‘Barbie’ director Greta Gerwig responds to right-wing backlash
Barbie director Greta Gerwig has responded to the right-wing backlash against the new film.
Various right-wing commentators have criticised the film around its release. Among them was Texas senator Ted Cruz, who described it as “Chinese communist propaganda” due to its depiction of a disputed region in the South China Sea (via Business Insider).
Ben 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 a new interview with The New York Times, Gerwig was asked whether she expected “the degree to which rightwing pundits are bashing the movie as being ‘woke’ and burning their Barbies”.
The director responded: “Certainly, there’s a lot of passion. My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men.
“I hope that in all of that passion, if they see it or engage with it, it can give them some of the relief that it gave other people.”
Whoopi Goldberg also hit back at the right-wing criticism of Barbie, saying: “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.”
In a four-star review, NME described Barbie as a “nuanced, rose-tinted comedy adventure” which “somehow lives up to the immense hype”.
The post ‘Barbie’ director Greta Gerwig responds to right-wing backlash appeared first on NME.
Will Richards
NME
