Barbie was released internationally on the 21st of July, 2023, and has been one of the most successful films of the year — alongside Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Oppenheimer, which came out on the same day. The film has been trending and climbing the charts, earning more than a billion dollars at the box office in less than a month — a feat no one could have anticipated. However, while the majority of audiences enjoyed their time in Barbie Land, others found the film more controversial than funny. This includes Late Night host Bill Maher, who took to Twitter to express his dissatisfaction with the Barbie movie.
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A Controversial Film?
Who would have guessed a film about a popular American doll would cause quite a stir?
There have been some pretty polarized responses from audiences across the globe. Some say that they adore the Barbie movie (as you can see from social media), while others are throwing strong criticisms.
What most garnered from Barbie was a message about the reality of growing up, contemplating death, and trying to live life in a system that just isn’t working. The main message was about the reality of the world and how jarring it can be going from being a kid playing with their dolls into the ugliness of the real world.
However, this hasn’t stopped others from sharing completely different views. We’ve seen raging comments from YouTubers and even videos where creators throw a Barbie doll in the trash. Still, others even believe that Barbie had a strong political angle.
Bill Maher’s Comments
Bill Maher took to Twitter with a very long tweet about not liking the Barbie movie and going after a few elements that didn’t sit well with him. He opened by saying, “OK, Barbie: I was hoping it wouldn’t be preachy, man-hating and a #ZombieLie – alas, it was all three.”
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What is a Zombie Lie? Maher uses a term to describe a falsehood that’s “been said so often that people now think it’s true,” or something that was once true but isn’t anymore. What isn’t true anymore? According to Bill Maher, sexism is over.
Maher then goes on to talk about how Barbie “fights the Patriarchy” and complains about the Mattel board being depicted as 12 white men, and that it’s an inaccurate depiction because “There’s a Mattel board in real life, and it’s 7 men and 5 women. Ok, not perfect even-steven, but not the way the board IN THE MOVIE – which takes place in 2023 – is portrayed,” going on to say that the movie is “so 2000-LATE.”
Reactions
People in the comments either agreed with what Maher was saying or didn’t know what he was getting so upset about.
Either way, it’s safe to say that Barbie has upset some people. Maher tried to soften things a little bit by saying that he still enjoyed the movie but that it was still a lie. “Barbie is fun, I enjoyed it – but it IS a #ZombieLie. And people who don’t go along with zombie lies did not take some red pill – just staying true to CURRENT reality. Let’s live in the year we’re living in! Hi Ken!!!”
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