Comic and social commentator Bill Maher hasn’t been shy when it comes to ruffling the feathers of the “woke” mob but his review of the movie “Barbie” had the HBO host being both singed by the blowback and praised for his take.
The summer box office hit staring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as the iconic Mattel dolls Barbie and Ken has been as polarizing as just about everything else in these times of social division and political acrimony and Maher’s remarks that the flick was “preachy” and “man-hating” and based on a “zombie lie” even though he enjoyed it, drew a strong reaction.
“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 true but no longer is, but certain people pretend it’s still true. ‘Barbie’ is this kind of #ZombieLie,” Maher wrote in a lengthy post on Twitter/X.
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
“Spoiler alert, Barbie fights the Patriarchy. Right up to the Mattel board who created her, consisting of 12 white men! The Patriarchy! Except there’s a Mattel board in real life, and it’s 7 men and 5 women,” Maher added. “OK, not perfect even-steven, but not the way the board IN THE MOVIE – which takes place in 2023 – is portrayed. And not really any longer deserving of the word “patriarchy.” Yes, there was one, and remnants of it remain – but this movie is so 2000-LATE.”
He concluded by saying, “Barbie is fun, I enjoyed it – but it IS a #ZombieLie. And people who don’t go along with zombie lies did not take some red pill – just staying true to CURRENT reality. Let’s live in the year we’re living in! Hi Ken!!!”
Maher’s viral post caught the attention of billionaire Twitter/X owner Elon Musk who asked “Why do they keep pushing these lies?”
Why do they keep pushing these lies?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 8, 2023
But leftists were infuriated by Maher’s opinion and shredded him in the replies.
Oh look. Bill Maher thinks the patriarchy is over. What a shock. https://t.co/YUnnojA8dA
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) August 7, 2023
Yet another powerful man feels threatened by a movie about a doll. Maybe greta gerwig was on to something? https://t.co/mGr5F5TA3b
— Molly Jong-fast (@MollyJongFast) August 8, 2023
Self hating 67 yr old man hates “man-hating” movie about dolls (so does his 30 yr old date), preaches that doll movie is “preachy” & THERE IS NO PATRIARCHY BECAUSE MATTEL’S BOARD IS NOT ALL DUDES ONLY MOSTLY DUDES & the doll movie is not about dolls it’s about zombies. https://t.co/nQEQD7bg9d
— Lisa Guerrero (@4lisaguerrero) August 8, 2023
I sure am glad to be a Black heterosexual Christian man whose manhood isn’t threatened by a damn #Barbie MOVIE. https://t.co/bVBTQEyj0Q
— rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) August 8, 2023
This reads like a parody. It isn’t. Someone is REALLY mad about a movie created for and marketed to women.
I could tell you the day I stopped watching his show. It was years ago. https://t.co/CcllUQERcV
— Decoding Fox News (@DecodingFoxNews) August 8, 2023
Also weighing in was podcasting king Joe Rogan who also said that he enjoyed “Barbie” but doesn’t understand what the big deal about the movie is.
“A lot of people are upset about the Barbie movie, and I left perplexed,” Rogan told guest Post Malone on a recent edition of his popular Spotify podcast. “It was a fun movie — fun, silly movie about dolls who come to life.”
(Video: Grabien)
“But a lot of it is about the patriarchy. And it’s a comedy. It’s a comedy about dolls. So people are like, you know. People are upset that it’s this like progressive metaphor for life that they’re pushing progressive politics in this and I’m like, It’s a f**king doll movie. It’s a doll movie. It’s a fun movie about dolls who come to life and try to interact with the real world,” he said.
“No one’s ever done a movie like this before. It’s not like anything else you could say. It was a bizarre movie, but it was a fun, silly movie. I laughed, but at the end of it I was like, ‘How did people get outraged at that?’” Rogan asked.
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