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Amy Schumer’s Barbie Casting Has Already Brought Out the Body-Shaming Internet Trolls
On Friday, news broke that Amy Schumer is in talks to star in Sony’s upcoming Barbie film, and — sad surprise! — the Internet wasted no time in bringing out the body-shaming. The live-action feature will follow Schumer as a version of the titular Mattel doll who just doesn’t fit into the uniform perfection in Barbieland, and is expelled to the real world, à la Daryl Hannah (and soon Channing Tatum) in Splash, according to the Hollywood Reporter. There, our Barbie discovers that her uniqueness is — gasp! who knew! — an asset.
This promisingly self-aware narrative fits in with Mattel’s efforts in recent years to reflect the bodies of real women. While the differences between the traditional Barbie doll and the average flesh-and-blood woman are well-known to be startling, Mattel announced three new body types for the iconic doll in January this year — tall, petite, and curvy — and just last month, the company released a Barbie doll inspired by prominent plus-sized model Ashley Graham.
None of this matters to a certain segment of the Twitterverse, however, which was flooded this weekend with a series of body-shaming Tweets directed at Schumer’s involvement in the film.
@GodfreyElfwick “Barbie Goes to Fat Camp” starring Amy Schumer.
— Buck Buckelson (@BuckyBuckBuck1) December 2, 2016
I hear @amyschumer is going to be in the new #Barbie movie. I’m wondering if she plays her chubby, dopey friend or what?
— Kakashi (@EroSennin2112) December 2, 2016
If Barbie became obese and heinous to men, @amyschumer is perfect. https://t.co/M5eN5TMUmL
— Anglo1066 (@anglo1066) December 2, 2016
Amy Schumer was cast as Barbie’s fat, loud mouth nemesis right? No? SHE is playing Barbie? hahaha! Is this a horror film?
— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) December 2, 2016
Thankfully, others quickly came to the funny lady’s defense, rejoicing over the casting as an empowering choice for women of all shapes and sizes.
People who are body shaming Amy Schumer for playing the roll of Barbie are the reason why we need Amy Schumer to play Barbie
— nicole (@nicoleparsons13) December 5, 2016
The ONLY way I’d watch a movie about #Barbie is if @amyschumer was starring in it.
— Alexis Golden (@AlexisGoldenXXX) December 3, 2016
The shit people are saying about Amy Schumer as Barbie is awful. You do get that the original doll is bad for girls’ body image, right?
— Veruca Salty (@annie_anita) December 3, 2016
While one Twitter user may have predicted this entire thing back in August.
Why isn’t there an @amyschumer barbie? I would seriously start collecting barbies again. #justsayin #barbie #strongfemales #comidiennes4life
— Erin (@mamathuggin) August 11, 2016
Schumer herself has yet to comment on the reaction, but she is not likely to be surprised by it. An outspoken advocate for body positivity, the comedian frequently shares body-positive messages (like this inspiring, self-accepting mirror selfie) on her social media accounts. Earlier this year, she went so far as to post a photo of herself in a bathing suit with a caption directly calling out nasty comment-leaving Internet trolls.
“This is how I look. I feel happy,” she wrote. “I think I look strong and healthy and also like miss trunchbull from Matilda. Kisses!”
With that in mind, here’s to Schumer as a happy, healthy, strong Barbie. It’s about time.
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