Current:Home > MarketsBill Maher Ken-not with Barbie fighting the patriarchy: 'This movie is so 2000-LATE' -WealthMindset Learning
Bill Maher Ken-not with Barbie fighting the patriarchy: 'This movie is so 2000-LATE'
View
Date:2025-04-19 11:05:40
Bill Maher doesn't think Greta Gerwig's representation of life in plastic is all that fantastic.
The "Real Time" host shared his thoughts Monday about "Barbie" on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Though the film starring Margot Robbie as the titular character has surpassed $1 billion at the box office since its July 21 release date, Maher wasn't impressed.
"I was hoping it wouldn't be preachy, man-hating, and a #ZombieLie - alas, it was all three," Maher began. He described a "zombie lie" as "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."
'Barbie' review:Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling dazzle in hilariously heady toy story
Maher continued, taking issue with portrayal of Mattel's board in the film as "12 white men! The Patriarchy!" he wrote. "Except there's a Mattel board in real life, and it's 7 men and 5 women." Mattel's website currently identifies 11 Board of Directors, consisting of six men and five women.
"OK, not perfect even-steven," Maher went on, "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."
"I know, I know, 'How could I know about the patriarchy, I AM a man!'" Maher wrote, preemptively going on the defense. "That argument is so old and so silly. Of course, none of us can know exactly what others go through life, but I can see the world around me, and I can read data.
"The real Mattel board is a pretty close mirror of the country, where 45% of the 449 board seats filled last year in Fortune 500 companies were women," Maher added. "Barbie is fun, I enjoyed it - but it IS a #ZombieLie," Maher wrote in conclusion. "Let's live in the year we're living in! Hi Ken!!!"
Though, it appears Maher might be quoting from older data. According to this year's Heidrick & Struggles' Board Monitor US report, there were 414 Fortune 500 board appointments made in 2022 (a decrease from 449 in 2021). And only 40% of the 2022 openings were filled by women, per the report, down from 45% in 2021. Furthermore, the company's analysis of CEOs released in 2022 found that women made up 7% of CEOs around the world. Last year women in America "earned an average of 82% of what men earned," per Pew Research Center findings that looked at "median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers."
'Barbie' ending:Greta Gerwig talks 'emotional' final line, creator Ruth Handler (Spoilers!)
veryGood! (6)
Related
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- Monday Night Football highlights: Jets win OT thriller vs. Bills; Aaron Rodgers hurt
- 'I'm drowning': Black teen cried for help as white teen tried to kill him, police say
- Horoscopes Today, September 10, 2023
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- Horoscopes Today, September 11, 2023
- Sweden: Norwegian man guilty of storing dead partner’s body in a freezer to cash in her pension
- World War II veteran from Rhode Island identified using DNA evidence
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Mark Meadows requests emergency stay in Georgia election interference case
Ranking
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- NFL Week 1 winners, losers: Dolphins, 49ers waste no time with sizzling starts
- Police warn that escapee Danelo Cavalcante is armed. He has avoided searchers for nearly two weeks
- Best photos from New York Fashion Week: See all the celebs, spring/summer 2024 runway looks
- Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
- California fast food workers to get $20 minimum wage under new deal between labor and the industry
- Groups sue EPA in an effort to strengthen oversight of livestock operations
- The search for Cyprus’ missing goes high-tech as time weighs on loved ones waiting for closure
Recommendation
Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
AP PHOTOS: Humpback whales draw thousands of visitors to a small port on Colombia’s Pacific coast
Effort to restrict public’s access to Arkansas records stumbles at start of legislative session
Drew Barrymore to restart her talk show amid strikes, drawing heated criticism
'Most Whopper
Country singer-songwriter Charlie Robison dies in Texas at age 59 from cardiac arrest
Biden, Modi and G20 allies unveil rail and shipping project linking India to Middle East and Europe
Drew Barrymore to return amid writer's strike. Which other daytime talk shows will follow?