Greta Gerwig’s Barbie: A Study of How Political Culture Wars Influence Reception in the Mainstream

Abstract

This study discusses Barbie, (2023) and how its divided reception has been influenced by the current polarizing political landscape in the US, since the intended audience for the movie was supposed to be people from the left. Even though this has happened to several movies in the last few years, most notably to Ghostbusters, (2016) and Captain Marvel, (2019), the specific outrage Barbie has received is due in part because of Covid-19, and how it has allowed for conservatives to gain more ground. What I argue in this study is therefore that the reception of Barbie is dependent on the spectators political views, since conservatives are prone to doing a deliberate misinterpretation of the movie. Consequently the reception was destined to play out in the way that it has, since conservative people feel that it is their duty to do an oppositional reading.