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Code.org Embraces Barbie 9 Years After Helping Take Her Down (tynker.com) 75

Posted by EditorDavid from the beyond-my-Ken dept.
Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: The number one movie in North America is Warner Bros. Discovery's Barbie, which Deadline reports has teamed up with Oppenheimer to fuel a mind-blowing $300M+ box office weekend. ["Oppenheimer Shatters Expectations with $80 Million Debut," read the headline at Variety.]

Now it seems everybody is trying to tap into Barbie buzz, including Microsoft's Xbox [which added Barbie and Ken's cars to Forza Horizon 5] and even Microsoft-backed education nonprofit Code.org. ("Are your students excited about Barbie The Movie? Have them try an HourOfCode [programming game] with Barbie herself!").
The idea is to inspire young students to become coders. But as Code.org shares Instagram images of a software developer Barbie, Slashdot reader theodp remembers when, nine years ago, Code.org's CEO "took to Twitter to blast Barbie and urge for her replacement." They'd joined a viral 2014 Computer Engineer Barbie protest that arose in response to the publication of Barbie F***s It Up Again, a scathing and widely reported-on blog post that prompted Mattel to pull the book Barbie: I Can Be a Computer Engineer immediately from Amazon. This may have helped lead to Barbie's loss of her crown as the most popular girls' toy in the ensuing 2014 holiday season to Disney's Frozen princesses Elsa and Anna, and got the Mattel exec who had to apologize for Computer Engineer Barbie called to the White House for a sit down a few months later. (Barbie got a brainy makeover soon thereafter)...

The following year, Disney-owned Lucasfilm and Code.org teamed up on Star Wars: Building a Galaxy with Code, a signature tutorial for the 2015 Hour of Code. Returning to a Disney princess theme in 2016, Disney and Code.org revealed a new Hour of Code tutorial featuring characters from the animated film Moana just a day ahead of its theatrical release. It was later noted that Moana's screenwriters included Pamela Ribon, who penned the 2014 Barbie-blasting blog post that ended Barbie's short reign as the Hour of Code role model of choice for girls.

Interestingly, Ribon seems to bear no Barbie grudges either, tweeting on the day of the Barbie movie release, "I was like holy s*** can't wait to see it."
To be fair, the movie's trailer promises "If you hate Barbie, this movie is for you," in a deconstruction where Barbie is played by D.C. movies' "Harley Quinn" actress Margot Robbie (Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey), whose other roles include Tonya Harding and the home-wrecking second wife in The Wolf of Wall Street.
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Code.org Embraces Barbie 9 Years After Helping Take Her Down More

Code.org Embraces Barbie 9 Years After Helping Take Her Down

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  • Marketing A-Bomb (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Berkyjay ( 1225604 ) on Sunday July 23, 2023 @04:54PM (#63709616)

    The amount of marketing for this movie is absolutely insane.

    Now it seems everybody is trying to tap into Barbie buzz

    Because Warner Brothers is paying EVERYONE to talk about it.

    • Re:Marketing A-Bomb (Score:5, Funny)

      by gtall ( 79522 ) on Sunday July 23, 2023 @05:03PM (#63709628)

      How much are you getting?

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Apparently, it's actually a decent film. And for a few days, everyone is talking about Oppenheimer and the Barbie movie as being good movies rather than politics or race or any of the other crap that fills the news.

      Some people you wouldn't expect are doing the double-feature thing where you watch both movies in a day.

      Sure, the Barbie movie is meant to appeal to a younger audience, but it apparently has a wide enough appeal for adults as well. And if you have a significant other, especially if it's a girlfri

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Ben Shapiro released a 42 minute rant video about Barbie, in which he buys some dolls (Mattel says thanks) and burns them, complete with dubbed in screams of agony.

        The outrange industry is having a field day with that one.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by RoccamOccam ( 953524 )
      The Critical Drinker has a scathing (even more than usual) review of the movie: Barbie - The Greatest Lie Ever Told [youtube.com].

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by serviscope_minor ( 664417 )

        Meh

        All that guy does is crap on stuff with a side order of, well, side eye.

        The "everything sucks" attitude is boring and juvenile and rarely adds any insight. He's also reactionary, which is at its core the same mindless attitude directed at a slightly different topic.

        • Meh

          All that guy does is crap on stuff with a side order of, well, side eye.

