Barbieland: a seemingly “perfect” world where the Barbies rule, the Kens win best supporting actor, and representation for the queer community is delegated to the casting directors. Aside from a couple jokes alluding to our existence, members of queer communities are markedly absent from the pink utopia. Barbies go with Kens and if you're not Barbie or Ken, you were discontinued and are now the butt of every joke.

“Do you guys ever think about dying?” is not really the kind of question that you would expect Barbie would ask while doing a routine song and dance number with other Barbie and Ken dolls in the idyllic Barbie world. Yet here we are, the Barbie movie has stormed onto the scene and has quickly smashed expectations to become a record-setting 155 million dollar box office success.

Salad bowl versus the melting pot…Who benefits from the concept of the melting pot… the ideal by the dominant culture that everyone melts into a common cultural identity of Americanness. However, what is the ethos of this Americanness. Whose culture is dominant? What are we melting into and becoming? In the Caribbean, there is a unique cultural identity that has been created over the centuries however there is a dominant African presence as felt in the music, dance, food and the people. 

Poverty Porn: When one receives pleasure from doing or engaging in an act of “kindness” by “helping” a person or group of people “less fortunate” than themselves. This act of “kindness” gets used to justify the further exploitation of people and worsens stereotypes for people in unfortunate situations.