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Indian television actor Juhi Parmar took to Instagram to express her concerns about the "inappropriate language" and content in the Barbie movie, which she found unsuitable for her 10-year-old daughter.
In her post, Parmar admitted her mistake of not checking the film's rating before taking her daughter to watch it, but she still expressed disappointment over the movie's content, which she felt was not in line with the children's doll's image.
In an open letter addressed to Barbie herself, Parmar shared her experience of leaving the theater with her daughter only 10 minutes into the movie due to the "inappropriate language" and "sexual connotations" presented in the film, saying she never would have taken her daughter had she known what to expect.
She wrote:
"I start with owning up to my mistake. I took my 10 year old daughter Samairra to watch your film without researching the fact that it was a ‘PG-13’ movie."
"10 minutes into the movie, [there was] inappropriate language and sexual connotations. And I was anxiously running out of the theatre wondering what had I just exposed my child to.”
“She had been waiting to watch your film and I was just shocked, disappointed and heartbroken with what I had just exposed her to.”
You can see Parmar's post below.
Parmar, who is known for her role in an Indian soap opera, highlighted the cultural differences that might have contributed to her perception of what is suitable for children. She suggested that even some content that might be acceptable for teens by Western standards could still be considered inappropriate in her cultural context.
The actor justified her complaint, even though the movie carried a PG-13 rating, by blaming the movie theater for not verifying the age of the children being brought in or reminding parents about the recommended age limit:
"I was the first one to walk out of the movie within 10/15 minutes and by the time I reached out, I saw other parents following with their little ones crying, while some parents chose to stay back to watch the entire movie."
"I'm glad though that I chose to walk out within 10-15 minutes as I didn't even want to think about how much worse it would have [gotten].... In fact I would say leave PG-13, the language and content in your film Barbie is inappropriate even for children 13 and above."
She went on to criticize filmmaker Greta Gerwig and the film's crew for breaking her "perfect illusion of a Barbie," writing:
"Why make Barbie inappropriate for kids and a PG-13 movie rather than one which everyone could enjoy with family. I wish I could erase the memory of this film and continue believing in a picture perfect Barbie for my child who has a collection of yours and loves you so much… I so wish!”
Parmar's post has garnered negative attention, particularly after she admitted to not checking the film's rating beforehand.
Parmar disabled her Instagram comments after receiving backlash for her remarks, including from one social media user who said she "really missed the entire core of the movie."
Since its release last month, Barbie has offered red meat for conservatives like Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro and others who have used it to frame their misogynistic rants.
The film has made over $1 billion at the global box office, making Gerwig the first solo female director to achieve this feat.