Barbie director Greta Gerwig has responded to the torrent of hate that rightwingers in the US have directed at the film, saying it’s “an invitation for everybody to be part of the party”. Speaking to the New York Times, Gerwig was asked if she had anticipated the degree of woke-bashing that rightwing critics have engaged in since the film came out, with some calling it a “man-hating” movie. Gerwig said: “Certainly, there’s a lot of passion. My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men.” She added: “I hope that in all of that passion, if they see it or engage with it, it can give them some of the relief that it gave other people.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Barbie’s feminist themes have sparked rage from influencers like Ben Shapiro, who made a bizarre Youtube video last week in which he burned Barbie dolls. Ginger Luckey Gaetz, wife of Republican congressman Matt Gaetz, said the movie “neglects to address any notion of faith or family, and tries to normalise the idea that men and women can’t collaborate positively”. Gerwig also responded to criticism that Mattel, which owns the Barbie doll range and executive produced the movie, interfered in the production creatively, in a scene where a character described the dolls as “sexist and fascist”. She said: “It wasn’t like I ever got the full seal of approval from [Mattel], like, ‘We love it!’ I got a tentative, ‘Well, OK. I see that you are going to do this, so go ahead and we’ll see how it goes.’ “But that’s all you need, and I had faith once it was in there and they saw it that they would embrace it, not fight it. Maybe at the end of the day, my will to have it in was stronger than any other will to take it out.” The backlash has been strong, but the support has been stronger, with Barbie already breaking the record for the highest-ever opening weekend for a female director at $356m. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Hersha Parady played Walnut Grove schoolteacher Alice Garvey in a three-season run on 'Little House on the Prairie'

After saying her husband Paul Staehle had vanished in Brazil, Karine Staehle shared the following disturbing post, 'Our children loved you very much'

Jordan Belfort's ex-wife has offered her perspective on the Wolf of Wall Street scenes, which sees Margot Robbie play her. Taking to TikTok, Nadine Macaluso confessed that through her ex-husband's eyes "it's really accurate," but noted that through her own lens, "it wasn't and that makes sense because that was actually how our marriage was." When asked whether scenes from the film were "really true," she admitted to one scene being "totally true". The 2013 hit film shows Belfort buying his wife a yacht as a wedding gift. Macaluso, who now works as a therapist, said he did not gift her a boat but later purchased one after the pair welcomed their daughter, Chandler. "I did not want to buy the yacht ironically," she told followers. "And he was like 'Nope, I'm buying a yacht and I'm calling it the Nadine'. And I was like 'Okay, here we go'." It was then the real scene took place... Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The Wolf Of Wall Street: Yacht Storm Scene [HD] www.youtube.com Macaluso shared the moment those aboard the ship were saved by the Italian Navy during a ferocious storm in June 1996. Luckily, everyone was able to escape safely. "It was horrific, horrifying, we were in a squall for 12 to 18 hours and we lived, thank god, for my kids," she explained. @drnaelmft The real story of the yacht from The Duchess of The Wolf of Wall Street #wolfofwallstreet #wolfofwallstreetmovie #wallstreet #nadinemacaluso #drnadinemacaluso #drnae #drnadine #marriedtothewolfofwallstreet #margotrobbie #tiktokviral #tiktoknews #tiktokcelebsnews #tiktokfamous #naomiwolfofwallstreet #margotrobbie #tiktokviral #tiktoknews #wolfofwallstreetnaomi #fyp #fypシ #foryoupage #foryourpage #yacht #yachtsinking #superyacht #cocochanel #naomiwolf #margotrobbiewolfofwallstreet #margotrobbieedit #margotrobbiefans The viral clip was soon flooded with more questions from intrigued followers, with one asking when the pair had last spoken. "Two months ago," she responded. Another person asked whether she and Belfort had "any type of relationship now" to which she replied: "Yes we do as we share 2 terrific children." In a separate video, she told followers that the famous clip of Robbie in the nursery was completely fabricated. "I am not that sexy, I wish I was," she said. "I think that was my ex-husband's fantasy of what he wanted me to be like." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

As seen with the "Star Wars" to "The Lord of the Rings" trilogies, movies have long told multi-part stories. Yet 2023 has featured a noteworthy expansion of the "part one" approach to filmmaking, from "Fast X" to "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" to "Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning," in what has become our "To be continued" summer.

NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft is back in contact again, after flight controllers corrected a mistake that had led to weeks of silence

Even though McQuarrie spoke about the franchise's return after the conclusion of both parts of 'Dead Reckoning', he was silent on Cruise’s return

Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt citing 'irreconcilable differences' in 2016 and the two were declared to be 'legally single' in 2019

'Katie Holmes and Jamie [Foxx] didn’t end on the best of terms. But regardless, she is very concerned,' said a source

'Congratulations on making your trip and my most sincere condolences for your Dad, so proud of you have a great time,' a fan wrote

Elon Musk says his potential in-person fight with Mark Zuckerberg would be streamed live on his social media site X, formerly known as Twitter

'I didn't know it was all about salt and they were like, eat potato chips and I'm like, really,' said Brooke Shields