The Barbie movie shares the most anticipated 2023 film position with Oppenheimer. That may be why it has faced so many controversies in the months leading to its release.
From the Vietnam ban controversy to the inclusion of a Trans actress, the pretty pink movie creators have a lot on their plate. However, I think you will agree with me when I say most of these controversies are baseless.
So without further ado, let’s dive into all the fuss created regarding the Barbie movie!
Vietnam Ban
The director of Vietnam’s Cinema Department announced that the Barbie movie would not be licensed for release in Vietnam. According to him, the film contains an offensive nine-dash line image that resembles Chinese propaganda.
The film was banned due to a cartoonish map depicting Asia. The map included eight dashes that supposedly represent Barbie’s journey but are not labeled as anything on the map. The Vietnamese government believes that the lines refer to the nine-dash line used by China to claim most of the South China Sea.
The map was considered an offensive image. However, the claim was dismissed as the map in the film doesn’t bear any resemblance to even the actual map of the world, and the nine dashes are non-existent in it.
According to Warner Bros., “The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing … the doodles depict Barbie’s make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the ‘real world.’ It was not intended to make any type of statement.”
Suggestive French Poster
You must remember the iconic tagline of the Barbie movie in its poster, “She’s everything. He’s just Ken.” Turns out, its French-translated version has an innuendo. The French tagline reads: “Elle peut tout faire. Lui, c’est juste Ken,” which closely matches the original, but the word Ken is slang in French, meaning the f-word.
So the tagline now translates to “She can do everything. He can only f***.” While it was not a deliberate attempt to be suggestive, there was no other way to translate it. At the same time, every French speaker would notice the double meaning behind the words.
Trans Cast
The Barbie movie had an all-star cast with a wide variety of Barbies and Ken from different backgrounds. Likewise, Barbie also features a transgender actress, Hari Nef, who is a doctor Barbie in the movie.
Some audiences and critics have claimed that the movie is forgetting its core audience of families and children. Apparently, Barbie is pushing woke agenda on its audience. Some critics have stated that Warner Bros. has ignored its vast audience base by choosing to cater to a small percentage of the population.
Margot Robbie clarified that the movie is for everyone later in an interview. Hari Nef suggested that the film has an empowering message about being transgender.
Ken-troversy
After the cast members and trailer of the Barbie movie were first revealed, many people criticized the choice of Ryan Gosling for playing Ken. Many comments stated that the actor was too old and “ugly” for the role.
Of course, plenty came to Ryan’s rescue as they stated the hurtful comments weren’t true at all. I mean, if Gosling is ugly, I am leftover food at the bottom of the sink.
However, Ryan Gosling himself addressed such controversies “It is funny, this kind of clutching-your-pearls idea of, like, #notmyken. Like you ever thought about Ken before this?”
The actor clarified that people suddenly care about who plays Ken when no one really cared about Ken ever. “You never cared. Barbie never f***** with Ken. That’s the point.”
Have you watched Barbie yet? If so, do you support any of these silly controversies? Let us know in the comments below how your experience was.
