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There have been articles lately asking why the United States is so hated in some parts of the world. As this week's Exhibit A from Hollywood, I offer "Zoolander," a comedy about a plot to assassinate the prime minister of Malaysia because of his opposition to child labor. You might want to read that sentence twice. The logic: Child labor is necessary to the economic health of the fashion industry, and so its opponents must be eliminated. Ben Stiller stars as Derek Zoolander, a moronic male model who is brainwashed to perform the murder.

Malaysia is a mostly Muslim country with a flag that looks a lot like ours: It has the red and white stripes of the American flag, and a blue field in the upper left corner, which instead of stars displays Islamic symbols, the star and crescent. Malaysia is home to the Petronas Towers of Kuala Lumpur, the world's tallest buildings. But you get the point. If the Malaysians made a comedy about the assassination of the president of the United States because of his opposition to slavery, it would seem approximately as funny to us as "Zoolander" would seem to them. I realize I am getting all serious on you. Obviously, in times like these, we need a little escapism. "Hagrid," the usually sane critic at Ain't It Cool News, went to see "Zoolander" feeling "a comedy is just what I needed, and, what I feel, everybody needs at this time." His verdict? "It's a perfect film to help people forget everything for a few hours, and it's gonna be huge." Well, you know, I wanted to forget, but the movie kept making me remember. I felt particularly uncomfortable during the scenes involving the prime minister, shown as an elderly Asian man who is brought to New York to attend a fashion show where he is targeted for assassination. I would give you his name, since he has a lot of screen time, but the movie's Website ignores him, and the entry on the Internet Movie database, which has room to list 26 actors, neglects to provide it. Those old Asian actors are just place-holders, I guess, and anyone could play the prime minister.

For that matter, any country could play Malaysia. In years past, movies invented fictional countries to make fun of. Groucho Marx once played Rufus T. Firefly, the dictator of Fredonia, and "The Mouse That Roared" was about the Duchy of Grand Fenwick. Didn't it strike anybody connected with this movie that it was in bad taste to name a real country with a real prime minister? A serious political drama would be one thing, but why take such an offensive shot in a silly comedy? To some degree, "Zoolander" is a victim of bad timing, although I suspect I would have found the assassination angle equally tasteless before Sept. 11. The movie is a satirical jab at the fashion industry, and there are points scored, and some good stuff involving Stiller and Owen Wilson , who play the world's two top male models--funny in itself. The best moments involve the extreme stupidity of the Stiller character. Shown a model of a literary center to be built in his honor, he sweeps it to the floor, exclaiming: "This is a center for ants! How can we teach children to read if they can't even fit inside the building?" Funny, yes, and I like the hand model whose hand is sealed inside a hyperbarbic chamber to protect it. I also admire the ruthlessness with which "Zoolander" points out that the fashion industry does indeed depend on child labor. The back-to-school clothes of American kids are largely made by Third World kids who don't go to school. In fact, the more you put yourself into the shoes (if he had any) of a Muslim 12-year-old in a sport-shirt factory, the more you might understand why he resents rich Americans, and might be offended by a movie about the assasination of his prime minister (if he had the money to go to a movie). Kids like that don't grow up to think of America as fondly as the people who designed his flag.

Responding quickly to the tragedy of Sept. 11, the makers of "Zoolander" did some last-minute editing. No, they didn't dub over the word "Malaysia" or edit around the assassination of the prime minister. What they did was digitally erase the World Trade Center from the New York skyline, so that audiences would not be reminded of the tragedy, as if we have forgotten. It's a good thing no scenes were shot in Kuala Lumpur, or they probably would have erased the Petronas Towers, to keep us from getting depressed or jealous or anything.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

Zoolander (2001)

Rated PG-13 On Appeal For Sexual Content and Drug References

Ben Stiller as Derek

Owen Wilson as Hansel

Christine Taylor as Matilda Jeffries

Will Ferrell as Jacobim Mugatu

Jerry Stiller as Maury Ballstein

Milla Jovovich as Katinka

• Ben Stiller
• John Hamburg

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‘zoolander’: thr’s 2001 review.

On September 28, 2001, Paramount unveiled the Ben Stiller comedy in theaters.

