Bill Maher calls “Barbie” movie a “preachy, man-hating” zombie lie

Greta Gerwig’s billion-dollar box office hit “Barbie” has not been met without criticisms from both sides of the political spectrum from Sen. Ted Cruz to Rep. Matt Gaetz. Now comedian Bill Maher joins the ranks. “Real Time with Bill Maher” host took to Twitter (X) on Monday to rant about the “preachy, man-hating, and a #ZombieLie” that is the “Barbie” movie. 

He described a “zombie lie” as “Something that never was true, but certain people refuse to stop saying it (tax cuts for the rich increase revenues, e.g.); OR something that USED to be true but no longer is, but certain people pretend it’s still true.” And the “Barbie” film was an example of a zombie lie.

Maher stated in an extended tweet that his biggest issue with the film was the inaccuracy of the fictional Mattel board members, who represented one of the many forms of patriarchy in the film, which did not accurately reflect the gender breakdown shown in real life. In actuality, the Mattel board consists of seven men and five women, which Maher mentioned is closer to national data on gender in the corporate world “where 45% of the 449 board seats filled last year in Fortune 500 companies were women.” He also called the film “so 2000-LATE,” a misquoted lyric from the Black Eyed Peas’ song “Boom Boom Pow.”

He went on to say that the film was fun and that he enjoyed it but it is still a “#ZombieLie. And people who don’t go along with zombie lies did not take some red pill – just staying true to CURRENT reality. Let’s live in the year we’re living in!”