The right-wing Barbie meltdown shows how reactionary forces are losing the culture wars
The right-wing Barbie meltdown shows how reactionary forces are losing the culture wars
Ben Shapiro: Get ready, folks. Its going to be liberated Barbie time."
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LGBTQ
WRITTEN BY MADELINE PELTZ
RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM JACINA HOLLINS-BORGES & SOPHIE LAWTON
PUBLISHED 07/18/23 2:04 PM ED
CitationAndrea Austria / Media Matters
https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/right-wing-barbie-meltdown-shows-how-reactionary-forces-are-losing-culture-wars
"SNIP........
The Barbie movie is scheduled to be released on July 21; as it stands, there is no evidence that anti-trans attacks by right-wing influencers have resonated with audiences at all. (Barbie is distributed by Warner Bros. Movies, which is currently being struck by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.)
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People say, Well, whats the story of Barbie? Gerwig recalls. The story of Barbie is the fight thats been going on about Barbie.
In keeping with recent anti-LGBTQ extremist campaigns, right-wing media personalities have now imposed their anti-trans agenda onto that fight. They certainly have the muscle memory for ideologically wrestling with toys: Great battles in the conservative culture war have been waged over Mr. Potato Head, Legos, Xbox, Muppets, and more.
Turning Point USAs Charlie Kirk, The Daily Wires Ben Shapiro, Fox host Rachel Campos-Duffy, and the gambit of right-wing blogs are outraged that Hari Nef, a transgender model and actor, stars in the movie as Doctor Barbie. (There are more than a dozen characters named Barbie in the movie, per IMDb, and an audio clip of each Barbie greeting each other by the same name has gone viral on TikTok.) This is not the first time Mattel has celebrated transgender representation through the Barbie brand: In 2022, the company released a doll version of Emmy-nominated actress Laverne Cox.
........SNIP"
Applegrove:
I think another reason why the GOP is anti Barbie is because (spoiler alert)
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Ken is encouraged to find himself and plans to. Nothing more threatening to a cult than followers who self actualize.