By Kirk Honeycutt

Kirk Honeycutt

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On September 28, 2001, Paramount unveiled Ben Stiller’s Zoolander in theaters. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below: 

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Zoolander  might have the right stuff to become a breakout hit. It’s smoothly packaged fluff with a silly story line, wacky characters and not a mean spirit anywhere. It will mainly draw on young people for an audience as few over 30 are likely to be interested.

Stiller’s Derek Zoolander is a cross between Gracie Allen and Wayne of Wayne’s World . A model who has focused almost exclusively on his looks and his “look,” Zoolander possesses a developmental age of about 8. If you called him superficial, he would undoubtedly take that as a compliment. Any description containing the word “super” would flatter him.

For Zoolander , Stiller has created an accent that sounds so airless and precious that he couldn’t possibly have come from anywhere other than a changing room. His black hair shoots straight up into a dark helmet. The tight, black snakeskin suits and collar shirts already feel dated.

Zoolander’s failure to win the Male Model of the Year award for the fourth straight year rocks his world. This inspires a sudden desire to seek greater meaning in life. In one very funny sequence, he returns to his roots, a southern New Jersey coal mining family where dad (Jon Voight ) and his brothers are shamed by his success in a sissy profession.

Zoolander’s manager (Jerry Stiller) describes his client as a “sweet simpleton,” and poor Hansel isn’t even that smart. So much of the film’s humor derives from a Dumb & Dumber  routine where colossal misunderstandings and clueless behavior by two innocent idiots throw roadblocks into everyone’s schemes.

Christine Taylor has a large yet largely extraneous role as a journalist who covers the fashion industry. Will Ferrell brings his own brand of extravagant comedy to an evil, platinum-haired designer assisted by Milla Jovovich’s black-clad villainess with high-fashion hauteur.

The soundtrack is chockablock with old pop songs that offer sly commentary on the inane action, while Robin Standefer’s sets and David C. Robinson’s costumes keep the movie jumping from one visual gag to the next.

The film feels like one of those Saturday Night Live  skits that really gets cooking as regulars and guest stars all contribute. Among the personalities putting in cameo appearances are David Bowie, Cuba Gooding Jr ., Donald Trump, Tommy Hilfiger and Fabio.

But the movie never rises above the level of a clever TV skit. Repetition is the name of the game here, so gags become increasingly predictable. The film also mixes low-grade gags with weirdly hip and even witty ones. Writers Stiller, Drake Sather and John Hamburg seem unable or unwilling to distinguish among them. Everything is fair game.

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Zoolander (2001)

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Zoolander Review

30 Nov 2001

Some actors practically guarantee quality: Kevin Spacey, for example (we’ll ignore Pay It Forward, as indeed everyone should). Inversely, Chris Klein’s name above the title is ominous indeed. Meanwhile, Will Ferrell is fast becoming a byword for patchy but funny all-star spoofs. This month alone, he over-acts wildly in Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back, and again here as the flamboyant fashion designer criminal mastermind, Mugatu. The message is clear: if you see Ferrell, stick around.Stiller’s first directorial effort since 1996’s under-rated The Cable Guy is a mostly successful and unashamed attempt to make an utterly lunatic camp comedy, anchored superbly by its multi-tasking star. Based on a character Stiller debuted at the 1996 VH1 Fashion Awards (VH1 must have a sense of humour; it co-produced), Zoolander trades on the hold-the-front-page premise that male models are stupid. And so Stiller ladles on the hit-and-miss dumb jokes — including a priceless 2001 pisstake — thick and fast.Likewise the star cameos, the Stiller Rolodex proffering the likes of David Duchovny as a — ho! — conspiracy theorist, David Bowie as himself, Vince Vaughn as Zoolander’s perpetually appalled, perpetually silent brother, and family members (Taylor is aka Mrs. Stiller, while Jerry Stiller — Daddy! — is Zoolander’s crotchety agent). And, amidst the home video antics, Stiller dovetails perfectly with the unfathomably cool Wilson, so much so that you wish the ‘world’s top male models’ (worth a laugh in itself) shared more screentime.And while Zoolander’s okay US performance may have killed a sequel, its close cousin Austin Powers (witness the zany tone, the incompetent, sex-obsessed hero and — blimey! — Will Ferrell) discovered hit status on video. If justice prevails, this will, too.

