Politics In The Barbie Movie... Oh, the Irony.

Background:

Despite its record-breaking viewership and revenue, reviews of Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ are not all sunshine and rainbows. A movie advertised as a lighthearted children’s film delivered a heavy-handed feminist message with undeniable intention, causing outrage across conservative media figures. While initially anticipating that the movie's politicization was largely unwarranted, after watching it for myself, it's fiercely political.

Among other discrete political themes such as corporate satire and consumerism critiques, Barbie focuses on advocating feminism. Because of its extremely candid presentation of this message, many conservative critics have deemed the movie ‘an attack on masculinity.’ Ben Shapiro released a 40-minute long YouTube video titled ‘Ben Shapiro DESTROYS the Barbie Movie for 43 Minutes,’ in which he bashes the film for its inaccurate portrayal of society’s gender equality status quo and mature themes, calling it “a flaming piece of dog sh*t piled on top an entire dumpster on fire piled on top a landfill filled with dog sh*t.” After his 43 minutes of emotionally heated commentary, he proceeds to light a Barbie doll on fire and throw it in a dumpster.

Additionally, The Barbie Movie has received unwarranted political criticism too. Texas senator Ted Cruz (R) deemed the movie “Chinese propaganda,” due to a cartoon-style map of the natural world in which disputed territory in the South China Sea is supposedly recognized as being under Chinese jurisdiction. Cruz and his flank have subsequently linked the movie to the Democratic Party, attempting to associate them both with Chinese Communism.

Despite its male conservative adversaries, most female conservative media voices have sung high praise of the movie their male counterparts are calling “trans-mafia, feminist propaganda.” Brett Cooper, a female conservative media personality and frequent podcast guest of Ben Shapiro, begged her audience that “Not all female empowerment is bad… Do not allow your hatred of those ideas and cultural movements to make you angry about anything that uplifts a woman.” Similarly, conservative pop culture guru Alex Clark proclaimed that “any conservative saying the movie is too woke” is a “moron.”

So how is it that a movie labeled ‘leftist-propaganda’ and ‘an attack on masculinity’ has garnered over $1 billion in box-office revenue? Furthermore, what hidden political themes are audiences failing to recognize? In the following section, I seek to explain how the grave misinterpretations of The Barbie Movie’s purpose and message have led to its political weaponization by the ultra-conservative right, and why the movie's critics further its bottom line. Later I analyze its falsified politicization and irony in its inconspicuous political themes.

Opinion:

For clarity, the opinion section is broken into further subsections.

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The Feminist Message and its Reactions:

While I’m eager to point out the overlooked political intricacies within Greta Gerwig’s feminist twist on Barbie, let’s address the elephant in the room: How could a movie about a children’s toy be transformed into ‘brain-melting leftist propaganda’?

The Barbie Movie is ironic; SO ironic, in many ways. Most prominently, its critics further the movie’s bottom line by misinterpreting it in two distinct forms: Misinterpretation of the movie’s feminist message and misinterpretation of feminism as a concept.

Many of the movie’s adversaries condemn its portrayal of gender in Barbieland as demeaning towards men and inconsistent with the real world, under the assumption that Barbieland directly symbolizes our status quo. Similarly, critics have lamented over exaggerated inequalities and sexism in the movie's version of the real world too. These critics are forgetting the movie’s purpose. The movie is in-your-face political, but it's a movie; its primary objective is drawing viewers into the theatres. The hearty dose of feminism must be interpreted through the context of its goals -- entertainment and impact -- rather than at face value. The movie drastically exaggerates gender inequality in the name of entertainment to be metaphorical, not indicative. In Barbieland, men are undeniably second-class citizens -- no house, no rights, no say in government, worse jobs, the whole package of societal oppression. And yes, in the real world, there are women in government, women can vote, women own property; the list goes on. But if the Ken’s had the same level of power in Barbieland that women have in the real world, then it wouldn’t be Barbieland! Entertainment coincides with embellishment, therefore it's nonsensical to take every gender joke and depiction at face value. Of course, gender inequality still exists in our modern society, but if the movie had been completely coherent with modern society, it would be boring!

So yes, while Ben Shapiro has correctly and *very intelligently* recognized the movie’s gender depiction inaccuracies, he’s simultaneously proven himself incapable of the responsibilities Greta Gerwig has granted her audience of recognizing exaggeration in the name of entertainment. Ben’s unfortunate inability to reconcile the idea of a movie that champions female empowerment and see the humor in its embellished portrayals of inequality has proven him incapable of taking a joke; even worse, the substantial portion of male GOP members that echo his sentiment is guilty of the same charge.

