Whoopi Goldberg has hit back at criticism of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie from conservative commentators like Ted Cruz and Ben Shapiro.
On Tuesday’s (July 25) episode of US chat show The View, a reel of various right-wing commentators criticising the film was shown. Among the clips was Texas senator Cruz, who described it as “Chinese communist propaganda” due to its depiction of a disputed region in the South China Sea (via Business Insider).
Shapiro, meanwhile, branded it “one of the worst movies I have ever seen” and “angry, feminist claptrap that alienates men from women” in his YouTube review.
In response to their comments, Goldberg said: “It’s a movie! It’s a movie about a doll!
“I thought y’all would be happy. She has no genitalia, so there’s no sex involved. Ken has no genitalia. It’s a doll movie.”
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
She added: “The kids know it’s colourful and it’s Barbie. They haven’t lived through what the adults have lived through. So when they’re seeing this movie, that’s not how they’re looking at it. The kids are looking at it as a Barbie movie.
“You guys, I want y’all to tell your daughters why you’re not taking them to see the Barbie movie. I want you to explain to them what’s wrong with Barbie.”
The View co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin suggested it was indicative of right-wing influencers being “out of touch with actual Republicans”.
“I’m so taken by some of these right-wing men who have all these thoughts on masculinity,” Farah Griffin said. “Like, somehow, the Barbie movie is going to make them feel emasculated. No, caring so much about it is honestly the most emasculating thing I could think about it.”
In a four-star review, NME described Barbie as a “nuanced, rose-tinted comedy adventure” which “somehow lives up to the immense hype”.
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