Coyote vs. Acme Is the Movie I Wanted Barbie to Be
On Pink Capitalism, half-baked activism, and actually saying something
July 21, 2023: the internet is full of memes about double features involving a colorful feminist not according to Mattel movie about a doll and a biographical thriller centered around the inventor of the atomic bomb. The world is covered in pink; pink menu items, pink clothing, pink advertising, and pink capitalism.
collage components via Pinterest
Barbie vs Oppenheimer was initially positioned on social media as a competition. Feminist media vs a filmmaker who is not known for being able to write complex female characters (100% genuine, no sarcasm).
It was your duty as a woman, as a good feminist, to don a pink outfit, pick up a Starbucks pink drink, and head to the theater to support the little guy: a movie written and directed by newcomer Greta Gerwig and her unknown husband Noah Baumbach, and produced by obscure thespian Margot Robbie and her working class husband Tom Ackerly for the indie film studio Warner Bros. Pictures, with a small cast of unknown and up-and-coming actors like Ryan Gosling and Will Ferrell (100% not genuine, fully sarcasm).
I fell for this positioning, as many feminists did. I ate the pink burger at Grill’d, got the pink drink from Starbucks (pre boycott), and bought the movie ticket. I sat there and watched a beautiful spectacle of costuming and set design. I laughed at some of the jokes. I enjoyed I’m Just Ken. I thought the movie did some good things.
But did it do what it set out to do? Not really. Unless.. it set out to sell me things.
I did not care for the barbie movie. It insists upon itself. via TikTok
Barbie (2023), directed by Greta Gerwig spent so much money on marketing and casting. It was bound to succeed. Nobody is immune to hype, and when you’re being told before the movie even comes out and during its rollout that it is amazing, you’ll find reasons to think that it is amazing, and ignore all pink red flags.
Back then, it was mostly anti-feminists and the manosphere who hated this movie. So, valid criticism, even from a feminist, was often met with hostility and the conversation-ending statements of “media literacy is dead,” and “just say you didn’t understand it”.
No idea should be above scrutiny.
No billionaire or corporation should be above scrutiny either.
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What you may not have known about Barbenheimer, is that it was nearly Coyoteheimer.
Coyote vs. Acme (2026), directed by Dave Green is a movie based on a humorous New Yorker piece by Ian Frazier published in 1990, titled Coyote V. Acme. After a lot of time, effort, and hard work went into the project, Warner Bros. shelved the completed movie with no intention to release it.
Before that decision was made, it was set to have the release date of July 21, 2023. The same day as Oppenheimer (2023) directed by Christopher Nolan.
Both Barbie and Coyote vs. Acme scrutinize massive corporations and try to tackle the concept of capitalism in some way or another.
In Barbie, a milquetoast critique is attempted of the real life company involved in funding the project, Mattel. This culminates in a muddled message of “actually, they’re good guys! They’re just incompetent.”
In Coyote vs. Acme, perhaps even more so after its financially-motivated shelving in 2023, the writers just go for it. Unflattering caricatures of real life corporations and the billionaires owning them are skillfully crafted to actually say something (ironic for a movie where the main character does not speak at all).
A corporation that treats a large subset of its consumers as inconsequential crash-test-dummies with wallets? Check.
Politicians taking bribes from billionaires to influence legislation? Check.
Biased judges and flawed judicial processes? Check.
Whistleblowers, tax evading billionaires who like to golf, government corruption, monopolies, and corporate greed? Check. Check. Check. Check. Check.
via imgflip
The credits rolled, accompanied by I Fought the Law by The Clash, and I did not question the authenticity of the message; Coyote’s confrontation of capitalism felt sincere aside from a brief bit of Jimmy Johns product placement.
On the other hand, my discomfort watching Barbie, a film I wanted to love, kept increasing as the events unfolded, and the Cheverolet product placement got out of hand.
Gloria (played by America Ferrera, an Indigenous woman), the woman who owns Barbie’s real-life doll counterpart, plays a major role in this movie and delivers a monologue about the impossible standards women are held to. But she never delves into the complexities of being specifically a non-white woman.
Barbie Mount Rushmore, one of the few jokes in this movie that have been criticized by Indigenous movie-goers, via Pinterest
Perhaps the most unsubtle indicator of Barbie being guilty of white feminism is the divisive “self-aware” joke about casting Margot Robbie, the movie’s producer.
“I’m not pretty anymore. I’m not ‘stereotypical Barbie’ pretty.”
⸺ Barbie (Margot Robbie) in Barbie (2023)
“Note to the filmmakers: Margot Robbie is the wrong person to cast if you want to make this point.”