Misinterpretation of the movie’s message ironically points to the overarching societal problem that The Barbie Movie comments on -- the perception of feminism as a concept. As Harvard Ph.D. holder and renowned pioneer of scholarship and activism concerning race, gender, and violence, Jackson Katz, stated in an interview with NowThis News, “There’s a certain segment of the American population that is threatened by the very notion of critically examining traditional, patriarchal, binary gender conformity. And that was on full display in the right-wing media with the release of the ‘Barbie’ film.”

Doctor Katz’s reaction to The Barbie Movie’s criticism aligns with the point the movie itself makes, compounding the irony. Male conservative outrage over a movie about a children’s doll indicates their level of consciousness and self-security. The movie irrefutably does not accurately depict the gender equality status quo, but that doesn’t mean its message holds no merit. Its inaccuracies result from its emphasis on entertainment, the chief objective. The intense backlash validates the movie’s comment on ‘the patriarchy’ in that everything must be catered towards men…

The Barbie Movie is a comical, well-executed film with an underlying political message that seeks to resonate with a female audience. C’mon, it's The Barbie Movie. Just as Wolf of Wall Street and Fast and Furious (two of my personal favorite films, may I add) don’t resonate with a female audience, The Barbie Movie doesn’t target a male audience. Its many satirical depictions of toxic masculinity should make women laugh; men who laugh along are just an additional win for the filmmakers. Besides, men have an abundance of movies tailored to their interests, so why can’t women have just one movie for themselves? Is this minute victory somehow threatening the patriarchal structure of modern society? Will all men be hoisted from their positions of power because there’s a movie catering to female interests? No! But these are literally, the precise and exaggerated scenes The Barbie Movie uses to make its point about society -- how ironic that a certain subset of men is so upset and threatened by it… Certainly, the movie is entirely wrong about gender equality in our modern society… by no means is there any grain of truth to its political commentary… Oh, the irony.

Some male voters in our country feel their power is threatened by the mere existence of The Barbie Movie, symbolizing their fear of feminism as a concept. Feminism strives to empower women, and contrary to popular belief, this doesn’t mean over-empowerment, but genuine equality. Men who feel threatened by the idea of equality also deny gender inequality's existence in modern society. They are the issue. The Barbie movie exposes this issue, and its critics prove its bottom line, as labeling the movie ‘leftist propaganda’ in denial of the precise problem it spotlights definitely sends a message. Negligent gender inequality deniers single-handedly prevent progress in mending the issue, and reactions to The Barbie Movie highlight its message’s prevalence.

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Falsified Politicization:

The left champions The Barbie Movie as a victory for the women’s movement while a subset of the right condemns it as a gross and unprecedented attack on masculinity. There is no middle ground. The polarized opinions concerning the movie correlate to the broader polarization issue in American politics, which also lacks a middle ground. This issue has led to desperate attempts by conservatives to weaponize the movie in maintaining political leverage. With inflation and unemployment at historic lows, coupled with rising wages and job opportunities, the GOP has focused on defaming the doll movie, using it as an omen to make baseless claims about the liberal agenda.

Led by Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R), who’s yet to watch The Barbie Movie, the right has honed in on a claimed geopolitical discrepancy between a cartoon map in the movie depicting Barbie’s journey to the ‘real world’ and disputed territorial claims in the South China Sea. Cruz, referring to the ‘nine-dash line’ drawn into the map near a blockish shape labeled ‘Asia,’ conclusively dubbed the entire movie “...Chinese communist propaganda in which the Chinese are asserting sovereignty over the entirety of the South China Sea.” He continued, “And they don’t have any right to it under international law, but they are trying to take it away from their neighbors there.” He believes this wildly inaccurate cartoon map is a strategic adaption by the filmmakers to “kiss up to the Chinese Communist Party” to generate additional revenue in the Chinese market.

In response to Cruz’s outlandish remarks, a Warner Bros spokesperson told Variety magazine that “...the map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing. The doodles depict Barbie’s make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the ‘real world.’ It was not intended to make any type of statement.”

