(ProsperNews.net) – Moviegoers in China are reacting positively to the new Barbie movie, saying it’s a rare chance to see feminism celebrated on the big screen. It earned almost $12 in its opening weekend there and has gained near-universal praise on China’s version of Twitter, Weibo. One commenter stated, “Chinese women don’t get many chances to see a high-quality, female-focused movie in the cinema.” The comment received more than 20,000 “likes.”
In the US, Barbie was met with a mixture of views. It took in $155 million in its first weekend – the highest for any movie this year. But conservatives denounced it as anti-male, with commentator Ben Shapiro describing it as the worst movie he has ever seen.
Senator Ted Cruz called it “Chinese propaganda,” primarily because of a map that appears on screen while Barbie and Ken leave Barbieland to travel to the “real world.” The map contains what is known as the “nine-dash line,” which indicates China’s territorial claims in the region. Cruz said he has warned for years that Hollywood is producing content in accordance with the wishes of the Chinese Communist Party and describes the nine-dash line as an example.
A spokesperson for the Senator said, “China wants to control what Americans see, hear, and ultimately think, and they leverage their massive film markets to coerce American companies into pushing CCP propaganda—just like the way the Barbie film seems to have done with the map.”
Twitter CEO Elon Musk joined the backlash against the movie amid criticisms that it paints men negatively. He tweeted, “If you take a shot every time Barbie says the word patriarchy, you will pass out before the movie ends.” Conservative commentator Lauren Chen said the film has an “insidious man-hating message,” while Ginger Gaetz, wife of Republican Florida Representative Matt Gaetz and a self-described Barbie fan, said she was disappointed by the movie’s representation of female empowerment and said it “tries to normalize the idea that men and women can’t collaborate positively.”
Copyright 2023, ProsperNews.net
