However, as we've learned by now, smashing success can't come without its share of naysayers. Although Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is yet to receive them, Gerwig's Barbie, which saw cinemagoers flocking to their nearest theaters in pink, has already received quite a few loud 'anti-men' and 'woke' accusations.
Ben Shapiro, a conservative political commentator and internet personality, for example, recorded a 43-minute video showcasing his protest against the blockbuster by burning Barbie dolls, after calling it "one of the most woke movies" he has ever watched. Since the time it was released on July 22, Shapiro's "review" has garnered almost 1.6 million views on YouTube.
Human Events editor and alt-right political activist Jack Posobiec also didn't hold out from voicing his upset over Barbie. "They teach Barbie fans about rising up against 'the patriarchy,' and Ken is portrayed as beta and borderline retarded. It’s a horrorshow," Posobiec wrote in his tweet.
Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, is the most recent addition to the list of those who have expressed their objections to the feminist reimagining of the iconic doll. In his post last night, Musk tweeted, "It [sic] you take a shot every time Barbie mentions the word 'patriarchy,' you'll pass out before the movie ends."
And yet, almost as if suspecting the hate comments, the director of Barbie had this to say about the film's feminism-empowerment themes: ‘It most certainly is a feminist film. But it’s feminist in a way that includes everyone; it’s a ‘rising tide lifts all boats’ version of it," Gerwig confidently conveyed to ABC in an interview.
For those who can only take a hard guess where all of these woke accusations are coming from, here's a bit of context. In the film, Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, doesn’t have a real job or home or purpose outside of Barbie. Although, he's good at, well, looking dreamy while standing on the beach. Here, in the women-run Barbieland, Kens have as much purpose as gynecologists.
But all that quickly changes after Gosling's Ken discovers that power dynamics are the complete opposite in the real world. You know, all the patriarchy and whatnot. And thus, after he decides to bring his real-world epiphanies into the feminist utopia that is Barbieland, Greta Gerwig starts to flex her screenwriting skills on a story which hits all the right marks.
