Diablo Cody Exited Sony's Failed Barbie Movie Because of Troubles with the Feminist Twist

[shangri__la]

Original 'Barbie' Writer Exited Sony's Failed Movie Because 'They Wanted a Girl-Boss Feminist Twist on Barbie' and 'That's Not What Barbie Is' https://t.co/Wl4aJA0Ivu
- Variety (@Variety) July 7, 2023
Sony Pictures originally had the rights to Barbie and spent years trying to get a movie off the ground. Actors such as Amy Schumer and Anne Hathaway

Comments

[evett]

If you see Barbie with her good natured personality and ten thousand jobs and hobbies as just an anti-feminist pink loving bimbo all because shes a pretty skinny blonde with big boobs then yeah you were never the right writer for her story.

[sandstorm]

I think she was trying to play off the then-cultural perception of Barbie. I remember parodies of Barbie that didn't emphasize the good to neutral qualities. I can 100% imagine someone going "No, this woman you've been making a mockery of is AWESOME because she's xyz."

[smilerocket]

I agree. I truly mean no shade when I say this - but what Diablo Cody is saying and knowing that it's in the context of AMY SCHUMER being Barbie, already seemed like the movie back then was going for unconventional. So although what she said was a reasonable take, she just couldn't/didn't want to flex it - which is okay! But also, whew, for the rest of us excited for this iteration of the Barbie movie.

[corrykennedy]

I feel like when you're talking about a commercial product developed in the 50s, who for a lot of its lifespan embodied unrealistic beauty standards (as in she could not stand up straight if she had those dimensions irl), there's at least a valid argument that she is there to represent patriarchal values that are inherently anti-feminist.

Diablo is also just saying that in 2014 she wasn't sure how ready the world was for girlbossified barbie and she's probably right. That's right when pop feminism was starting to have a resurgence and was still seen as radical. or at least too radical for a feature-length toy commercial.

[slaughtermatic]

there's at least a valid argument that she is there to represent patriarchal values that are inherently anti-feminist.

We dont care about that now because MERCH

[belle_chouette]

u didn’t have to clock us this hard

via GIPHY

[evett]

if this was about the making of the toy then those things would be taken into account but it's about turning the doll into live-action being which means you use the personality she's been presented as over the last 60+ years. which is a single career woman with various hobbies who owns her own homes, cars and has a sold separately optional boyfriend. she is the original girl boss in every way.

[jesuisjuan]

That's how I took it. I think doing the anti-Barbie was predictable had they stuck with it, but it's wild how only 9 years ago, there really weren't talks like these. We DID have Legally Blonde in the early 2000s to show that you can be both the girly-girl who likes pink and be blonde AND also be a smart and successful lawyer. It's like only "tomboys" or the girls who hang out with the boys and like their stuff can be smart. It's so dumb. Things were so boxed then and even now, like when people categorized artists like Britney and Christina, and those like Avril and P!nk. I think we're on 4th-wave feminism, right? It sucks that there still are ideals on gender performance, stereotypes, and internalized sexism because of the patriarchy. You're right about Barbie. They may have been diversified more than ever, and Barbie had every job, but even America Ferrera has been vocal during movie promo about not growing up with Barbies because they didn't look like her. Barbie's body proportions weren't even realistic.

[fuckinmagnets]

That's not what she's saying at all. From the above:

“I think I know why I shit the bed. When I was first hired for this, I don’t think the culture had not embraced the femme or the bimbo as valid feminist archetypes yet. If you look up ‘Barbie’ on TikTok you’ll find this wonderful subculture that celebrates the feminine, but in 2014, taking this skinny blonde white doll and making her into a heroine was a tall order.”

[kamikashi]

people are kidding themselves if they think barbie was always considered a feminist icon.

let us all pretend that there isnt a stereotype about girls play with pretty pink toys dressing up dolls while boys play with toy cars and superhero figurines. "go and play with your barbies" has always been an insult to girls in shows/movies/books.

in 2014 we can say tina fey/amy poehler/amy schumer was the reflection of white feminism at the time and they were very much "we're not like the other girls" type of feminism. that type of feminism is definitely still around now, but definitely would not be getting the same internet fervor if the current barbie was written with such values.

[5368f65]

See eg.: Aqua - Barbie Girl

[kamikashi]

lol oh yeah perfect example. take away the sexual lyrics, which is basically the whole song, and you of course still have this

I'm a blond, bimbo girl, in a fantasy world
Dress me up, make me talk, I'm your dollie

[saturdaysinbed]

i genuinely don't understand how this is what people are taking from this lmao?? she said, correctly, that in 2014 that was the cultural perspective, not hers. the studio wanted a gatekeep gaslight girlboss take on barbie because that was the feminist lens of the time. she didn't feel the studio's vision was what barbie was. i know everyone's still really mad about juno and all but the words are right there.

[bluesforgotten]

Absolutely this.

One of my hills is that the entire Barbie product - the image, the branding, the products, the everything - is about a woman who can be or do anything. The point of Barbie is that she had every career and every adventure. I understand the pushback in modern times to criticize her body type as being unrealistic for young girls to see, and I don't disagree with those comments.

But if her interpretation of Barbie was a blonde bimbo who loved pink and only cared about Ken...then she never should've been involved, anyway.