He even had some pictures to prove it.

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Yost first addressed the Amazon Prime Series “The Rings of Power.” One of the many, many things that makes Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy so iconic is the costumes. But that legacy was the direct result of dedication to detail.

“The production spent years hand-making every single piece of armor with real metal, hand-dyeing all-natural fiber fabrics, and designing distinct embroidery and hairstyles specific to each race in Middle Earth that had continuity through the story,” Yost wrote.

He added, “the natural dyes and dedicated layers of fabrics for elves, for hobbits, wool/dyes, and for men had a much more muted/medieval look, yet ethereal because of the slight detail you don’t really notice, but the depth draws your eye to every inch of the costume regardless.” This, he says, is why those three movies stand the test of time.

Compare this to the two images from “The Rings of Power,” below. In one photo “they barely scrapped together an unnaturally gilded scale mail breastplate and just screen printed a stretched long sleeve shirt to match underneath, all over a skirt in a single layer of a warped poly skirt.”

The other image shows “they just saved money on an Elven wig altogether for a 2022 pompadour, with a velvet pleated priest smock (with crushed parts not even steamed out), and a neckline that isn’t tailored to fit like we’ve seen previously with Elrond or Celeborn.”

Yost then moved onto HBO’s “House of the Dragon.” Arguably even those who have never seen a single episode of its predecessor, “Game of Thrones,” would still recognize Daenerys Targaryen for her platinum white hair—an attribute that Yost notes was quite expensive.

He explained that for the show’s final season alone, Daenerys’ wigs most likely cost tens of thousands, requiring human hair to be custom made into multiple wigs.

Luckily, there was only one character with that signature look in the show. For “House of the Dragon,” however, with a cast almost entirely made up of silver-haired brooding powerhouses, Yost surmises that due to budget constraints, the creators opted for synthetic wigs.

You can see below the problem this cost-cutting decision makes in terms of authenticity.

“Synthetic hair reflects light throughout the whole hair shaft and it tangles extremely easily,” Yost writes. “With any shot where a character isn’t actively moving or is performing dialogue and the hair isn’t being actively smoothed down every couple of seconds between shots, each flyaway is going to show up on camera if there’s any indirect lighting and look messy. Not only that, synthetic hair is also twice as thick per strand than human hair, so regardless of that the wigs are going to look bulky in an uncanny valley sort of way.”

This affects not just sci-fi and fantasy, but other genres meant to transport viewers into other worlds, like period pieces, which Yost points out with a picture from “Bridgerton” by Shonda Rhimes.

“It’s obviously not meant to be historically accurate, which is totally fine,” he writes, but without important details or embellishments or even proper undergarments to make the clothes fit well, everything looks like a slightly more expensive Halloween costume.

Yost’s insightful post really shines a light on what audiences are having to trade off for the sake of constant output. The phrase “done is better than perfect” takes on a new meaning altogether as studios race to meet a deadline with whatever is easiest to mass produce. But if viewers are so easily taken out of these stories because of noticeable corner cutting, then perhaps it’s a sign that what we really want and need are stories worth waiting for, ones that truly pull us in and leave us captivated. This is no easy ask, for studio execs or customers alike (I too am a voracious binge-watcher), but as we can see in these examples, the most valuable experiences rarely, if ever, come from rushing.

This article originally appeared on 9.10.22

Being a parent is often a thankless job, and being a stepparent is usually even more thankless. But most parents show up and do their best to make sure their kids have what they need and feel loved. So when our kids do or say something to show appreciation, it melts our hearts—but nothing melts it faster than a stepchild calling their bonus parent “Mom” or “Dad” for the first time.

A creator named Shane posted a clip from a longer video showing his reaction to hearing his stepdaughter call him “Dad” for the first time. The full video is about three years old, but when it was reposted as a clip recently, it pulled on everyone’s heartstrings.

Shane and his wife, Liana, run the social media pages Shane and Liana where they post silly videos pranking each other. But this video wasn’t a prank. His stepdaughter, London, wanted to surprise him after wanting to call him “Dad” for a long time.

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She can barely contain her excitement in the clip, squealing loudly when climbing into the back seat. When Shane gets in the car, London knows this is her chance.

“Hi Dad, how was your day?” she asks.

