Actress Lisa Ray on Friday dubbed Barbie “a marketing push for an agent of female oppression”, taking to task both millennials and Gen Z audience for staying silent about this aspect of the Greta Gerwig directorial.
“Genuine question to the Woke millennials and Gen Zers: how are you not only not up in arms over the Barbie movie - which is really a huge marketing push for an agent of female oppression cloaked as a movie - but many of you are also participating in Barbiecore and posting cute photos in hot pink?” she posted on Twitter.
Accusing young influencers of giving in to the hype created by the Margot Robbie-starrer, the Four More Shots Please actress went on to claim that Barbie sets an “unwelcome standard” for the next generation of girls. “How?! I see young influencers who raise the alarm against social inequalities and sexism and yet are fervently celebrating a movie that, no matter how subversive, brings unwelcome Barbie standards and its legacy to the next generation of girls,” she wrote on the microblogging site.
Lisa also claimed that the fantasy comedy, which also stars Ryan Gosling, was getting so much attention because of its marketing gimmicks. “I can only think that marketing budgets got to them. Please enlighten,” she concluded her post.
When someone pointed out that the movie is exactly the opposite of what she is saying, the Water actress replied, “Yes. Regardless of content we are still highlighting a very pernicious symbol for the next, vulnerable generation. And if it’s genuinely subversive why promote it through pink and Barbiecore? Let’s go into the history of Barbie and how Mattel has been unaccountable for scarring millions of young girls’ body image. And at the end of the day, regardless of whether Barbie is presented as having an existential crisis- the audience is celebrating A Doll.”
Barbie, which opened alongside Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer on July 21, is based on Barbie fashion dolls by Mattel. The film also features an ensemble cast of America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Dua Lipa, Emerald Fennell, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera and Will Ferrell.