          The "everything sucks" attitude is boring and juvenile and rarely adds any insight. He's also reactionary, which is at its core the same mindless attitude directed at a slightly different topic.

          I only had to go back 3 months to find seven positive reviews (on just one of his channels).

          Either you're clueless or you're trying to mislead everyone because you can't stand that people trust the drinker far more than establishment-approved critics.

          https://www.youtube.com/@TheCr... [youtube.com]

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

          • People who don't understand hyperbole should be publicly eviscerated in the town square.

            • People who don't understand hyperbole should be publicly eviscerated in the town square.

              I gave multiple examples with a variety of films, all from an extremely shallow search/skim of his channel. Nice try, though.

              • 7 positive out of 28 videos in 3 months is a pretty heavy stream of relentless negativity.

                Anyway evisceration for you!

                • 7 positive out of 28 videos in 3 months is a pretty heavy stream of relentless negativity.

                  Anyway evisceration for you!

                  Oh, you want to extend the skimming to the last 28 videos deep instead of just movie reviews (starting with the Barbie review)? And then try to sneak by without counting the positive vids that were just added? LOL

                  I count 14 positive videos, so half. Turns I even missed a positive film review in my initial post (The Covenant). Again, you're just a propagandist upset that people trust the drinker over your ilk.

                  • Oh, you want to extend the skimming to the last 28 videos deep instead of just movie reviews

                    What's good for the goose is good for the gander. You're being pedantic about hyperbole, so I get to be pedantic by referring to what I actually wrote, not what you wish I wrote. I said all he does is crap on stuff. See the "stuff" in there. You're the one who decided to arbitrarily restrict it to movie reviews.

                    Again, you're just a propagandist upset that people trust the drinker

                    Oh OK, so now you've just degenerated

        • Re: Marketing A-Bomb (Score:4, Interesting)

          by MysteriousPreacher ( 702266 ) on Monday July 24, 2023 @03:43AM (#63710536) Journal

          Kundog provided links for the past three months, but let's actually list the films/shows of the past three months start from the most recent.

          Barbie: bad
          Snow White: likely to be bad
          Dead Reckoning: good
          Sound of Freedom: good
          Dial of Destiny: bad
          Extraction 2: good
          The Flash: bad
          The Covenant: good
          Star Wars sequels: bad
          Captain Marvel: bad
          The Menu: good
          Across the Spiderverse: good
          The Black Mermaid: bad
          Fast X: good
          Queen Cleopatra: bad
          Sisu: good
          Guardians of the Galaxy: okay
          Boiling Point: good
          Peter Pan and Wendy: bad
          Mandalorian: bad, was previously good
          Super Mario: good

          That's 20 films/shows, of which 9 are bad. It's difficult to disagree with his calls, at least when looking at box office and viewer reviews. He clearly likes his action films, yet has also spoken positively of the Oscar winning Everything Everywhere All at Once. He's clearly not simply a contrarian, whatever you may think.

          Rather than go along with what the party has said, why not go watch his videos to see where you might actually disagree?

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by serviscope_minor ( 664417 )

            Party? What party?

            It's possibly I watched a couple of videos, found him reactionary and his relentless dumping on films with little insight tedious and annoying.

            And you want me to wade through how much before I form an opinion?

            He clearly likes his action films, yet has also spoken positively of the Oscar winning Everything Everywhere All at Once.

            The way you hold him up actually liking a film that was incredibly well regarded, prize winning and popular with audiences, skillfully shot, original, tightly scrip

            • Re: Marketing A-Bomb (Score:3, Insightful)

              by St.Creed ( 853824 )

              You said "all that guy does is crap on films". Lots of evidence to the contrary was presented. So now you switch positions?

              I'm not a reactionary, and the critical drinker sometimes goes wildly off topic, but... he obviously knows his stuff.

              If you don't agree with his politics, I'm with you. But mostly he's right on why movies are good or bad.

              • Is nitpicking a really common hyperbolic device the best you can do? You must be fun at parties.

                you appear to be trying to "debate" me based on some set of formal rules in your head as opposed to having a normal conservation in normal colloquial English like a sane person.

                Cool well done you. You have correctly identified that "all" is not literally true.

                When someone says "all that guy does is..." they do not mean it literally. You can have that piece of advice for free.

                I watched some videos, he's tedious, o

                • Re: (Score:1)

                  by Anonymous Coward

                  When someone says "all that guy does is..." they do not mean it literally.

