‘The View’s Whoopi Goldberg Calls Out Conservatives Over Toxic Comments on Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie'

The View moderator Whoopi Goldberg is not taking in the toxic comments aimed at Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie by leading conservative figures Ben Shapiro and Ted Cruz. During the latest episode of the popular hot topic and political discussion on the ABC talk show, the Oscar winner called out the conservatives who are upset by the movie. “It’s a movie!” Goldberg exclaimed. “It’s a movie about a doll! I thought y’all would be happy. [Barbie] has no genitalia, so there’s no sex involved. Ken has no genitalia, so he can’t — it’s a doll movie! And the kids know it’s colorful and it’s Barbie,” per Variety. 

Republican Texas senator Ted Cruz has accused the filmmakers of “trying to kiss up to the Chinese communist party” referring to the movie’s portrayal of the South China Sea while conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro called the film “angry, feminist claptrap”. As per the Independent, Shapiro bizarrely set fire to a bin full of Barbie and Ken dolls with a BBQ lighter before going on a 43-minute-rant against Barbie, which he also posted on his YouTube channel on Saturday, 22nd July.

During the rant, he said - “The basic sort of premise of the film, politically speaking, is that men and women are on two sides and they hate each other,” he said. “And literally, the only way you can have a happy world is if the women ignore the men and the men ignore the women.” Shapiro later predicted, “[‘Barbie’ is] absolutely going to fall off a cliff [at the box office]…repeat business is going to be nonexistent.”

Senator Cruz too had a similar reaction towards Barbie  and called it a communist agenda, he accused the movie of “kissing up to the Chinese Communist party because they want to make money selling the movie in China.” The Texas politician was referring to the inclusion of a map in the film that appears to showcase the “nine-dash line,” which reinstates the Chinese government's claims over the South China Sea. Warner Bros. later explained that the map is “a child-like crayon drawing” and the dotted lines showcase the route from Barbieland to the real world.

Goldberg continued to lash out at the conservatives saying, “The kids know it’s colorful and it’s Barbie. They haven’t lived through what the adults have lived through. So when they’re seeing this movie, that’s not how they’re looking at it. The kids are looking at it as a Barbie movie. You guys, I want y’all to tell your daughters why you’re not taking them to the Barbie movie,” she added. “I want you to explain to them what’s wrong with Barbie.”

Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin supported Goldberg's stance while saying that right-wing commentators like Cruz and Shapiro were “out of touch” with real-life Republicans. “I’m so taken by some of these right-wing men who have all these thoughts on masculinity,” Farah Griffin said. “Like, somehow, the Barbie movie is going to make them feel emasculated. No, caring so much about it is honestly the most emasculating thing I could think about it,” she added.

References: 

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/whoopi-goldberg-barbie-ted-cruz-ben-shapiro-b2381764.html

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/barbie-conservative-backlash-whoopi-goldberg-fires-back-1235679936/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynU-wVdesr0