Shane turns completely around in shock as the heartwarming realization of what she just called him sets in.

“Did you just call me Dad? Just made my heart melt to know she called me Dad,” Shane says full of emotion.

London and Liana explain earlier in the video that Shane has raised the little girl since she was 2 years old. She didn’t meet her biological father until she was 5, and he was only in her life briefly before leaving, so this was a big moment. Viewers under the newly re-uploaded clip revealed that watching the interaction made them just as emotional as Shane.

“Idk how the mom ain’t crying!?! I’m crying,” Mari Morales writes.

“This video hits me right in the heart and soul,” Sarah Douglas writes. “My ‘step’ dad raised me from 7 years old. I’ve never met the sperm donor once, but my REAL dad is the one that chose to love me regardless of biology. Forever grateful for the real men that ‘step’ up to be there for us.”

“So true the first time my oldest daughter called me dad I cried she’s not blood but she is mine no matter what,” Timothy Evans says.

Phoenix is known for its scorching hot summers, with temperatures sitting at or above 100 degrees for much of the season. But even those seasoned by the Sonoran sun are struggling with nearly three weeks straight of high temps over 110 degrees, with overnight lows not dipping below 90 degrees for days on end.

(Having lived in the Valley of the Sun myself, I can attest that, yes, there is a significant difference between 100 and 110 degrees. At 100, you can still legitimately pull the “But it’s a dry heat!” card. Over 110 is just miserable, not to mention dangerous.)

The Southwest isn’t the only place experiencing record heat. The Lower Mississippi Valley and Florida are feeling it, and globally we’re seeing parts of Europe and Asia breaking their own heat records as well.

With the globe predictably heating up due to climate change, there doesn’t appear to be much end in sight for extra-oppressive heat waves. So aside from taking the necessary steps to curb climate change, we have to focus on how to cool ourselves down. There’s a lot of conflicting advice out there, but here are some scientifically-backed ways to cool your body down quickly, especially if you don’t have air conditioning or access to a pool or lake or river nearby.

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1. Focus on cooling your hands and feet.

Everyone seems to have a different body part to focus on first for the quickest cool-down—your face, your neck, your wrists, etc.—but according to Professor Mike Tipton from the Extreme Environments Laboratory at the University of Portsmouth, the hands are where it’s at.

“Your hands have a high surface area to mass area—they have lots of blood flowing in them when you’re hot. If your core temperature is hot, your body will send blood to the extremities in order to lose heat,” Tipton told Science Focus.

“Immersing your hands in cold water won’t feel as nice, but it’ll cool you much faster than even an ice bath! It’s so important to make a distinction between things that make you feel cooler and things that actually make you cooler.”

Cooling your feet works for the same reasons. We have lots of blood flow to our feet, so immersing them in cool water (not ice water, as that causes the blood vessels to constrict and reduce blood flow) can help cool you down quickly.

2. Try drinking hot liquids.

Yes, drinking cold drinks feels amazing when you’re hot, but some experts say hot drinks can actually do more to help your body’s natural cooling system work more efficiently. Ollie Jay, a researcher at the University of Ottawa’s School of Human Kinetics, explains why.

“What we found is that when you ingest a hot drink, you actually have a disproportionate increase in the amount that you sweat,” Jay told The Smithsonian. “Yes, the hot drink is hotter than your body temperature, so you are adding heat to the body, but the amount that you increase your sweating by—if that can all evaporate—more than compensates for the added heat to the body from the fluid.”

The one caveat is that the increased sweat has to have someplace to evaporate, so take humidity levels into consideration.

“On a very hot and humid day, if you’re wearing a lot of clothing, or if you’re having so much sweat that it starts to drip on the ground and doesn’t evaporate from the skin’s surface, then drinking a hot drink is a bad thing,” Jay added. “The hot drink still does add a little heat to the body, so if the sweat’s not going to assist in evaporation, go for a cold drink.”

3. Try some spicy foods, too.

Have you ever noticed that tropical places often have the spiciest foods? There are several theories for why that is, but one of them may be that spicy foods can actually help you stay cool.

