Twitter CEO Elon Musk has joined the chorus of critics blasting the popular female-fantasy movie, “Barbie.”
It seems that the film, which has seen monstrous success at the box office with over $155 million in domestic ticket sales, is also riling up a conservative response because of its “woke” agenda.
“If you take a shot every time Barbie says the word ‘patriarchy’ you will pass out before the movie ends,” Musk quipped.
It you take a shot every time Barbie says the word "patriarchy", you will pass out before the movie ends
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2023
Daily Wire Editor Ben Shapiro summarized the film in a 43-minute reaction video, saying bluntly that “all you need to know about #BarbieTheMovie is that it unironically uses the word ‘patriarchy’ more than ten times.”
Shapiro said moreover in a column that the movie’s agenda includes teaching young girls that “the modern patriarchy” is an evil to be fought and overthrown.
He said: “When you notice their agenda, they [the makers of the movie] get very upset.”
Naturally, the movie paints a different picture.
Director Greta Gerwig told Vogue that she actually wrote an abstract poem about Barbie and compared it impressively to the Apostles’ Creed.
But co-star Erika Bloom insists the movie has an expressly social message, making an emphatic point about the oppressive state of womanhood.
Bloom’s character in the movie says, “It is literally impossible to be a woman. … You have to answer for men’s bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you’re accused of complaining. … never forget that the system is rigged. … I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us.”
In the face of this vocal protestation against the movie, people have naturally been asking the question, “What is the intention behind ‘Barbie’?”
It’s a valid question. After all, the movie has been incredibly successful in its strange concoction of woke politics and fairly average entertainment, and when everyone from Musk to Shapiro is railing against it, it’s difficult to ignore the fact that its soul may be in the wrong place.