⸺ The Narrator (Helen Mirren) in Barbie (2023)
When I heard this joke in theaters, I immediately felt its insincerity. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly why, but I could tell you that a part of it was the fact that “the filmmakers”, referenced by the narrator, are essentially Margot Robbie and friends. She has even said in interviews that she cast herself after her first choice, Gal Gadot, wasn’t available.
It wasn’t until I thought about it some more that I realized the line being said to Gloria, a character played by a racialized woman, feels extremely tone-deaf. I get that the narrator steps in to make fun of the line and shirk responsibility for it. But does a “note to the filmmakers” (written and approved by the filmmakers) actually do anything?
“I paid Gloria very close attention during this scene, wanting to connect with her as an Indigenous woman. But, my life as a woman of color, and the misogyny I face, is much more complex than “be pretty, but not too pretty.””
⸺ Kihnindewa via Medium
And after the carelessness of the Wuthering Heights’ casting and red carpet faux pas, I’m side-eyeing Robbie’s choices as a producer even more.
This girl-boss white feminism and lack of intersectionality both show up again in the marketing of this movie. Collaborations with fast fashion brands, like Zara and Boohoo, were not uncommon for Barbie. You know the industry famous for exploiting and endangering women (and children) in the Global South, as well as accelerating climate change?
Because nothing says feminism like pink polyester made with slave labor!
Early on in the movie, Gloria’s daughter, Sasha, tells the doll that she is a product of “sexualized capitalism”. This and other criticisms of Barbie in this scene are dismissed by both the movie and some of its fans as an angsty teenage girl just “being a bully”.
Barbie’s version of feminism is hyper-capitalistic, though, as much as she tries to wave it away with a joke about fascism.
Along with Mattel, Barbie wants to sell you stuff. The movie wants to sell you a pink burger, pink crocs, pink candles, pink water bottles, pink suitcases, and more!
Yay pink toothpaste and toothbrush via Popsugar
Because of this, the Barbie movie feels like a hollow ad. “Here’s some feminism, now buy stuff!” There’s a term for this: it’s called pink capitalism.
Pink Capitalism is usually used interchangeably with Rainbow Capitalism. Some definitions of Pink Capitalism include the coopting of any progressive movement, like feminism and the civil rights movement, to encourage sales.
Gerwig’s agent claims that “we’ve already lost” this battle with corporations encroaching into art like Mattel, but Coyote vs Acme (2026) doesn’t pull its punches.
Coyote vs. Acme is a witty legal drama starring some of your parents’ favorite Looney Tunes characters alongside Will Forte, Lana Condor, and John Cena (who was also in Barbie).
The events of this movie kick off when Wile E. Coyote gets fed up with all his ACME gadgets failing, and enlists the help of a lazy lawyer to take on one of the biggest corporations in the world. It’s a David and Goliath story. And like Barbie, the movie sets out to critique the hand that feeds (funds?) it.
After all, Warner Bros. is a “wholly owned subsidiary of the ACME corporation”, according to the footnote at the beginning.
via Looper.com
To keep this spoiler free, as the movie is still new (and in theaters) and I strongly encourage you to go support it*, I will only say that this one is also not without its flaws. It’s by no means perfect, but it is highly enjoyable. It also never backtracks on its messaging.
*You wouldn’t be supporting WB, as the distribution rights have been purchased by indie distributor, Ketchup Entertainment
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It might be the fact that Wile E. goes up against a fictional amalgamation of the corporations being critiqued, while Barbie attempts to confront Mattel (half-assedly) by name. Still, Coyote vs. Acme is not discreet about its fraught relationship with Warner Bros., opening and closing with notes and references to the real-life events leading up to this movie finally being released.
It’s hard to say what this movie would have looked like if it had been green-lit for its original 2023 release date with Warner Bros. Would it have half-assed its message too?
This isn’t an indictment of Barbie. In fact the movie would have been an amazing introduction to feminism for young girls if it had them as the target audience. Still, many did go see it with their friends, sisters, and mothers. It probably also helped some women still influenced by anti-feminist propaganda to finally embrace the movement.
Barbie Summer was also generally a fun time and a cultural moment.
Plus, it gave us Billie Eilish’s poignant What Was I Made For, a single that really drove the emotional impact many felt during the movie’s climax.
I’m a fan of all of these things, but they don’t redeem the fact that I felt like I was watching a commercial and that my feminism was being used against me, to sell me stuff. I felt a little bit like Wile E. Coyote getting finessed by ACME, to be honest with you.
I’m always for the critical analysis of everything. Even the things we love.
Especially the things we love.
And on that note, the animation style in Coyote vs. Acme (2026) wasn’t great. Still an earnest movie about perseverance to me!
What are your thoughts on the two movies?
Talk soon,
Dahlia
