Oliver Stone apologises for saying Ryan Gosling is “wasting his time” on films like ‘Barbie’
Oliver Stone has never been one to hold back with his unfiltered opinions on the state of cinema, but the director has now apologised for his criticisms of Barbie.
Even though the filmmaker made the comments last year, they only recently resurfaced. In the interview, Stone suggested that “Ryan Gosling is wasting his time if he’s doing that shit for money”, stating his opinion that “he should be doing more serious films”.
Lumping Barbie in with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Fast & Furious franchise, Stone would then denigrate both Gosling and Barbie for their participation in what he called “this infantilisation of Hollywood” during the conversation with City AM.
Having made over $1.4billion at the box office and becoming an awards season contender in the process, Stone has subsequently took to social media to clear the air following the fall-out from his comments about the film.
The director has claimed his words were taken “out of context”. Stone said that he hadn’t actually seen Barbie at the time, and has now offered a glowing appraisal, having “appreciated the film for its originality and themes”, in addition to finding “the filmmakers’ approach certainly different than what I expected”.
“I apologise for speaking ignorantly”, he said, before welcoming the way in which “Barbie‘s box office greatly boosted the morale of our business, which was welcome”. He even wished the team behind the movie “good fortune” at the upcoming Academy Awards, drawing a line under his unwarranted criticism.
In a four-and-a-half star review of Barbie, the publication stated: “This is certainly not merely a film to watch only once, to laugh and sing along to, and be done with. In fact, Barbie may just accomplish the greatest of all art’s tasks, and incite change. Don’t be fooled by her hype or her history; Barbie is an essential piece of cinema for the modern age.”
Read Stone’s full statement below.
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