Barbie movie’s main message lies in confronting & exposing the patriarchy that lies in a male-dominated capitalistic society but Comedian Bill Maher feels it’s rather a “preachy man-hating” film. Greta Gerwig‘s barbillion success with the Margot Robbie starrer flick has not gone unnoticed by Barbie fans and critics and sadly, even detractors.
Barbie’s box office run is shattering world records left and right with the latest achievement making it the first solo female-directed project to gross past $1 billion worldwide. Nonetheless, as a feminist movie, it has also attracted dissent from cinephiles of all walks of life, especially conservatives.
Bill Maher’s reaction to Barbie movie appears to be one such – criticizing the film’s main theme “Barbie fights Patriarchy” and branding it as “this movie is so 2000-LATE.” The talk show host goes into detail on the portrayal of the Mattel board “consisting of 12 white men!” while comparing the characterization to real-life, “it’s 7 men and 5 women.”
All in all, it appears Bill Maher feels Barbie’s focus on patriarchy does not align with the real world in 2023. Nevertheless, the comedian still said, “Barbie is fun, I enjoyed it – but it IS a #ZombieLie.”
OK, "Barbie": I was hoping it wouldn't be preachy, man-hating, and a #ZombieLie – alas, it was all three. What is a Zombie Lie? 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…
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) August 7, 2023
Oh look. Bill Maher thinks the patriarchy is over. What a shock. https://t.co/YUnnojA8dA
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) August 7, 2023
Anyone who thinks #Barbie was “man-hating” can’t be taken seriously.
It was a balanced satire about patriarchy.
Bill Maher continues to lose credibility. https://t.co/5kr7HywhHn pic.twitter.com/clMHM4RJQS
— Phantom (@effoff1988) August 8, 2023
Men need to stop watching chick flicks. It’s breaking them. https://t.co/YlJ2nxrbz2
— Heidi (@HeidiBriones) August 8, 2023
professional comedian Bill Maher https://t.co/XzhROnX22K pic.twitter.com/ol7ZLlFag7
— Michael Hobbes (@RottenInDenmark) August 8, 2023
white guy with a $110 million net worth thinks the patriarchy isn’t real anymore, more breaking news at 10 https://t.co/QS6h9RCVzc
— matt (@mattxiv) August 8, 2023
I can’t believe Bill didn’t stop to point out that Ruth Handler’s ghost doesn’t have an office at the real Mattel headquarters either. https://t.co/WJd8KNvjvD
— Jeremy Bearimy (& Frankie) (@HerrDrFunk) August 7, 2023
you're 70 yo man whining about Barbie movie, get a life! https://t.co/gVBMOXATql
— Conducive Coder (@mehtabackupacc) August 8, 2023
Imagine being a grown man and writing this many words, angrily, about a girls toy movie https://t.co/f9rAK9xy9B
— Kevin McCaffrey (@KevinMcCaff) August 8, 2023
As expected, Barbie movie fans are swarming over Maher’s tweet countering his statement to say, “It was a balanced satire about patriarchy” as @effoff1988 wrote on X. While others argued the movie does not cater to his age bracket, Maher is currently 67 years.
This is far from the first time Bill has faced backlash for his comments on Pop Culture. The Real Time host faced heat from film fanatics as well as from comic veteran Neil Gaiman for disrespecting legendary comic book writer/creator Stan Lee after his demise. So one can find comfort in knowing Maher’s unfiltered opinions have a pattern of not aligning with the masses.
Barbie’s success was largely tied to the Barbenheimer trend, even so, it was predicted to land a spot in the billion-dollar club since early reviews surfaced. As Warner Bros. Pictures’ fastest $1B grosser, a feat achieved in 17 days since its premiere, moviegoers’ are still flocking to theaters to watch Barbie.
https://t.co/sv0Ot8ApKX pic.twitter.com/TOjLQlo4V3
— Zoë Rose Bryant (@ZoeRoseBryant) August 8, 2023
There is no shot you enjoyed one second if it. And I don’t care about the politics. It was boring and childish with incredibly stupid sex jokes. “Beach me off” ten times being the highlight I guess. Really worked for all the ten year old girls I was in the theater with. https://t.co/mGC6oOD88j
— Doug Ellin (@mrdougellin) August 7, 2023
I love how the blue check and multi-paragraph tweets are a KICK ME sign people pay eight bucks a month to wear. https://t.co/BRyPGOHIwp
— Long Live William Friedkin Truths (@LazlosGhost) August 8, 2023
No sane person wants to read a long-form tweet from Bill Maher, so I will save you the aggravation and point out that yes, he buries the lede: "I saw 'Barbie' with a woman in her 30s"
cc:@AwfulPunditshttps://t.co/vtdzsJsV4S
— Hotel Dweller (@j70808) August 8, 2023
the guy who made "Religulous" is having a temper tantrum because a comedy movie satirized its target in a one-sided, exaggerated manner https://t.co/kdyrN3FkUO
— 🗣 (@storylinefever) August 8, 2023
Hilarious irony that Maher's first try being a movie star (he, uh… "didn't have 'it' " 😏) was 'CANNIBAL WOMEN IN THE AVOCADO JUNGLE OF DEATH' – a feminist spoof of jungle-adventure exploitation movies with extremely similar politics to what he's complaining about in #Barbie https://t.co/S7dtt5vVuA pic.twitter.com/shjCA2rjUV
— Bob Chipman 😁 bobchipman.bsky.social (@the_moviebob) August 8, 2023
Can Barbie surpass the $1.3 billion global earning prediction? Let us know in the comments or reach out to us @PursueNews24 to stay tuned to the latest in Hollywood.