Conservatives have maliciously politicized this journey line and leveraged it to discredit the movie as ‘communist propaganda,’ which they assert has the Democratic Party’s support. They then extend this relationship to claim that Democrats support the Chinese Communist Party. This is beyond a stretch, as the filmmakers have denied all allegations that the map even depicts the nine-dash line Cruz’s claims are based on. Furthermore, while the film’s message leans progressive, the movie itself has no affiliation with the Democratic Party. Senator Cruz’s statements have been proven false on multiple levels; the nine-dash line in the movie does not represent China’s territorial claims and does not ‘kiss up’ to the Chinese Communist Party, and the movie was not created to further the Democratic Party’s agenda. As stated, Greta Gerwig -- without the Democratic Party’s direction -- crafted a movie she anticipated would captivate audiences. The movie intended to make a political statement concerning feminism and gender equality, but due to their staunch disapproval of that message, conservatives weaponized a cartoon map. They’ve then dubbed the movie communist propaganda, tied it to the Democratic Party, and attempted to tear them down in unison.

Luckily, the majority believes the filmmaker’s claims about the map's purpose, but conspiracy surrounding its nine-dash line has led to the movie’s prohibition in Vietnam and the Phillippines. Per the conversation surrounding its goal of appeasing viewers and catering to specific markets, The Barbie Movie contains another prominent, yet overlooked political theme; corporate culture and consumerism. Like its feminist message, this commentary is also highly ironic, this time because of the movie itself as opposed to its critics.

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Corporate Culture and Consumerism:

The movie subtly critiques corporate culture and consumerism, a drastic change from its front-and-center feminist message, yet makes an equally powerful point. The irony lies in that The Barbie Movie mocks corporate strategy focused on maximizing consumerism to maximize its own profits… from consumerism.

Beginning with corporate culture, Mattel -- whose business model centers around selling plastic dolls that require continuous purchases of new outfits and amenities -- epitomizes consumerism. The Barbie Movie demeans their approach and operations by casting Will Ferrell as Mattel’s CEO, who plays the role of a negligent buffoon superbly. In the movie, he and his all-male leadership committee openly lack concern for their product and its impact on their primary consumers, young girls. They also openly strategize how to drain parents’ pockets by any means, implying that ‘Barbie’ altogether is a complete sham. When Barbie (Margot Robbie) makes it to Mattel’s LA headquarters office, Ferrell solely focuses on how to ‘shove her in a box’ and send her back to Barbieland, further indicative of business big whig’s lack of care for their product’s value.

The movie first cites moral deficiency amongst the corporate elite, then compounds its attack on corporate culture by mocking operational inefficiencies. Take the following scenes: When Barbie enters Ferell’s office on the top floor, the leadership committee is engaged in a juvenile-sounding meeting, pitching product development ideas equivalent in value to those found in a preschool class discussion. They spoke with immaturity and took nothing seriously. After Barbie escapes the office, Ferrell and his cronies initiate an intense pursuit. As Barbie runs through a maze of cubicles, dodging Mattel employees left and right, she runs in face-to-face with Ferrell. In a cowardly and unprofessional act, Ferrell scares and runs in the opposite direction instead of grabbing her. Immediately after, he and the leadership committee rush to an elevator, still in hot pursuit, but the group wastes time waiting for Ferrell to enter the elevator because as CEO, only he can press the button. Upon exiting the elevator they encounter a key card checkpoint that Barbie simply hopped over, but Ferrell fails to see this solution and instead heads back up the elevator to retrieve his key card as Barbie solidifies her escape. Once onto the streets of LA, the Mattel crew can’t decide which direction to search. In a disturbingly confident proclamation, Ferrell shouts, “Everybody run in a random direction and act like you’re doing something!” — a clear critique of the amount of time corporate employees spend time mastering how to appear productive as opposed to actually being productive. All of these examples point to The Barbie Movie’s relentless mockery of how little value grossly profitable corporations like Mattel contribute to society, focusing on their lack of authentic care for their products and the corporate facade’s frivolous inefficiencies.

The movie’s argument about corporate culture and consumerism seems robust until considering its irony. Like Mattel, The Barbie Movie itself also embodies consumerism in two primary forms:

The most blatantly ironic aspect of the argument pertains to its target. As mentioned in this section’s ‘thesis,’ all of The Barbie Movie’s aforementioned scenes mocking Mattel’s consumerism and corporate culture have generated over $1 billion in revenue for the movie, rendering it one of the grandest displays of consumerism in box office history. Simply put, the movie is entertainment consumerism making fun of physical consumerism to ‘rake in the dough’ for its personal benefit. The Barbie Movie isn’t guilty of this alone; all movies epitomize consumerism, as do concerts and theatre performances. Hollywood is notorious for its scandals, lavishness, and extravagant profitability. Hollywood is consumerism, so while its nuances may differ from that of corporate culture, it too epitomizes the capitalistic, inefficient, and juvenile pettiness for which it mocks the corporate world.

