Barbie director Greta Gerwig responds to Jo Koy’s badly-received joke during his Golden Globes monologue
Golden Globes host Jo Koy was skewered by many in and out of Hollywood after his monlogue fell flat.
Among the targets of his jokes were Taylor Swift, Robert De Niro, Kevin Costner and the biggest movie of 2023 – Barbie.
The comedian – who many on social media called ‘the worst host ever’ – said, ‘Barbie is [about] a plastic doll with big boobies. I watched Barbie, I loved it. I really did love it. I don’t want you guys to think that I’m a creep, but it was kind of weird being attracted to a plastic doll. Just something about your eyes, Ryan [Gosling].’
He added, ‘The key moment to Barbie is when she goes from perfect beauty to bad breath, cellulite and flat feet. Ah, or what casting directors call character actor.’
The jokes fell rather flat in front of the A-list crowd at the Beverly Hilton on Sunday, but Barbie director Greta Gerwig said on BBC 4 Radio the joke was, ‘not wrong.’
Golden Globes host Jo Koy was skewered by many in and out of Hollywood after his monlogue fell flat
The jokes fell rather flat in front of the A-list crowd at the Beverly Hilton on Sunday, but Barbie director Greta Gerwig said on BBC 4 Radio the joke was, ‘not wrong’
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‘She’s the first doll that was mass produced with breasts, so he was right on,” Greta said in the interview.
‘I think that so much of the project of the movie was unlikely because it is about a plastic doll. Barbie by her very construction has no character, no story, she’s there to be projected upon,’ she said.
‘But, the insight that (Barbie toy creator) Ruth Handler had when she was watching her daughter play with baby dolls, was she realized that my daughter doesn’t want to pretend to be a mother, she wants to pretend to be a grown woman,’ Gerwig added.
Barbie won the innaugural Cinematic and Box Office Achievement Award at the Golden Globes, which came as little surprise since Barbie was the biggest movie of 2023 ($636.2 million domestic, $1.145 billion worldwide), which Gerwig also reflected on.
‘It was very wonderful and emotional to be able to take the stage with the group that made it, and it felt very fitting because, I think for all of us, the thing we wanted most of all, was to connect with people and to have people share an experience in the cinemas,’ Gerwig said.
‘It felt like, even though this was a brand new award, this was the award to honor that, and that’s what we wanted to do,’ she added.
‘It was very full circle. It was nice to be able to hear (star/producer) Margot (Robbie) say, ‘This is for everyone who came,’ Gerwig said.
The director added that Barbie has been around since 1959 and she’s, ‘been a villain and she’s been a hero but it felt like, in a way, even though it’s so seemingly so superficial, it was such a rich place to start.’
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‘I think that so much of the project of the movie was unlikely because it is about a plastic doll. Barbie by her very construction has no character, no story, she’s there to be projected upon,’ she said
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‘She’s the first doll that was mass produced with breasts, so he was right on,” Greta said in the interview
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View gallery
‘I think that so much of the project of the movie was unlikely because it is about a plastic doll. Barbie by her very construction has no character, no story, she’s there to be projected upon,’ she said.
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Barbie has sparked much controversy about feminism and misandry, which Gerwig thought was ‘amazing.’
‘It has inspired such a wide range of reactions but those are always my favorite things. OK, let’s talk about it. Let’s discuss it. What was the feeling about it?’ Gerwig said.
Gerwig added, ‘In some ways, it’s not surprising, because Barbie is sometimes ahead of culture, sometimes behind culture, and she’s always been a flashpoint for arguments.’
The director added that she was born in 1983 and her own mother wasn’t sure that Barbie was the right toy for her, adding, ‘and as a result I love Barbie.’
