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American comedian Bill Maher was slammed online after he reviewed Greta Gerwig's new directorial film, Barbie, starring Margot Robbie. On August 8, the 67-year-old star took to his Twitter handle to share his views on the "preachy, man-hating, and a #ZombieLie" film.
While the political talk show host said he enjoyed the film, he expressed his concerns over how the theme of patriarchy is portrayed in the film. Maher began his review by explaining what Zombie Lie is.
"[It is] 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."
Maher then compares this theory to the Mattel board depicted in the film, stating that real life is better than the way the film has shown it.
"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. 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."
Maher said that he went to watch the film with a woman in her 30s who said, "I don't know a single woman of any age who would act like that today," referring to the scene where the Barbies pretend to act helpless to win over Kens.
Bill Maher then rubbished the argument that he doesn't understand patriarchy since he is a man and said that even though no one knows what goes through in other person's life, he "can see the world around me, and I can read data."
"Truth is, I'm not the one who's out of step - I'm living in the year we're living in."
Bill Maher then concluded by pointing out that people who don't agree with Barbie "did not take some red pill" but are staying true to current reality.
Bill Maher's review of Barbie did not sit right with the netizens
After Bill Maher's review of "preachy" and "man-hating" Barbie went viral, Twitterati was furious. Several users slammed the comedian for posting an "essay" about how the film rubbed them the wrong way and its depiction of patriarchy.
Others slammed Bill Maher for not understanding the satire of Barbie and urged him not to "think piece" it and just enjoy the film.
While Bill Maher expressed his disapproval of the film, Barbie has been impressing several viewers and marking impressive milestones. On August 6, the drama film surpassed $1 billion in global box office collection.
Greta Gerwig becomes the 29th director and the first female director to join the billion-dollar club with Barbie.
Aside from Margot Robbie, the film also stars Ryan Gosling, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Dua Lipa, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa, John Cena, etc.