                  There are words available to say what you (apparently, if you are to be believed, which is not a given) meant to say. "Most of what that guy does is..." or "A lot of what that guy does is..." or any number of other equivalent formulations.

                  You decided to generalize instead. You should be careful when generalizing, because it is often wrong.

                  You can have that advice for free.

                  I'm allowed to come to a general conclusion about the guy without watching his entire back catalogue.

                  And others are allowed to point out to you when you are wrong.

                  The question is why do you feel so threatened by that?

                  If you can't take cri

            • >The way you hold him up actually liking a film that was incredibly well regarded, prize winning and popular with audiences, skillfully shot, original, tightly scripted and with excellent action sequences as something of note indicates just how reactionary he is. "critic actually likes very good film" is not the defense you think it is.

              I mentioned that in anticipation of you citing identity politics as the driving factor, that film among others being examples where he's aligning with the largely woke cri

              • What's with the point of people who now use the word "woke" engaging in egregious black and white thinking?

                Not everything consists of precisely two extremes. He's reactionary but that doesn't mean he absolutely always disagrees with what you call "woke" critics. That's not even possible anyway because not all "woke" critics always agree.

                Him not making a completely wrong call one time isn't the defence you seem to believe.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Mitreya ( 579078 )

          All that guy does is crap on stuff with a side order of, well, side eye.

          That's absolutely not true. There is plenty of that on YouTube, and no one is truly objective, but he is at least somewhat balanced in his reviews.

          "everything sucks" attitude is boring and juvenile

          Right. So lets pretend that movies and TV shows are greater than ever now.
          Granted, it is difficult to tell with Hollywood accounting and streaming services being opaque about their numbers. But it does seem like things are going downhill.

          • That's absolutely not true. There is plenty of that on YouTube, and no one is truly objective,

            "It's not true, lots of people have the same flaw".

            but he is at least somewhat balanced in his reviews.

            Yeah... no.

            Right. So lets pretend that movies and TV shows are greater than ever now.

            Yes, because those are the only two possible options.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Mitreya ( 579078 )

              "It's not true, lots of people have the same flaw".

              ALL people have the same flaw, although to a different degree. If you could name someone who is reasonably insightful and fully unbiased, please do.

              Right. So lets pretend that movies and TV shows are greater than ever now.

              Yes, because those are the only two possible options.

              Well, technically three options. I am merging the "everything is exactly the same" with "things are better now". Either the negative reviews are justified by facts or they are not justified.

              If you are interested in other positive videos and haven't seen them -- I found the "critical drinker fixes..." series to be interesting. That's where he tries to revise t

              • If you could name someone who is reasonably insightful and fully unbiased, please do.

                Again with the wild extremes. You're arguing that the lack of absolute perfection somehow means that being incredibly obviously biased is the same as being less so.

                Either the negative reviews are justified by facts or they are not justified.

                It takes a special kind of tool who to confuse their opinions, even well grounded opinions with facts.

    • Biggest bait and switch ever. The drop for week two should be... interesting.

    • No, that'd be dumb with money. Studios are dumb with screenplays, sound editing, lighting, camera work...but they aren't dumb with money.

      They pay a few choice influencers. Everyone else hops on the bandwagon and generates hype for free.

  • "Code.org Embraces Barbie 9 Years After Helping Take Her Down"

    Given all the fluff news stories I'm seeing about mothers and their little girls all flocking to this movie - Barbie didn't get "taken down" nine years ago. It wasn't even a significant speed bump on Mattel's road. The only people that cared were the ones who were very unlikely to be giving their kids Barbie themselves... along the lines of vegans protesting McDonalds' menu.

    Disclaimer: My (now adult) daughter never cared much about Barbie. She was much more interested in American Girl dolls. Too bad; Barbie stuff probably would've been much cheaper...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      If you don't currently have a headache and you'd like one, click on the article "Barbie Fucks It Up Again" link. Pamela Ribon must save her good writing for the screen.

    • > "Code.org Embraces Barbie 9 Years After Helping Take Her Down"

      Their "take down" was entirely on their own stuff - from using her as a role model, to deciding she wasn't a good role model any more. Now, they've decided she's cool enough and are using her again. The story might as well say "code.org shows it's less polarised than American politics".

