{"id":31121,"date":"2023-08-31T20:36:47","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T00:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=31121"},"modified":"2023-08-31T20:36:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T00:36:47","slug":"the-summer-of-barbie-oppenheimer-freedom-nikki-haley-neptune-a-guardian-angel-gets-arrested-in-nyc-never-give-up-serves-up-the-inspiring-real-life-story-of-deaf-tennis-legend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2023\/08\/the-summer-of-barbie-oppenheimer-freedom-nikki-haley-neptune-a-guardian-angel-gets-arrested-in-nyc-never-give-up-serves-up-the-inspiring-real-life-story-of-deaf-tennis-legend.html","title":{"rendered":"The summer of “Barbie”, “Oppenheimer”, “Freedom”, Nikki Haley & Neptune + A Guardian Angel gets arrested in NYC + “Never Give Up” serves up the inspiring real-life story of deaf tennis legend Brad Minns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 09\/01\/23<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Since I went off the grid off the grid in August:<\/strong><\/p>\n

My wife and I saw Barbie<\/em>. <\/strong>We originally intended to see Oppenheimer<\/em><\/strong> but the play times didn’t work out for us. While I still think those Barbenheimer<\/em><\/strong> memes were beyond crass<\/a>, Barbie<\/em> is actually LOL funny. While I get the criticisms from Bill Maher<\/strong><\/a> and others that the film is anti-man, I think they are a little overblown. Does it poke fun at the so-called “patriarchy” and do I agree with every opinion put forth? Sure and no – but it is truly creative and has an actual sense of humor that isn’t mean.\u00a0 And, as I’ve said before, we all need to lighten up a little – especially when it comes to jokes about ourselves.<\/p>\n

I also have to say that I was surprised that the movie actually bumps up against the idea that the Kens<\/strong> of the world face their own challenges – particularly in a world where the power imbalance between the sexes is not merely corrected but over-corrected (as it is in Barbieland – and, increasingly, in the real world). It comes oh-so-close to making the case for true equality and a cessation of counter-productive “reckoning” impulses. Unfortunately, to put it in Gymnast Barbie<\/strong> terms, it doesn’t quite stick the landing on that.<\/p>\n

The Bottom Line: <\/strong>Margot Robbie<\/strong> and Ryan Gosling<\/strong> make a great Ken and Barbie and Will Ferrell<\/strong> is absolutely hysterical (whoops! bad word!) as the CEO of Mattel<\/strong>.<\/em> Speaking of Mattel, you gotta give the company credit for being willing to poke fun at itself – even to the point of allowing the movie to put forth the untrue narrative that its executive team is all male<\/a>. The movie and director Greta Gerwig<\/strong> deserve the Oscar<\/strong> nominations that are surely coming their way.
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Freedom<\/em> pays<\/strong>. Angel Studios <\/strong>has paid back Sound of Freedom <\/em><\/strong>crowdfunding investors their original investment plus a 20% profit. On August 16th, Angel Studios CEO Neal Harmon<\/strong> announced \u201c6,678 Angel Guild<\/strong> members have now received $1.20 for every $1 they invested into the launch budget for Sound of Freedom<\/em> and we are thrilled to be able to get funds back to them in three months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sound of Freedom<\/em>, which I reviewed here<\/a>, stars Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ<\/em>)<\/strong><\/a> as Tim Ballard. the real-life Homeland Security <\/strong>agent who quit his job to rescue a little girl from sex traffickers in the Colombian jungle. Since its July 4th release, the sleeper hit of the summer has banked over $180-million at the the domestic box office<\/a> – beating out such major studio-backed offerings as Disney’s Indiana Jones and Dial of Destiny<\/em><\/strong> and Paramount’s Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

BTW, here’s an idea for boosting ratings for this year’s Oscars<\/strong>. First cut the number of Best Picture nominees from the current ten back to the traditional five so that people may be able to actually remember the nominees. Then nominate movies people have actually seen, i.e. Barbie<\/em><\/strong>, Oppenheimer<\/em> <\/strong>and Sound of Freedom<\/em>. The first two are, of course, shoo-ins. While I wouldn’t hold my breath for the latter, it would be a nice gesture for Hollywood to nominate a popular well-crafted film that is embraced by flyover country and takes on the important issue of international child sex trafficking.
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At the first GOP Presidential Debate, candidate Nikki Haley reflected my approach to abortion<\/a> – and gained ground in the polls.<\/strong><\/p>\n