Fox News article tries to reclaim 'Barbie' as a conservative movie after previous 'woke' attacks flop

Republican pundits' attempts to attack the "Barbie" movie have flopped, with the film not only smashing box office records, but data showing it's a particularly big hit in red states.

Now, Fox News is changing course and, in a new article, is trying to cast "Barbie" as a conservative role model.

The plot of the film shows Barbie, played by Margot Robbie, faced with a choice of whether to remain in Barbie Land, or set off into the real world and face the problems of being a real person.

"Some conservative women defend the film, with one commenter calling it a 'delightfully fresh critique of modern feminism and masculinity' and even claiming it acknowledges 'what makes a woman a woman,'" reported Brianna Herlihy. For example, Katrina Trinko of the far-right Heritage Foundation's Daily Signal publication claimed that despite the film's "woke moment" of featuring a transgender actor, it "challenges the understanding of women promulgated by the sexual revolution and modern feminism" — which "conservatives should cheer ... not despair."

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"Ultimately, the message of ‘Barbie’ is: Barbie’s life isn’t enough. Sure, the world of Barbie is sheeny and sparkles and there’s no aging or cellulite or crying babies or stress. But it’s also vapid, meaningless and loveless," explained Trinko. In her view, this is actually a rebuke of the original doll, which "is in line with the bad thinking of both the sexual revolution and modern feminism – the idea that women could have casual sex, and not be emotionally destroyed, just because they could prevent pregnancy, and the idea that to be a fully realized woman must include having a successful career outside the home."

This has decidedly not been the take of many Republican lawmakers and commentators in the run-up to and immediately after the release of the film.

Several Republicans, chiefly Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), attacked the film for briefly showing a make-believe map that appeared to show China's disputed maritime border claims, suggesting this was deliberate propaganda to appease the Chinese Communist Party. Others trashed the whole idea of the plot as "man-hating woke propaganda." Right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro even filmed himself burning Barbie dolls in protest of the film.