Celebrity5 min(s) read
Published 12:42 31 Jul 2023 GMT
An Indian actress who went to see the new Barbie movie with her 10-year-old daughter has slammed the "inappropriate" scenes throughout via a lengthy post on social media.
Taking to Instagram, Juhi Parmar decided to write an open letter to the creators of Barbie, criticizing them for ruining "the perfect image" of the iconic character by including "PG" topics in the storyline.
"I start with owning up to my mistake," she wrote in the Barbie-themed post. "I took my 10-year-old daughter Samairra to watch your film without researching the fact that it was a 'PG-13' movie."
She continued: "10 minutes into the movie, there was inappropriate language and sexual connotations, and I was anxiously running out of the theatre wondering what I had just exposed my child to."
She then stated that she had no choice but to leave the theatre, with some other parents following in her footsteps and removing their "crying" children from the chaos.
"I saw other parents following with their little ones crying, while some parents chose to stay back to watch the entire movie," the actress said before pointing out the issues she had with the movie's use of "inappropriate" language.
"I want to ask, why make a movie that is such an essential part of a child's life and then have content in it which is so inappropriate for them," she wrote. "And then I ask what about the cross-checks? I made a mistake by not doing my research but why are there no reminders and checks? Why are theaters not reminding parents that: we hope you are aware that this is a PG-13 movie?"
Parmar then accused the movie of purposefully misleading parents into taking their children to see the movie, thinking it would be age appropriate because of the stereotypical branding behind Barbie.
"The theaters would be half empty if it wasn't for the young girls who are pushing their parents to take them for the film," she continued. "I went back and checked the promos and realized that none of them even gave a glimpse of the inappropriate language that was coming up in the movie. So then then why mislead?"
The star concluded the post questioning why director Greta Gerwig would choose to "break the perfect illusion of Barbie" signing off with: "I wish I could erase the memory of this film and continue believing in a picture perfect Barbie for my child... A concerned and disappointed parent, Juhi Parmar."
Thousands took to the comments after the 42-year-old's words were published to give her a piece of their minds.
Many seemed to be unimpressed with Parmar's lack of critical thinking and the fact she generally missed the message of the film.
"Wow you really missed the entire core of the movie. Disappointing," wrote one user.
Another added to the conversation, writing: "Also. The movie literally challenged and made fun of all the stereotypes that was associated with Barbie while we were growing up. It talks about things like patriarchy and feminism and how the entire concept of Barbie was misunderstood and turned into a bimbo. Your serials on the other not only suggests but also promotes patriarchy, misogyny, s**t shaming. But you will gladly show your kids those. So typical!"
Others also pointed out that it was the actress' responsibility to do all the relevant checks beforehand.
"The movie already told you it’s PG-13, what else you want them to do? Call you personally? It is YOUR responsibility to do your research. Your child is YOUR responsibility, so if your failure to check before going into the movies, it’s no one else’s fault except yours," one wrote.
Another added: "How can you say you didn't check the ratings?? I mean isn't that an easy way out to put the blame on the makers. This is the height of being an irresponsibility and then we preach about being responsible parenting..."
"Barbie was an illusion, yes! You said it! Do you know how many women are insecure, under confident and have body image issues because of this particular ILLUSION!!!" wrote another outraged user. "It had to be broken! Also, Barbie was an adult, she can do all sorts of adult stuff, so it’s your fault that you took your daughter for the movie without reading any sort of review or summary about it. Just because the name of the movie is 'Barbie' doesn’t mean it’s a princess movie made for kids!!!"
They also added: "Such an unnecessary post!"
Regardless of Parmar's thoughts, it seems as though others are really enjoying the Barbie movie with the flick breaking into new heights at the Box Office.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, the film is set to earn a whopping $95 million or more in its second week, one of the best second weekends of all time at the North American box office, and the best second weekend gross ever for Warner Bros (these numbers have not been adjusted for inflation).
The outlet also reported that the movie "should finish [on] Sunday with a domestic cume of around $350 million."
And if those stats are impressive, the global stats are looking one better with numbers soaring towards the $1 billion mark.
