2023, september 9

note on the barbie movie

when ken steps into the human world, someone casually asks him the time addressing him as “sir” (according to my memory). it blows his mind — that simple act feels monumentally respectful to him. this took me back to a moment at prinzenbad when an elderly white lady approached me, wondering if i could help straighten out the back of her swimsuit. a part of it had gotten all crumpled up. that caught me off guard. i suddenly realized that i’m not used to white grandmas in germany asking me for such a favor. usually, i sense a certain distance, some kind of hesitation, or fear, towards people who look ‘foreign’ to them. sometimes it can manifest as outright hostility — like that time a grandma at oranienplatz verbally attacked me, accusing me of shoplifting “like a typical foreigner” — but more often it seems like they simply wouldn‘t consider someone who doesn’t look ‘white german’ as a person who could help with mundane things like de-crumpling a swimsuit strap. not necessarily out of malice, but maybe rather because, in their eyes, we seem to inhabit a completely different universe, too alien to request earthly favors from. 

so when she asked me without a second thought, i was stunned. and then, i was stunned by my own surprise, showing me how i’m not used to this kind of interaction. that’s how the ken scene resonates with me; it highlights how ‘being seen’ often manifests in the most ordinary moments.