Barbie or “the infantilization of Hollywood”: Oliver Stone returns to his criticisms

According to the director of Platoon and JFK, Ryan Gosling should not have agreed to play Ken. Except that this remark dates from before his viewing of the film…

Oliver Stone is known for not having his tongue in his pocket, so when Deadline published the words of the murderous filmmaker barbieas well as the latest Fast & Furious And John Wick, this didn’t really come as a surprise in Hollywood. The director of Wall Street However, he returns to his comments regarding the film Greta Gerwigexplaining that the site took them out of context: he had spoken about this blockbuster even before its release, and since he saw it, he regrets having been so virulent towards barbie. For the rest, he assumes: before criticizing them, he has indeed seen the action films carried by Vin Diesel And Keanu Reeves.

“Ryan Gosling is wasting his time if he does this for money,” Stone told City AM last June. “He would do better to make more serious films. He should not participate in this infantilization of Hollywood. Now , there’s nothing more than that: fantasy, fantasy, fantasy. Even in war films: fantasy, fantasy.”

Several months after the publication of this interview, Oliver Stone does not understand why his comments resurfaced at the heart of an article in the influential American media Deadline. Why give bad publicity to the film Greta Gerwig at the moment when it is fully launched in the race for the Oscars? On his X account, the filmmaker dots the i’s, and takes the opportunity to salute the talent of the director and co-author of barbie.

“When I said that, I was busy promoting my documentary on nuclear power (Nuclear Now) in Europe, and I knew almost nothing about this project except its title, he admits. I was finally able to see Barbie in the cinema last July and I appreciated the film for its originality, as well as the themes it addressed. I found the approach of its creators different from what I expected. I would like to apologize for speaking without knowing.“

Evoking then the accuracy of Lady Birdby the same director, he adds that he was very happy to see how barbie helped boost cinema attendance all over the world during the summer of 2023.Its box office has really done some good for the morale of this industry, which is a good thing. I wish Greta and her entire team barbie good luck at the Oscars.“

Oliver Stone does not, however, return at all to his comments concerning two big Hollywood franchises: Fast & Furious And John Wick. Considering that the first one was “become the equivalent of Marvel films“, he said during this same interview about his longevity: “How many car crashes can you handle?” About Keanu Reeves as a killer, he explained: “I watched John Wick on the plane, and it’s three or so hours long. I must have fallen asleep 778 times in front of it. I woke up and saw him still killing people… as if the world had degenerated and lost all logic.“