“Oppenheimer is based on a 721- page, Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project. And Barbie is on a plastic doll with big boobies. I watched Barbie. I loved it. I really did love it. I don’t want you guys to think that I’m a creep, but it was kind of weird being attracted to a plastic doll,” said host Jo Koy at the 81st Golden Globes awards on Jan. 7.
You could hear a pin drop. The Golden Globes are back, and as awful as ever. Why did they return, again?
As a Barbie fan, I was nervous leading up into awards season that a host would potentially make a joke like this.
After all, many continue to comment on the “hyperfeminism” of Barbie and how it compares to the “grittiness” of Oppenheimer.
Because of this, Oppenheimer has been seen as the grounded film while Barbie is a “fun romp.”
Those of us who have seen and connected with Barbie will know this is far from the truth.
Yes, Barbie IS fun. However, it also sends a very important message. One that, for some reason, many still (including Jo Koy) seem to be unable to grasp.
Perhaps naively, I thought tha the bad press that would certainly follow would dissuade them from doing it. It turns out I was wrong.
Yet another film marketed towards women gets mocked like many others that have come before.
Once again, a movie created to celebrate a “great man” is treated like the best thing since sliced bread.
I don’t care if it’s a joke. It’s not funny. Nor was it ever funny.
As a former film student, I’m no stranger to being told that my film preferences and analysis are incorrect (despite having a major in film studies).
No matter what I know as an educated woman, I will be told that a man knows more.
Watching as the camera cut to Greta Gerwig to catch her reaction to this complete travesty of an opening speech, I imagine she felt the same. No matter how hard a female director works, she becomes the brunt of the joke.
Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan gets treated like a hero for his “masterpiece” where the female characters are bit roles because he’s incapable of writing women accurately. No one’s laughing at him.
How will films centered on women continue to be made if they are treated this way?
Instead of being respected like they deserve, they are treated like the punchline of a joke regardless of how many people they’ve touched.
This is further exemplified by Hollywood’s reaction to Ryan Gosling’s performance as Ken.
While it was well done, it continues to be treated like it is better than Margot Robbie’s performance.
Gosling, after the Globes, is getting praised for the bare minimum (not laughing at Koy’s terrible joke).
Why does Gosling deserve to be praised for basic human decency?
We want to be living in Barbieland, but Hollywood continues to be the “Kendom.”
This is one mojo dojo casa house that I do not want to live in.