Greta Gerwig’s directorial and Margot Robbie starring Barbie created a storm at the box office. Now it’s even marking its strong claim for Oscar. The film has grossed $1.4 billion globally, the highest-ever global haul for a live-action movie from a female director.
But not everyone is fond of this iconic doll film. There are certainly some Hollywood figures who did not like the movie. But what makes them dislike this blockbuster movie? Let’s find out.
Ruben Ostlund
Award-winning director of Triangle of Sadness, Ruben Ostlund is one of the major figures in Hollywood who criticized Barbie. In an interview (Via Premiere), the current Cannes jury president described the movie as cynicism disguised as optimism. He said:
“I saw “Barbie”, yes. For me, it’s cynicism disguised as optimism. It perfectly describes the madness of our time. A toy manufacturer [Mattel] finances their own film and buys off an American auteur filmmaker to make their very old-fashioned dolls more presentable… It’s completely crazy, in my opinion.”
In Ostlund’s opinion, the film’s focus leans heavily towards the virtual realm over the tangible world.
“The film is more about the virtual world than the real world. It’s about statements, quotes, constantly taking a stand against something, etc. I didn’t like it. One of the positives about capitalism is that as there is competition, we create more products. And we try to make them better than the last ones. And for that, we need word of mouth between audiences.”
However, according to the Swedish filmmaker, this film, with its hefty marketing budget and minimal organic conversation, feels like a potential hijacking of that crucial process.
Kelly Reichardt
Kelly Reichardt, the Certain Women director, also criticized Barbie along with Oppenheimer. Back in September, Reichardt criticized Barbie as “marketing over art.”
Speaking with HS, the filmmaker was asked about the two movies that grabbed the maximum attention this year. She had no hesitation in labeling the movies as a huge marketing machine but sold them as art.
“They are part of a huge marketing machine, but they are sold as art. And all this is just celebrated. As a filmmaker, I wonder what this will do to people’s expectations for future films.”
Kelly Reichardt is the director of eight feature films: River of Grass (1994), Old Joy (2006), Wendy and Lucy (2008), Meek’s Cutoff (2010), Night Moves (2013), Certain Women (2016), First Cow (2019) and Showing Up (2022).
Bill Maher
Bill Maher, the television personality and political commentator, could not stand far from criticizing the movie. Joining the anti-Barbie crowd, the podcast host claimed that Barbie is a “preachy, man-hating zombie Lie…”
“What is a Zombie Lie?” Maher took to his X, formerly known as Twitter account, and asked.
“Something that never was true, but certain people refuse to stop saying it (tax cuts for the rich increase revenues, e.g.); OR something that USED to be true but no longer is, but certain people pretend it’s still true,” he explained.
Maher criticized Barbie‘s depiction of the Mattel board as “consisting of 12 white men” in a clear dig at “The Patriarchy.”
Despite all, the Barbiemania is real.
