Oscar-winning “Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody recently stated that she quit the “Barbie” movie that was being produced at Sony because she couldn’t work out how to make the iconic doll a “feminist” icon.
In an interview with GQ, Cody stated that she just couldn’t put together a script for the film, which was eventually abandoned by the studio in 2018, five years before Warner Brothers launched into a project starring Margot Robbie due for release later that yr. . month.
Cody was candid in an interview with the magazine, stating that, amongst other things, she had trouble finalizing the script because she didn’t know the way to make a “boss girl” doll a “feminist” heroine.
The Hollywood talent declared that “this will not be Barbie.”
The screenwriter admitted to GQ that she bombarded the project, claiming that the culture and she disagreed over what a Barbie movie could be. She said: “I believe I do know why I’m in bed. Once I was first hired to do that, I do not think the culture didn’t [sic] recognized femme or bimbo as vital feminist archetypes.”
She admitted that now there seems to be a larger road to a doll version on the big screen than at the time she was involved. She added, “In the event you have a look at ‘Barbie’ on TikTok, you will find this excellent subculture that celebrates femininity, but in 2014, making this skinny blonde white doll a heroine was a tough job.”
![Cody says that Barbie is not a feminist character and at the time she didn't know how to portray her like that.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000009511607-edited.jpg)
Echoing what Sony had in mind for this character, a more ironic, self-aware Barbie, Cody continued by saying, “This anti-Barbie idea made a lot of sense given the feminist rhetoric from 10 years ago.”
Nonetheless, she noted that she found it difficult to reconcile this “anti-Barbie” idea with the character’s serious, directly feminine iconography. “Back then, I didn’t really have the freedom to write something that was faithful to the iconography; they wanted Barbie to be a feminist twist on a boss girl, and I could not figure it out because that is not Barbie.”
Satirically, comedian and actress Amy Schumer abandoned the same Sony production since it wasn’t feminist enough. During a recent interview with “Watch What Happens Live” host Andy Cohen, Schumer confirmed that she left the film since it didn’t seem “feminist and funky.”
![Schumer left the production feeling the role was not feminist enough.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000007750771.jpg?w=683)
Cody also noted in an interview with GQ that the success of Warner Brother’s “The Lego Movie” at the time added to her pressure as she tried to provide you with a script for “Barbie.” She claimed, “I heard limitless references to ‘The Lego Movie’ in development and it created a problem for me because they did it so well. Each time I got here up with something meta, it was too similar to what they did.
“It was a stumbling block for me,” she added.
It stays to be seen whether Warner Brothers’ Barbie movie has heavy feminist themes, though there are indications that the movie can have no less than one or two revival elements.
![While it hasn't been confirmed, there have been hints that the new Warner Bros. movie will have feminist tropes.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013738818.jpg?w=1024)
In a recent interview with Fandango.com, “Barbie” actress Kate McKinnon described the script for the upcoming film, saying “to deny people half of their humanity and the way much we must like to be ourselves.”
Others have expressed concerns about the film’s geopolitical implications, of all things. Recently, lawmakers from the U.S., Vietnam, and the Philippines claimed that the film studio was trying to throw a bone at the Chinese government by claiming that the animated map of Asia featured in the film depicts China’s claims in the South China Sea.
Though studio officials have since denied that the cartoon depicts Chinese interests.