Barbie star says film tests ‘heteronormative’ idea of gender, offers ‘scathing critiques’ of iconic doll
Simu Liu applauded the new Barbie dolls for coming in all sizes, colors and 'gender expressions'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Barbie" star Simu Liu is praising the new film for its attempt to take an iconic fashion doll and turn it into a story that challenges "heteronormative" ideas about gender and deconstructs why people associate certain colors with either boys or girls.
While promoting the new movie, Liu, best known for his role in Marvel’s "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," was asked in an interview with Screen Rant’s Joe Deckelmeier about his relationship with Barbie growing up.
Liu said he didn’t have any relationship with Barbie in the past and admitted he grew up in a society where "traditional gender norms" were "pretty heavily enforced."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"You know, colors became gendered, toys became gendered, there were all these rules that were imposed on us," he said. "So, Barbie was always like, ‘Oh that’s not my toy. That’s on the other toy’. And I’m so glad that this movie exists because I think it puts the final nail in the coffin of that very heteronormative idea of what gender is, and what is or is not gendered. How can you make a color gendered, you know?"
Simu Liu attends the European premiere of "Barbie" in London, Britain July 12, 2023. (REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska)
He admitted that it felt "great" throughout filming to be around, wear and play with more pink than he "ever thought possible." Liu also said the experience made him feel free to express himself and not feel like that because a certain object or idea is attributed to one gender, that he cannot do those things too.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"That’s, I think, what’s really struck me about being in this movie, what’s evolved in my understanding of Barbie and what it is, and what I hope that an audience will get from it when they watch the movie," he added.
The interviewer then pivoted the conversation to "Power Rangers," another line of popular kids toys that Liu has said he often played with as a child.
Liu said he recently realized that the "representational element" of Power Rangers drew him to the brand and made him feel "very much a part of that world."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CHINA REACTS AFTER 'BARBIE' MOVIE DEPICTS CONTROVERSIAL MAP FAVORED BY BEIJING
David Heyman, Greta Gerwig, Ariana Greenblatt, Simu Liu, Issa Rae, Ryan Gosling, Margot Robbie and America Ferrera pose on the pink carpet for the world premiere of the film "Barbie" in Los Angeles, California, U.S., July 9, 2023. (REUTERS/Mike Blake)
"It was, like, ‘black [person], black [Ranger]. Yellow [person], yellow [Ranger]’. It wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely there, and it was definitely trying," he said.
Liu then tilted the interview back to the Barbie film, which he applauded for recently similarly pushing diversity and upending gender roles.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Barbie, 50 years ago, even 20 years ago, looked very different than it does now," Liu said.
"It was very strictly blonde, white. As evidenced by now with Issa [Rae] getting her doll and there being so many different types of Barbies of different shapes, colors sizes gender expressions, that now, Barbie means a great deal many things, and Ken can mean just as many things as well. And that’s really cool."
CAMILLE KOSTEK, ROB GRONKOWSKI CHANNEL BARBIE AND KEN AS THEY PACK ON THE PDA AT PREMIERE
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Simu Liu said he was excited to see how the new "Barbie" film challenges heteronormative ideas about gender. (REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska)
As the interview concluded, Liu teased that the new Barbie movie, which also stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, "really goes there" and "attacks all the criticisms of Barbie in the past."
"It joins in on the conversation, and it’s not just like a fluffy, cash-grabby, sort of like, ‘Look at us, we’re fine. Everything’s perfect.’ There are some really scathing critiques of the idea of Barbie, what Barbie has been or is," Liu said.