For many cinephiles, the weekend beginning on July 21, 2023, is a landmark date.
Why? Because a pair of tentpole films are simultaneously releasing that day — Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” (a dramatized biopic based on the titular scientist) and the ballyhooed new “Barbie” (yes, the famous children’s doll) movie.
Now, if you were to learn that the weekend of July 21 was going to be marred because one of these movies would be dabbling in divisive, social and geopolitical issues, you’d probably assume that it would be “Oppenheimer” causing the consternation.
Well, you’d assume wrong, because it turns out that the hot pink and fuschia-toned movie is the source of some surprisingly nuanced conversation — and some not-so-subtle conversations.
“Barbie” first garnered some negative press when the movie was abruptly yanked from airing in Vietnam after it featured a map that recognized China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.
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The “Barbie” movie is highly anticipated but is now sparking controversy due to a map seen in the film. The map allegedly represents China’s disputed claim to the South China Sea, causing Vietnam to ban the movie and the Philippines to consider doing the same. pic.twitter.com/GfSozAxjAi
— Inside Edition (@InsideEdition) July 8, 2023
The movie’s showrunners spoke to Variety and have dismissed the map controversy because the map is a “child-like crayon drawing.”
But while in the above instance, the “Barbie” movie and its associates are brushing the controversy aside as much ado about nothing, a more recent controversy has reared its ugly head with all of the subtly you’d expect from a movie this bright pink.
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That’s because transgender actor Hari Nef (a man who claims to be a woman) seemingly said the quiet part out loud in an interview with Out magazine.
“[He] says while the movie is a celebration of femininity, it’s also a loving sendup of it and how far it can be taken,” the glowing article notes.
“That contradiction and ambivalence, I think, is very close to the heart of probably a lot of girls like me today, probably a lot of girls in general today,” the actor said.
That’s when he muttered the most alarming bit: “It’s candy with a little poison, and that’s what I like.”
Look, whether you think child sex trafficking and pedophilia are real-world problems or are some conservative boogeyman, we can all agree that poisoning children with candy is wrong, no?
And yet, Nef’s offhand remarks illustrate the very thing that has so many everyday Americans concerned.
Namely, most Americans don’t care about whatever perversion is going on behind closed doors. But once those doors are flung open and targeting children? That’s where many parents draw the line, and Nef’s remarks could be a death knell for the “Barbie” movie just weeks before its grand debut.
Is Nef really using this movie as a vehicle to push some LGBT agenda onto younger viewers? It certainly seems so and that could be a problem for the movie.
The topic of transgenderism, especially, has become a nuclear hot-button issue in recent times.
Look at the current state of Target or Bud Light, both major conglomerates that have worked with the transgender lobby. Notably, Bud Light is still suffering after working with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Target is not doing much better.
“Barbie,” meanwhile, appears to be trying to keep that hot-button issue at arms reach — in spite of that curious “candy with a little poison” remark.
Nef aggressively denied being a “Trans Barbie” but rather that all “Barbies are Barbies, they’re not human women. They’re dolls. They don’t have genitalia.”
Well, yes. Dolls don’t have genitalia, but the left has already established that genitalia doesn’t matter when it comes to feeling like a boy or girl.
Keeping the transgender topic at arms reach (well, at least until that Variety interview dropped) was probably the best move the studio could make.
Look at Disney, who has been hemorrhaging money “thanks” to box office flops that touted way more about gender ideology (“Look! This movie has the first gay couple!” “Look! This movie has a non-binary character!”) than actual plot details.
If Nef’s verbiage isn’t cleared up — pronto — July 21 may be going from a “Barbenheimer” weekend to just “Oppenheimer.”