Similarly to drinking hot beverages, eating spicy food makes you sweat, and sweat is the body’s main cooling system. (Again, though, the effectiveness of this approach depends on your sweat being able to evaporate, so you may not benefit from your mouth burning if you’re in a very hot and humid climate.)

4. Ditch the fan if it’s extremely hot AND extremely dry or humid.

Fans can provide a nice breeze to help you cool down, but many public health agencies have recommended against using fans above 95 degrees F (35 degrees C).

However, Ollie Jay and 12 colleagues published a study in 2021 that found humidity levels make a difference in whether fans are actually effective for cooling in extremely high temperatures. Essentially, if temps are extreme and conditions are very dry or very humid, fans can make things worse. But as Science Alert points out, those conditions are not the norm in most places. When humidity is moderate, the temperature at which fans are effective can be higher than 95 degrees.

“[T]here are many locations on Earth where fan use could be safely recommended as an alternative to air conditioning all of the time despite air temperature exceeding the currently recommended threshold of 35 °C,” the authors wrote.

(However, it is important to note that fans increase the risk of dehydration, so always make sure you’re drinking plenty of fluids. And for older adults, fan use is not as effective as it is for younger people and can actually result in raising their body temperatures. So it’s important that elderly folks and their caregivers follow heat guidance specifically for older adults.)

5. Just say no to the cold beer—or any alcoholic or caffeinated beverage

Cracking open a cold one may sound incredibly refreshing when you’re sweltering, but alcohol and heat actually make poor bedfellows. That’s because alcohol actually dehydrates you. Same goes for caffeine. And the fact that they are liquids is especially deceptive because they give you a false sense of hydration.

“If you’re drinking a lot of beer or alcoholic seltzer, it can feel like you’re taking in a lot of liquid and staying hydrated,” registered dietitian Julia Zumpano, RD, LD, tells the Cleveland Clinic. “But the alcohol offsets that because of the dehydrating factor.”

(If you’re interested in the biological reason for alcohol being dehydrating, it reduces the release of vasopressin, an antidiuretic hormone (ADH) that works with your kidneys to keep your body fluids balanced. Alcohol is also a diuretic, which means it increases the fluid being pulled out of your body as urine.

Hydration is key to making it through a heat wave, so drink aplenty, but make it water. (And start hydrating early in the day. Keeping water near you at all times and continually drinking throughout the day will go a long way toward preventing heat illness.)

6. Try dabbing on some peppermint oil

I know, I know. Essential oils are quack cures and whatnot. But in this case, even though it doesn’t drop your core temperature, there really is a scientific basis for topical peppermint oil making you temporarily feel cooler.

Menthol, the primary ingredient in peppermint oil, has been shown to induce a cooling sensation. If you’ve ever sucked on a menthol cough drop, you know the feeling. Peppermint oil creates a similar sensation on the skin, which can provide some psychological relief from the heat, even if it’s not actually reducing your body temperature.

In one study, a menthol gel was found to have a longer cooling effect than either ice or a placebo gel on healthy males. But anecdotally, a few dabs of peppermint oil on my wrists, neck and inside my elbows provides some instant cooling relief on very hot days. When it’s brutally hot outside, any bit of relief helps.

There are plenty more tips for beating the heat, from wearing light-colored clothing to avoiding strenuous activity, but the big takeaway from this list is helping our body’s built-in cooling system work as well as it possibly can during extreme heat.

For more information about the dangers of heat waves and how to prevent heat illness, check out the American Red Cross extreme heat safety tips here.

There is a subtle form of prejudice that LGBTQ couples face when their relationships aren’t seen as viable or genuinely loving as heterosexuals. Some may believe that LGBTQ attraction is purely sexual or that their relationships are somehow inferior because they aren’t “traditional.”

The result is that LGBTQ couples can be made to feel that their love is seen as lesser than that enjoyed by straight people.

A 29-year-old gay man felt that his husband’s mother-in-law disrespected their marriage, and her homophobia was so blatant that the couple had to leave a family vacation. A Reddit user, throwaway5289392, went on vacation with his husband at an Airbnb with his family. The group was comprised of five couples—his husband’s three siblings and significant others, and his mother and father-in-law.

