Featured Image Credit: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Warner Bros.
Topics: Barbie, Film and TV, Greta Gerwig
Stewart Perrie
Topics: Barbie, Film and TV, Greta Gerwig
It's safe to say that the Barbie film has generated a lot of buzz over the past week.
It's become one of the biggest movies of 2023 and it's only been in cinemas for a few days.
Greta Gerwig's project has been praised for highlighting the struggles that women face every day and for pointing out the work that is yet to be done on equality between the sexes.
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While loads of people have been reduced to tears during the movie, others have been clenching their fists in rage.
There has been outrage amongst some cinema goers, particularly from right-wing people, who claim the film is too 'woke' for mentioning 'the patriarchy' a few times.
These critics also say Barbie is 'anti-men' and promotes a harmful message that women need to be better than their male counterparts for there to be peace.
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Piers Morgan went on an angry rant after seeing the film and gave this summation: "In short: men are evil oppressors, women are unimpeachably perfect victims, and anyone who dares challenge this notion is a disgusting misogynist.
"Barbie does nothing to dissuade anyone from this view."
Morgan accused Gerwig's box office hit of 'ramming' this message down 'the throats' of viewers and he slams all the Barbies as ticking 'every possible woke virtue-signalling box'.
Similarly, commentator Ben Shapiro was so angry after seeing the film that he uploaded a 43-minute YouTube video complaining about different aspects of Barbie.
He also chucked a few Barbie dolls in a trash can and lit them on fire to drive home his point.
These are just two examples of people complaining about what they thought was an attack on them.
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However, director and co-writer Greta Gerwig says that's not the message she was trying to send.
When asked by The New York Times whether she was expecting such outrage, she admitted it was a shock.
"Certainly, there’s a lot of passion," she explained to the outlet.
"My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men.
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"I hope that in all of that passion, if they see it or engage with it, it can give them some of the relief that it gave other people."
So, if you were feeling particularly ticked off after seeing Barbie, maybe weave the above into your thinking first.