Greta Gerwig's hit film Barbie has not only broken box office records...but relationships too.
The blockbuster movie starring Margot Robbie as the titular character and Ryan Gosling as the dumbly devoted Ken has been all the buzz since hitting theaters, as it has grossed over 900 million dollars worldwide in just 14 days.
The movie has an absolutely stacked cast of stars, including Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, Ncuti Gatwa, Michael Cera, Simu Liu, America Ferrera, Dua Lipa, and John Cena.
Almost three weeks after its release, Barbie has been praised by reviewers and moviegoers as it brings to life the beloved doll in a delightful and empowering animated adventure that enchanted audiences of all ages. However, many women are also saying that they deeply reconsidered their relationships after seeing the film.
For those who haven't watched the movie, Barbie stars Robbie as a resident of Barbieland who travels to the real world, only to find out that it’s not the feminist utopia she believed it was. Along for the ride is Gosling's Ken, who decides to corrupt their vibrant home with the harmful ideals of modern patriarchy.
Due to the message of the flick - which has rapidly collected $351.4 million in screenings in the US and Canada - women are being urged by TikTok users to break up with their boyfriends if they do not understand the feminism and patriarchy theme.
One person on TikTok - who goes by the handle @charlotteryckeboer - wrote: "Take your boyfriends to the Barbie movie and if they hate it, dump them."
Megan "The Fangirl," Gotham also said on the social media platform: "If you go see it with a guy who says, 'Ken did nothing wrong, patriarchy [is] good,’ then you need to get rid of him," adding, "[Director Greta Gerwig is] trying to save us all, through Barbie!"
Even on Reddit's subforum "Am I The A**hole," one anonymous user revealed that she took the female empowerment message to a whole new level as she ended her relationship with a man after watching the Barbie movie because of his views about women.
"He didn’t talk to me until we got in the car. He then told me that he was really offended by the movie and said that it was the kind of thing I should have watched with my girlfriends and not him." they wrote. "We have been having problems with his weird comments about women...maybe it was a long time coming but this was the straw that broke the camel’s back."
While Barbie is empowering women all over the world, it has also sparked outrage amongst conservatives, especially Ben Shapiro. The controversial political commentator shared a strange 43-minute-long rant on YouTube about his disagreements about the "woke" film and then included a segment of him setting fire to Barbie dolls.
He also stated that the 40-year-old filmmaker's directional movie was "explicitly designed to divide men from women," describing it as "angry feminist claptrap that alienates men from women."
Gerwig - who broke the opening weekend record for a female director - actually shared a scathing response to the uproar from conservative pundits threatening to torch the Mattel dolls in an interview with the New York Times.
"Certainly, there’s a lot of passion," she said. "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."
In addition to this, comedian Marc Maron also blasted men trying to cancel the movie in a TikTok video, stating that they have "got to look in their pants and decide what they’re made of," and harshly adding: "I mean, Jesus Christ, what a bunch of f***ing insecure babies."
So, regardless of all the commotion, Barbie may soon become the biggest box office hit of the summer.