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When the couple arrived, the mother-in-law pre-determined their bedroom selection. Strangely, the gay couple was given a room with two twin beds instead of a double bed, so they had to sleep separately. The couple tried to bring the beds together, but their headboards were attached to the wall. In contrast, all of the heterosexual couples got to sleep in double beds.

The room selection seemed suspicious to throwaway5289392.

“I asked my [mother-in-law] why she had chosen a house that didn’t have enough double beds to hold all of the couples that were invited, and she told me to stop making a fuss because it wasn’t that big of a deal,” they wrote on the AITA subforum.

Now, the poster could have easily chalked the mother-in-law’s decision to chance, not malice, but her response showed that she harbored some homophobic feelings toward her son and his husband.

“I then asked why she hadn’t mentioned it beforehand, and she rolled her eyes at me, saying that I was overdramatic, a ‘walking stereotype’ and that me not clinging to her son for a little while might be for the best,” he wrote.

A caring mother-in-law would have apologized and tried to find a way to fix the situation. But instead, she called him a “walking stereotype,” referring to the age-old gay drama queen trope. Instead of seeing the situation humanely, she resorted to diminishing him by seeing him as little more than a stereotype.

Also, would the mother-in-law have accused any of her straight kids’ spouses of being too clingy?

“Considering she has made some borderline homophobic comments in the past (she claims they’re jokes), I was quite uncomfortable, and based on her remarks, I felt like she had given the room with the single beds to the only gay couple on purpose,” throwaway5289392 wrote.

So, the couple decided to pack their bags and stay in a hotel room a few towns over where they could sleep together. Their decision didn’t sit well with the mother-in-law, who accused the couple of “dividing” the family and ruining the vacation.

Throwaway5289392 asked the forum if he was in the wrong for leaving the vacation, and he received overwhelming support.

“From what you’ve said, it does sound like she intentionally gave ‘the gay couple’ separate beds. You didn’t ruin the vacation. Her homophobia did,” Rredhead926 wrote.

“If it was not a big thing, MIL could have taken the room herself. She did this on purpose. You handled [her] well,” TinyCost2291 added.

SevenCarrots made the important point that someone who isn’t homophobic would have taken a much more thoughtful approach to the bed situation.

“This woman is hostile towards you and homophobic. A kind, sensitive person would make sure they DIDN’T give the gay couple the room with two single beds, precisely because they wouldn’t want it to seem intentional,” SevenCarrots wrote.

Overall the commenters agreed that the couple was right to stand up for themselves and to refuse to be treated as a second-class couple on the trip.

Covering songs is trickier than it looks. Sure, it’s technically doable for anyone with musical ability, but to reimagine a song in a fresh, new way while still holding onto its original essence takes more than just skill. The truly great cover songs happen when the new artist understands what made it great in the first place on an emotional level.

And then you have songs that are so lightning in a bottle that seemingly no cover can do it justice, no matter what. Arguably, Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” is one of them. There’s just something about Chapman’s otherworldly vocals that bring the song’s simple, soulful lyrics to life in a special, profound way.

However, Luke Combs has seemingly done the impossible on multiple levels, giving the folk tune a country music spin, having people love it and even getting approval from Chapman herself.

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If you haven’t heard it yet, a video is posted below for your listening pleasure.

The literal hundreds of thousands of folks who have heard it agree rather unanimously that Combs did a surprisingly good job.

As one person wrote, “I appreciate the fact that Luke understood the perfection and simplistic beauty of Chapman’s song and kept his cover true to the original.”

Another agreed, “Normally I am skeptical about folks covering songs that should be left untouched. But after listening to this cover all I can say is WELL DONE! He remained true to the song.”

“Fast Car” has been a live concert staple of Combs for years. And during a show in May, the country star shared how he first fell in love with the song (the whole album, really) because of his dad, who would play it while riding in his brown Ford F-150.

“He played me all kinds of music, and one of the first songs that I remember hearing…I love this whole album, and there was this one song that really stuck out to me, though, and it was called ‘Fast Car,'” he told the crowd. “And that song has meant a lot to me ever since then for my whole life. I always think about my dad when it comes on, and us spending time together.”

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Three decades after its debut, Combs’ version of “Fast Car,” which is part of his new album, “Gettin’ Old,” charted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot—besting the original’s No. 6 peak in 1988. And while the cover’s breakthrough sparked some discourse over racism within the country music genre, many are pointing out how the original was a career-making, multiple award-winning hit, leaving Chapman far from being snubbed.

