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The “Real Time” host shared his thoughts on Monday about “Barbie,” the film formerly known as “X,” by Gerwig.
Maher wasn’t impressed, despite the fact that the Margot Robbie-starring movie has made over $1 billion at the box office since its July 21 release date.
Maher began, “I was hoping it wouldn’t be didactic, misandrist, and #Zombielandish — oops, all three.” He described “Zombielandish” as “something that was never true but some people resist stopping saying it (like cutting taxes for the rich grows revenue); or something that was true but isn’t anymore, but some people pretend it still is. ‘Barbie’ is this kind of #Zombielandish.”
Maher objected to the Mattel board being portrayed in the movie as “12 white dudes! Paternity!” Except that the genuine Mattel board is made of metal and has 7 men and 5 women on it, the author noted in his essay. Mattel’s website currently identifies 11 directors on the board, with six men and five women.
“Okay, complete Sam Stevenses,” Maher added, “but not like the board in the movie, which is set in 2023. Additionally, the term “paternity” no longer applies in real life. Yes, there was one, and he has leftovers, but this movie is so late compared to 2000.
“I know, I know, ‘How can I know about paternity, I’m a man!'” Maher wrote, sarcastically leaning into the argument. “That argument is very old and very stupid. Although it’s true that none of us can know what other people are doing, I can see my surroundings and read data.
According to the Hedrick & Struggles Board Monitor US report for this year (down from more than 449 in 2021) “Real Metal Board of Directors is a pretty close mirror to the nation, where 45% of the filled 449 board seats in Fortune 500 companies were women,” Maher continued. The report also stated that in 2022, only 40% of vacant positions were filled by women, which is less than 45% in 2021. Furthermore, in the company’s 2022 CEO analysis, it was found that only 7% of CEOs are women worldwide.
Results from the Pew Research Centre show that in the US in 2017, women made “an average of 82 cents for every dollar a man made,” with “median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers” being taken into account.
