Bengaluru man jokes about kicking out flatmate over ‘Barbie’, but not everyone’s amused

A Bengaluru-based software engineer has kicked up a social media storm by dissing the biggest film of the year – Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Aanshul Sadaria joked about kicking out a flatmate who asked if he wanted to watch Barbie with him – offending thousands in the process.

“My flatmate asked me if I wanted to watch Barbie with him,” tweeted Sadaria, a software engineer and social media influencer. “If anyone has a house (in BLR) available for rent, please let him know. Vegetarian. Doesn't smoke. Keeps his room clean,” he added.
Sadaria’s joke about asking his flatmate to leave fell flat for many who came across his post. Given that Barbie has copped backlash for what some see as its anti-male agenda, some commenters also wondered about Sadaria’s reason for dissing the film.

“Lol, your masculinity will not be threatened if you watch Barbie,” wrote one commenter, to which Sadaria replied: “But I guess in an open world, I am entitled to my choices. And if I don't want to watch Barbie, I should be fine with it. No?”

He also denied accusations about not wanting to watch the film because of his “masculinity” or gender.
That did not stop scores of people from criticising the tweet.

However, a few others sided with the techie and said they, too, did not want to watch Barbie.

Among the film’s many detractors are high-profile names like Ben Shapiro and Elon Musk, who have slammed it for what they perceive as its anti-male overtones. “If you take a shot every time Barbie says the word ‘patriarchy’, you will pass out before the movie ends,” Musk had tweeted earlier.