“Combs’ version has generated at least $500,000 in global publishing royalties, Billboard estimates, with the bulk going to Chapman who owns both the writers’ and publisher’s share of the song.” https://t.co/eYrVr0Xjz1

— Angelo Young (@angeloyoung_) July 8, 2023

Plus, Combs’ rendition only adds to Chapman’s success. According to Billboard, not only does she make a hefty portion of money through royalties, she is the first Black woman to hit No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart in over 30 years as a song’s sole writer. And an added plus—Chapman also reached No. 1 on Billboard‘s Country Songwriters chart. She’s basically dominating in a music genre she’s never even pursued.

As for how Chapman feels about the surprise windfall, she told Billboard in an exclusive statement, “I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honored to be there,” adding that “I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.’” Can you imagine getting this kind of nod from an artist you deeply admire? I’d be done for.

Combs would end up reciprocating the appreciation, calling “Fast Car” a “perfect song.”

“I have played it in my live show now for six-plus years and everyone—I mean everyone—across all these stadiums relates to this song and sings along,” he told Billboard exclusively. “That’s the gift of a supernatural songwriter. The success of my cover is unreal and I think it’s so cool that Tracy is getting recognized and has reached new milestones. I love that she is out there feeling all the love and that she gave me a shout-out! Thank you, Tracy!”

Let’s conclude by asking the question on everybody’s mind: When are we getting a duet?

Dominic Fike is currently taking stages for his Don’t Stare At The Sun Tour. The Euphoria star just shared his sophomore album Sunburn (whose only feature is, rather unpredictably, Weezer.)

The tour kicked off last week in Indianapolis on July 13 and has since stopped by Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. It will hit New York City tomorrow, July 19. The setlist so far has been full of tracks from his new record. The show begins with the album opener “How Much Is Weed?” and has other songs like “Mama’s Boy,” “Ant Pile,” and “Mona Lisa,” which were originally singles.

The shows even contain a cover of Paul McCartney’s “The Kiss of Venus” as well, which Fike also performed on The Late Late Show in 2021. He was also a guest on The Beatles member’s McCartney III Imagined project that year, along with Phoebe Bridgers, Beck, Khruangbin, Damon Albarn, and more.

Check out the setlist from his Philadelphia show, according to setlist.fm.

1. “How Much Is Weed?”
2. “Mama’s Boy”
3. “Ant Pile”
4. “Double Negative (Skeleton Milkshake)”
5. “The Kiss of Venus” (Paul McCartney cover)
6. “Sick”
7. “Westcoast Collective”
8. “3 Nights”
9. “Superstar Sh*t”
10. “Sunburn”
11. “Come Here”
12. “Babydoll”
13. “Pasture Child”
14. “Frisky”
15. “Think Fast”
16. “7 Hours”
17. “Bodies”
18. “Mona Lisa”
19. “Phone Numbers”
20. “Why”
21. “Wurli”

America’s got Barbie fever, and whatever you have for a three-hour bummer about the inventor of the most dangerous weapon in human history. But not everyone is stoked. Republicans, of course, are furious about Greta Gerwig’s ultra-pink Mattel movie. Why? Because of a map. Ted Cruz won’t shut up about it, but he (presumably) hasn’t seen it. Cruz’s fellow MAGA Republican Matt Gaetz and his wife have. Here’s a picture of them at the premiere.

And here’s what Gaetz’s wife, Ginger, thought about Barbie. Spoiler: She didn’t like it!

That’s not true: Gaetz praised lead Margot Robbie, as well as the “Stunning costume design” and “Amazing soundtrack.” Alas, she had some concerns.

“The Barbie I grew up with was a representation of limitless possibilities, embracing diverse careers and feminine empowerment,” she wrote. “The 2023 Barbie movie, unfortunately, neglects to address any notion or faith or family, and tries to normalize the idea that men and women can’t collaborate positively (yuck).”

She also listed three cons:

Unfortunate portrayal of big dreams causing anxiety instead of inspiration
Disappointingly low T from Ken
Unfair treatment of pregnant Barbie Midge

“I’d recommend sticking to getting outfit inspiration and skipping the theater,” Gaetz advised. “I really wanted to enjoy it, but ended up feeling let down.”

