There are many valid interpretations as well as good-faith critiques to be made about Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" movie, but one thing seems pretty apparent: the movie's central thesis is that one group being completely in charge of society is actually a bad thing. At first, Barbie (Margot Robbie) and her fellow Barbies live in a pink utopia known as Barbie Land, and they all genuinely believe that they've solved sexism in the real world. When Barbie has to venture into the real world to grapple with her own newly developed dark thoughts, though, she brings Ken (Ryan Gosling), who discovers patriarchy there... and loves it.
Ken heads back to Barbie Land without Barbie and immediately installs the "Kendom," stacking the deck for all the Kens and subjugating the Barbies as they become brainwashed servants. So is Ken happy now? No, not really. After Barbie manages to restore Barbie Land to its former glory, Ken admits that not only did he hate running everything, he stopped caring about patriarchy all together after realizing it had nothing to do with horses. Patriarchy didn't just hurt Barbies, but it hurt the Kens... and at the end of the movie, the Barbies give the Kens the same opportunities women have in the real world — because they need to work their way into positions of power the Barbies have created and earned.
Clearly, though, Maher and his ilk weren't paying attention during one of Ken's scenes in the real world. After demanding a high-paying job and being told he needs advanced degrees, Ken says he doesn't think men are doing the patriarchy very well. The businessman tells him that no, they are; they just hide it better now.
"Barbie" is currently in theaters.
