Marc Maron finally saw Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and had nothing but raves to share in a recent TikTok video. He also blasted conservative figures who expressed outrage over the film due to its jokes aimed at men and the patriarchy.
“I saw ‘Barbie’ and it was a fucking masterpiece, and I don’t throw that word around lightly,” Maron said. “It does a fairly amazing thing. [It] creates a broad base entertainment product that applies to the entire spectrum, primarily of women, but then seeps it in progressive politics and basic feminism in a way that is funny, informative and well executed. It’s fucking monumental. It shouldn’t be, but it’s pretty radical. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Maron went on to say “the comedy about men is inspired” in the movie. “Barbie” ruffled the feathers of conservative figures as it was opening in theaters. Podcaster Matt Walsh condemned the movie as “the most aggressively anti-man, feminist propaganda fest ever put to film,” for instance, while Ben Shapiro posted a viral video on social media in which he set Barbie dolls on fire with a barbecue lighter while railing against the movie.
“The fact that certain men took offense to the point where they, you know, tried to build a grift around it in terms of their narrative is right wing [explicative],” Maron said. “It’s so embarrassing for them. I mean, so embarrassing for them. Any dude that can’t take those hits in that movie, they’ve really got to look in their pants and decide what they’re made of. I mean, Jesus Christ, what a bunch of fucking insecure babies.”
Gerwig co-wrote the “Barbie” script with Noah Baumbach and weighed in on the conservative backlash against the film during a post-release interview with The New York Times.
Did Gerwig anticipate the degree to which her film would anger right-wingers? “No, I didn’t,” she said. “Certainly, there’s a lot of passion. My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men. I hope that in all of that passion, if they see it or engage with it, it can give them some of the relief that it gave other people.”
“Barbie” is now playing in theaters nationwide. Watch Maron’s full TikTok reaction int he video below.