In the comments section, someone praised Gosling’s work. Gaetz disagreed, declaring that he’s “got major beta energy in this one.”

Gaetz’s negative reaction may have also stemmed from something mentioned in nearly all reviews thus far: that it’s unmistakably feminist, albeit still a movie where Ryan Gosling gets a ridiculous musical number. A man singing and dancing? That must be what she finds “low T.”

(Via Newsweek)

Over the weekend, Marjorie Taylor Greene tried to slam Joe Biden. Instead, she inadvertently praised him. Talking to the throngs at the far right Turning Point Action committee, the Georgia lawmaker claimed that it was bad the sitting president was using the government to help struggling Americans. Greene failed so badly that she earned sarcastic praise from White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Now the Biden team is using her words in their latest campaign ad.

In the ad, an excerpt from Greene’s speech — which, again, were supposed to be a condemnation — play over inspiring images of Biden and VP Kamala Harris meeting everyday Americans. Here’s what Greene thought made Biden sound bad:

Joe Biden had the largest public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs that is actually finishing what FDR started, that LBJ expanded on, and Joe Biden is attempting to complete. Programs to address education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, Medicare, Medicaid, labor unions, and he still is working on it.

The ad is a stark reminder that Republicans tried to stand in the way of a Democratic president’s public policies then, and they’re doing it now.

The conference Greene attended was a real clown car affair, featuring such doozies as Don Jr. again claiming he doesn’t snort cocaine. We’d tell the GOP to shape up if they want to win, but maybe they’re best keepin’ on as they’ve been keepin’ on.

(Via Mediaite)

Country singer Jason Aldean has been at the center of the public conversation, and not for a good reason. His song “Try That In a Small Town” — which is now two months old — just got a music video, and people online are discussing its extremely pro-gun lyrical content, which is even more worrying considering he was on-stage during the mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert in 2017.

Billboard has reported that CMT pulled the video from its rotation Monday, July 17, after it aired through the weekend. No statement has been made. The video features footage of a person with a gun robbing a store, protestors in streets burning an American flag and yelling at police, and more.

Aldean confronted the situation in a lengthy Instagram Story, writing, “I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject too the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.”

He continued, “NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart,” he wrote. “‘Try That In A Small Town,’ for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief.”

Since it was first announced, it’s been widely suspected that the first big screen Barbie movie would probably be improbably smart. After all, its director’s previous film was an adaptation of Little Women. This weekend, Greta Gerwig’s take on the Mattel doll — which she wrote with her partner, Marriage Story’s Noah Baumbach — finally hits theaters (at the same time as Oppenheimer, if you haven’t heard). The first reactions to the film were out of this world. And the reviews are, for the most part, strong, too.

Most of the raves admit there are imperfections, such as the one from IndieWire:

Gerwig and Baumbach’s venture into the Real World is absolutely necessary — it unlocks the film’s thesis after besieging us with diverting fun, gives us the darling Greenblatt and her Barbie-obsessed mom Gloria (America Ferrera, who runs off with the film’s last act), and allows Will Ferrell to go nuts as the wacky (male!) CEO of Mattel. However, it’s not nearly as fun, fantastic, and entertaining as the rich world of Barbie Land — that’s the point. Thankfully, we’re back there soon enough, though it’s been hugely altered by the full force of a returning (and, dare we say it, red-pilled) Ken, who uses all his newfound male rage and patriarchal power to upend what was once a lady-powered idyll. Barbie? She’s having a bad day.

Ditto Entertainment Weekly:

Still, Barbie works hard to entertain both 11-year-old girls and the parents who’ll bring them to the theater. Gerwig co-wrote the script with her partner and longtime collaborator Noah Baumbach, and the entire screenplay is packed with winking one-liners, the kind that reward a rewatch. The fear is that Hollywood will learn the wrong message from Barbie, rushing to green light films about every toy gathering dust on a kid’s playroom floor. (What’s next, The Funko Pop Movie? Furby: Fully Loaded? We already have a Bobbleheads movie, so maybe we’re already there.) But it’s Gerwig’s care and attention to detail that gives Barbie an actual point of view, elevating it beyond every other cynical, IP-driven cash grab. Turns out that life in plastic really can be fantastic.

