![Australian actress Margot Robbie poses on the pink carpet upon arrival for the European premiere of "Barbie" in central London on July 12, 2023. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images) / (Photo by Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images)](https://www.oann.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Untitled-design.webp)
OAN’s Noah Herring
11:30 AM – Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Twitter CEO Elon Musk joined in on the criticism of the 2023 “Barbie” film, calling out its anti-patriarchal messaging.
The tech billionaire took to Twitter on Monday, tweeting, “If you take a shot every time Barbie says the word ‘patriarchy,’ you will pass out before the movie ends.”
Musk’s tweet was in response to a Barbie-themed meme making fun of his recent decision to change the blue bird Twitter logo to a black and white “X” symbol.
A meme is an amusing or interesting piece of content (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online, especially through social media.
However, the Tesla founder was not the only vocal figure who took issue with the movie’s messaging.
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro similarly took issue with the amount of times the word “Patriarchy” was used in the “Barbie” film script.
“All you need to know about #BarbieTheMovie is that it unironically uses the word ‘patriarchy’ more than 10 times,” Shapiro complained on Twitter last week.
The notable online personality posted a video of himself throwing Barbie dolls in an outdoor garbage can and then lighting them on fire in protest of the film.
Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz’s wife, Ginger, also called for a boycott of the movie.
“The 2023 Barbie movie, unfortunately, neglects to address any notion of faith or family, and tries to normalize the idea that men and women can’t collaborate positively (yuck),” Ginger Gaetz tweeted, adding, “I really wanted to enjoy it, but ended up feeling let down.”
Prior to its release, the film was also criticized and even prohibited in Vietnam due to a contentious rendition of a map seen in the film. The map depicted certain regions of Asia as Chinese territory. The crayon map in the film shows a “nine-dash line” which is used by Chinese authorities to show its claim over most of the South China Sea.
The strategic inclusion of the map drew criticism from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), who have consistently accused Hollywood of supporting Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda.
However, despite backlash from some conservatives, the film still received widespread praise from moviegoers.
“Barbie” set the opening weekend record for 2023 with $162 million in North America and even broke the opening weekend record for a film directed by a woman.
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