Bill Maher Skewers ‘Preachy, Man Hating’ ‘Barbie’

Bill Maher is getting a reputation for infuriating the Left, but he may have gone too far this time.

The “Club Random” host just pummeled the “Barbie” movie on X, the platform formally known as Twitter.

It wasn’t pretty.

The feminist film, which just eclipsed the $1 billion mark at the global office, earned rave reviews and tons of social media adoration. This critic’s assessment of the film earned oodles of social media hate.

Yet many have dismissed or ignored its overt lectures and heavy-handed themes (like mentioning The Patriarchy 10 times).

Maher caught them all, apparently.

OK, “Barbie”: I was hoping it wouldn’t be preachy, man-hating, and a #ZombieLie – alas, it was all three. What is a Zombie Lie? 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…

— Bill Maher (@billmaher) August 7, 2023

OK, “Barbie”: I was hoping it wouldn’t be preachy, man-hating, and a #ZombieLie – alas, it was all three. What is a Zombie Lie? 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.

Maher gives a hefty “spoiler alert” next, a necessary step given his in-depth critique.

Spoiler alert, 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.

At one point the Barbies have to win over the Kens, and they are told to do it by pretending to act helpless and not know how to do stuff. Helen Gurley Brown called, she wants her premise back. Yes, that WAS a thing. I saw “Barbie” with a woman in her 30s who said, “I don’t know a single woman of any age who would act like that today.”

I know, I know, ‘How could I know about the patriarchy, I AM a man!’ 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. Truth is, I’m not the one who’s out of step – I’m living in the year we’re living in. Barbie is fun, I enjoyed it – but it IS a #ZombieLie. And people who don’t go along with zombie lies did not take some red pill – just staying true to CURRENT reality. Let’s live in the year we’re living in! 

Maher essentially saw the film the same way this critic did. Not everyone agrees, though.

HiT reached out to “Barbie” supporter Vito for a feisty Critic v. Critic showdown over the blockbuster film.

Maher quickly got mocked for his mini-review on X.

You seem intelligent, and then go after this movie clearly missing at least half of the message, already having decided what you’d say… man hating? I think you watched a different movie. Patriarchy deserves to be made fun of. It’s a good movie. You just want clicks

— David Niall Wilson – CEO Crossroad Press (@CrossroadPress) August 7, 2023

“Barbie” is a satirical take on past gender norms, a reminder of our progress & the battles ahead.

It’s not a #ZombieLie, but a commercial for a toy that reflects our ongoing fight for equality. #BarbieMovie    🎬💪🎭

— seanwithaw (@seanwithaw) August 7, 2023

Others cheered on his assessment.

The “Barbie” battle is far from over, and Warner Bros. is laughing all the way to the bank.