And right here at Uproxx:

Make no doubt about it, Barbie is a very weird movie. One I enjoyed very much. And quite possibly the weirdest studio movie I’ve ever seen based on a product that another company is very much still hoping to sell. (I truly imagine some sort of urgent phone call at some point, “Um, yeah, so we have some notes about the CEO of Mattel character?“) I can’t get over the fact that Will Ferrell plays the CEO of Mattel as a bumbling oaf who loves tickle-fights…Again, I can’t believe Gerwig got away with this. And that’s not to say there’s no love for this character – there obviously is – but it’s not often we get this amount of social commentary squeezed directly from the company that licensed the movie. And I don’t want to make it sound heavy-handed. I saw this movie somewhat early in the morning after a night of little sleep and I legitimately laughed out loud at least ten times. I truly don’t know what audiences expecting a straightforward Barbie movie will make of all this. But I, for one, hope Warner Bros. and Mattel let Gerwig and Baumbach make five more of these.

Same with Variety:

Check out the brain on Barbie! Sure, she’s just a doll, but that doesn’t mean she has to be an airhead. Therein lies “Lady Bird” director Greta Gerwig’s inspired, 21st-century solution to bringing one of America’s most iconic playthings to life on the big screen. Combine that with the casting of Margot Robbie in the title role, and “Barbie” is already starting out on the right, perfectly arched foot. So what if this high-concept comedy falls a bit flat in the final stretch?

And RogerEbert.com:

But while “Barbie” is wildly ambitious in an exciting way, it’s also frustratingly uneven at times. After coming on strong with wave after wave of zippy hilarity, the film drags in the middle as it presents its more serious themes. It’s impossible not to admire how Gerwig is taking a big swing with heady notions during the mindless blockbuster season, but she offers so many that the movie sometimes stops in its propulsive tracks to explain itself to us—and then explain those points again and again. The breezy, satirical edge she established off the top was actually a more effective method of conveying her ideas about the perils of toxic masculinity and entitlement and the power of female confidence and collaboration.

Some reviews are more notably mixed, including the one at The New York Times:

Gerwig handles the transition between realms smoothly, but even in this bouncy, happy movie, reality proves a bummer. It’s amusing when Barbie points out a billboard filled with women, mistaking them for the Supreme Court because that’s what the court looks like in Barbie Land, just with more pink. She learns how wrong she was, which is to Gerwig’s point. But the weight of our world, emblematized at least for this viewer by the real Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, proves unbearably heavy. However politically sharp, the gag is an unpleasant reminder of all the profoundly unfunny ways in which this world, with its visible and invisible hands, tries to control women, putting them into little boxes.

The same with The Hollywood Reporter:

The film largely avoids treading familiar ground (I’m thinking specifically of Life-Size, Disney’s early-aughts attempt at the doll-interacting-with-human thing) or becoming what it mocks because of Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s smart screenplay, which sprinkles winking jokes throughout. The moments that aren’t just laughing at and with the crowd, however, are shoved into long, important monologues that, with each recitation, dull the impact of their message. The gestures feel politically hollow because the reality is that a film with this mandate just can’t do it all.

And Deadline:

However, just like the world’s environment, this is an imperfect film. It stumbles somewhat in its handling of its characters of color. They mostly are used as devices to push the Stereotypical Barbie and Ken narratives forward, which sideline the notion that humanity should act as equals. I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt because maybe that was the point? That type of visibility does reflect the state of the world, for the most part.

There also are periods of the film that lag. There is a tight 95-minute movie here, but it’s crammed with pointless dance scenes and musical numbers that are just filler and nothing else. But despite the shortcomings, the film’s concluding segments offer a nuanced approach, where both women and men collaboratively fix their own communities, based on the lessons they’ve learned. This illustrates a vision of collective action and a hope for a future where everyone actively participates in creating a better world.

Will audiences feel the same way? More importantly, will those doing doubles with Oppenheimer feel whiplash from seeing an unnecessarily brainy movie about Barbie paired with a downer about the inventor of the most dangerous weapon ever invented by humans? Time will tell.