Much media attention has been paid to conservative figures such as Ben Shapiro and Ted Cruz being outraged over Greta Gerwigs Barbie movie. Even Elon Musk jointed the anti-Barbie brigade by mocking the film for taking aim at the patriarchy. If you take a shot every time Barbie says the word Patriarchy, you will pass out before the movie ends, Musk posted.
Whoopi Goldberg is here for none of it. On the latest episode of The View (via People), the EGOT winner told off conservatives who are so upset by Barbie.
Its a movie! Goldberg exclaimed. Its a movie about a doll! I thought yall would be happy. [Barbie] has no genitalia, so theres no sex involved. Ken has no genitalia, so he cant its a doll movie! And the kids know its colorful and its Barbie.
You guys, I want yall to tell your daughters why youre not taking them to theBarbiemovie, Goldberg added. I want you to explain to them whats wrong with BarbieIts a doll movie, guys. Im shocked that thats whats freaking you out these days.
Ahead of the films release, Cruz accused the Barbie movie of kiss[ing] up to the Chinese communist party because they want to make money selling the movie in China. Cruz was referring to the drama over the inclusion of a map in the film that appears to show the nine dash line, which reinforces Chinas territorial claims in the South China Sea. Warner Bros. later explained the map is a child-like crayon drawing and the dotted lines show the route from Barbieland to the real world.
Ben Shapiro then posted a viral video on social media in which he set Barbie dolls on fire with a BBQ lighter while railing against the movie. The basic sort of premise of the film, politically speaking, is that men and women are on two sides and they hate each other, he said. And literally, the only way you can have a happy world is if the women ignore the men and the men ignore the women.
He later predicted, [Barbie is] absolutely going to fall off a cliff [at the box office]repeat business is going to be nonexistent.
Barbie would go on to top the box office in record-breaking fashion, earning a historic $162 million in its debut weekend. That number gave Barbie the biggest opening ever for a female director and one of the biggest launches in history for a live-action comedy. Barbie then earned $26 million on its first Monday of release, making it the top Monday grosser in Warner Bros. history.
They hit two things: they talk about the real world that everybody lives in, and they talk about Barbie world. And theyre two different things, Goldberg stressed on The View. And its meant to make you just think or pause, its not meant to do anything but give you a good time. Go see the movie!
Other conservative figures like podcaster Matt Walsh have condemned Barbie as the most aggressively anti-man, feminist propaganda fest ever put to film.
Goldbergs The View co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin, who served as assistant to the president in 2020 under Donald Trump, also defended the Barbie movie.
Its fun, Farah Griffin said. Greta Gerwigs brilliantIm so taken by some of these right-wing men who have all these thoughts on masculinity. Like, somehow, theBarbiemovie Is going to make them feel emasculated. No, caring so much about it is honestly the most emasculating thing I could think about it.
Barbie is now playing in theaters nationwide from Warner Bros.
CONSERVATIVE OUTRAGE OVER BARBIE MOVIE: Although Hollywood hit big at the box office with the premiere of #Barbie and #Oppenheimer, #TheView co-hosts react to #Barbie backlash from some. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/Eq9XQtFggt
The View (@TheView) July 25, 2023