      At the end of the day, we're talking about a character built around a plastic doll. It has nothing inherent about it, Barbie could be an awesome programmer, o

  • by the Ken and Barbie buzz/persona won't be in tech(STEM) long. Much of Tech(STEM) is time consuming work where there isn't a spotlight on you, just deadlines and there not the types
    • No, their be beasties.

    • by the Ken and Barbie buzz/persona won't be in tech(STEM) long. Much of Tech(STEM) is time consuming work where there isn't a spotlight on you, just deadlines and there not the types

      This would be a more compelling argument if we still had the same personalities as we did when we were 8.

  • All anyone talks about is Barbie.

    Send help!

    Signed:
    Victims of the Future

    • Re:In the year of our Lord; Twenty-Twenty Three... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by serviscope_minor ( 664417 ) on Sunday July 23, 2023 @06:53PM (#63709828) Journal

      And why not?

      Finally we have a summer blockbuster that's not another incoherent and ugly Marvel snooze fest with a 3 hour fight sequences and obvious winking references to comic book characters so obscure and boring that even nerds don't care.

      • Finally we have a summer blockbuster that's not another incoherent and ugly Marvel snooze fest with a 3 hour fight sequences and obvious winking references to comic book characters so obscure and boring that even nerds don't care.

        Amen!

      • We don't watch movies anymore, thus we don't have shit. So we will just have to take your word for it.

        Also, that word should've been retired along with the rental chain. If timing is everything then you've probably forgotten something.

      • What happened to the hard left such that it is taking to Slashdot to defend BARBIE!?!?

        • If us righties came out un favor of *breathing air* as the patriotic, God-fearing thing to do, the left would be stuck deciding between holding their breath or decrying metabolism as one of the bad isms

          • Well you certainly have that right wing persecution complex perfected.

            Entertainingly what you and the other guy are complaining about is diversity of thought in "the left". Yes, independent thought generally leads to diversity of thought, so it's not surprising that people on "the right" find that diversity so confusing.

        • You wouldn't recognise the hard left even if Corbyn ran up and bit you on the leg.

          You're the kind of moron who thinks in black and white then blames the colours for doing it wrong when a shade of grey pops up. Here's a free clue: if you are confounded by what the "hard left" is doing then you are announcing loudly that your understanding of the "hard left" is flawed. Actually listen to yourself and engage your brain for once.

          Nah who am I kidding, you don't have one.

      • I agree, at least it's something new. I'm sick of the Marvel movies, they really are too long and incoherent. If there was another one of those movies coming out, I probably wouldn't watch it, but with Barbie it's more likely to happen. Maybe I'll go with my friends.

    • I was driving in town with a friend. We saw a long line of people all the way down one street leading up to the cinema. He asked "I wonder what that's all about?". I replied... "oh, that's the Barbie queue".

      Than you, I'm here all week.

  • Code.org Crowned Disney Princesses, Blasted Barbie (Score:4, Insightful)

    by theodp ( 442580 ) on Sunday July 23, 2023 @06:44PM (#63709810)

    Some publications noted the curious timing [usatoday.com] of how Computer Engineer Barbie's takedown came just days before Disney and Code.org unveiled their collaboration on a computer science tutorial featuring Princesses Anna and Elsa from Frozen [slashdot.org] [which came with a $100,000 Disney donation [thewaltdisneycompany.com]] that garnered huge amounts of publicity for both organizations when it was used two weeks later to teach President Obama and millions of schoolgirls to code [slashdot.org] during the Dec. 2014 Hour of Code.

    • That's hilarious. So crappy propaganda from one vast corporation was replaced by crappy propaganda from another one.
      Then they "taught President Obama and millions schoolgirls" how to "code" in an hour.

      Brilliant.

  • the real question is (Score:3)

    by godrik ( 1287354 ) on Sunday July 23, 2023 @07:08PM (#63709858)

    When you go for the double feature, do you see Barbie first or Oppenheimer?

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by serviscope_minor ( 664417 )

      Barbie.

      Already seen it. Of course I'm going to see Oppenheimer. How could I not? I spent 3 years in Los Alamos. I expect it will be beautifully shot but a bit Nolan. I'm going to try and see it at the big IMAX, Stove it will no doubt look awesome and that will get the best out of it.

  • The doll != the movie. So having previously critiqued the doll for being anti-feminist and currently riding on the coattails of the movie, which is generally considered to be pro-feminist, does not constitute an inherent contradiction.
  • Ready to stream on Twitch.

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