Compounding its hypocrisy and irony, The Barbie Movie is a walking advertisement for numerous products, furthering its embodiment of consumerism. While discrete, as a car enthusiast, I couldn’t help but notice that the movie aggressively advertises not one, but two different cars in Chevrolet’s next-generation fleet. The mom’s blue car is a Trailblazer SS, which receives ample bee-roll glamour shots throughout the movie. The car chase scene involving this car and Mattel’s Suburban RST quite literally feels as if the movie was interrupted by a Chevy advertisement. It’s about two minutes straight of engines revving, tires squealing, impressive stunts boasting the cars’ handling, and of course, more glamour shots showcasing their gleaming paint jobs.

Despite its negative portrayal of Mattel, the movie still most prominently advertises Barbie Dolls. As many businessmen proclaim, “All publicity is good publicity.” That principle applies. Most modern children view Barbies as relics of the past, but the movie reinstated its status as a cultural phenomenon. An NPR article reports Mattel leadership expects the movie to bolster their sales in the second half of the year, citing a spike in sales during July alone, affirming that Barbie’s resurgence as a toy and cultural phenomenon shows no signs of dwindling. Therefore, The Barbie Movie leverages and embodies the gateway to consumerism — advertising — despite its hypocritical criticism. How ironic.

Backtracking to Barbie’s historical box office success, another far more political movie has endured comparable prosperity; of course, I’m referencing Oppenheimer. It dissects American democratic values through to the core, focusing on free speech. Its premise lies in that the government exploited Oppenheimer’s intellectual prowess, stole his glory, and then censored his voice after he became critical of their lust for atomic weaponry. The basis? Oppenheimer had a loose historical tie to far-left politics. This movie should outrage anyone who champions the 1st Amendment. This movie should hit closer to home for the GOP, so why do they condemn Barbie much more fiercely instead?

The answer is simple. As proven by data pulled from Google Trends regarding Barbie vs Oppenheimer viewership after opening weekend in each U.S. state, ‘Barbie States’ happen to be overwhelmingly Republican. Conservatives aren’t as enraged by Oppenheimer because they aren’t watching it. This ties into the obligatory concession affirming conservative arguments condemning The Barbie Movie. The Barbie Movie garnered popularity in red states because it’s perceived as a children’s cultural phenomenon; a light-hearted, upbeat, and feel-good family watch. Or at least, that’s how the marketing team portrayed it…

Ben Shapiro and other conservative political commentators who’ve seen the movie all lamented over its deceptive marketing, and objectively, they should. The Barbie Movie purposefully misled crowds of families into seeing the movie by advertising a family-friendly movie about a pink doll’s journey of self-discovery. In the context of its marketing alone, The Barbie Movie is a wolf in sheep’s clothing in that parents didn’t intend on taking their children to a mature, political, and arguably raunchy film when paying their admission fees. While arguing the movie will brainwash children is unfair because they won’t pick up on its mature themes, The Barbie Movie drastically diverged from expectations, and parents deserve the right to determine the media their children consume. Not that deceptive marketing necessarily implies a lack of care for consumers (as the movie made fun of Mattel for…), but one can’t help but perceive this as a greedy and unethical grab for revenue. Pretty ironic from a movie that thrives off of condemning careless capitalistic behavior, huh?

In summary, the movie is ironic; who would’ve guessed?!? But its irony is multifaceted, coming from both its critics and the movie itself. The movie’s political message is heavy-handed, but justifiably so, and the male conservatives enraged by it exacerbate its point regarding gender equality in modern society. Additionally fabricated politicization of the movie through the form of Barbie’s map highlights two things: GOP desperation for political leverage and our country’s polarization epidemic, displaying the drastic yet petty measures party members will take in affirming their positions in the perennial ‘Us vs. Them’ battle. However, The Barbie Movie is hypocritically guilty of irony, as its fierce condemnation of corporate culture and consumerism is what’s brought its monumental success. Furthermore, conservatives can righteously lament over its deceptive marketing in justification for some, but not all of their backlash. The Barbie Movie remains a must-watch, albeit, take its political validity with a grain of salt… or a whole handful. This movie is as ironic as it gets.