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By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Does anyone still want to go to the movies? Hell, yeah. This gathering together in the dark to watch images flicker on a screen rivals baseball as America’s national pastime. It’s a given that no movie will erase the memory of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that ripped the fabric of our existence on September 11th, 2001. It’s also a given that movies can help us mend, be it through laughter, tears or — at their most vital — artful provocation. And there is something else to consider: Just showing up at the multiplex defies an enemy that seeks to disrupt our normal life. In the words of renowned film critic Pauline Kael, who died a week before her country went to war: “Good movies make you care, make you believe in possibilities again.”

Hollywood, out of misplaced sensitivity, seeks to coddle us. It’s one thing for Warner Bros. to pull Collateral Damage , the Arnold Schwarzenegger thriller that features Colombian terrorists blowing up a U.S. consulate; it’s another for Paramount Classics to delay the opening of the romantic comedy Sidewalks of New York because of its Manhattan location, or for Sony Pictures to digitally erase the Twin Towers from the upcoming Spider-Man . Is that how to best serve an audience: by pretending the scene of a tragedy never existed? In these perilous times, Americans will be called on for strength and sacrifice. Escapist films can offer fantasy as a relief from reality. Hollywood should not make the mistake of thinking that we don’t know the difference. Zoolander is a case in point. At press time, the film’s producers, including Paramount Pictures and VH1, considered postponing Ben Stiller’s teasing take on male models because the plot involves an assassination plot. Images of the World Trade Center were cut from the film’s Manhattan setting. Their fears seem groundless. Zoolander is an oasis of bracing comedy that comes at just the right time, when we’re parched for it.

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Stiller, who directed the film and co-wrote the script with Drake Sather, plays Derek Zoolander, the infantile, breathy-voiced supermodel he first played on the VH1 Fashion Awards in 1996. It takes some getting used to watching this quick-witted actor portray an narcissistic idiot boy who still forgets to turn at the end of a runway. But from the moment we see Derek narrow his eyes and suck in his cheeks to rehearse his pouty new look — he calls it Magnum — the fun begins. Derek is celebrated for two previous looks (Blue Steel and Ferrari), each indistinguishable from the other. Stiller, aided by David Robinson’s witty costumes, deftly skewers fashion while turning a one-joke character into a jerk you can root for.

Superficiality has rarely been treated with such comic depth. At a fashion awards event, complete with celebrity cameos — my favorite is Fabio receiving the prize for best actor-model (he’s touched by the batting order) — three-time winner Derek loses the model-of-the-year award to surfer-dude newcomer Hansel (Owen Wilson makes a funny art of preening). “Hansel is so hot right now,” says Mugatu (Will Ferrell in gleefully wicked form), a fashion designer with nefarious designs on Derek.

But we’ll get to that. First, there’s Derek’s various crises to deal with. When the journalist Matilda Jeffries (the comely Christine Taylor, Stiller’s bride) eviscerates Derek as a model moron in a cover story, he dismisses her silly little publication. (It’s Time .) Then Derek has to face rejection from his father figure, Maury Ballstein (the always welcome Jerry Stiller, the director’s dad), head of the Balls Modeling Agency. After members of Derek’s entourage accidentally incinerate themselves in a lark involving gas nozzles, Derek goes home to the Pennsylvania mining town that spawned him, much to the horror of his coal-grimed dad (Jon Voight), who cringes when a TV at the local bar blares a commercial featuring Derek as a tail-flipping merman.

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Stiller shows new assurance as a director, following Reality Bites and The Cable Guy , and elicits pitch-perfect performances, including his own. His scenes with mellow dude Wilson, even the orgy stuff (you heard me), have an unexpected tenderness. And Ferrell, the droll heart of Saturday Night Live , is a knockout as the villain of the piece. His Mugatu must carry a plot that is sometimes pounded thinner than a veal scaloppine. Mugatu works for an organization that turns male models into assassins through brainwashing. Given Derek’s dire lack of gray matter, it’s a hoot to watch Mugatu and his kinky aide Katinka (Milla Jovovich) ply their trade. Derek has been earmarked to kill the prime minister of Malaysia. Why? For cracking down on the sweatshops that fashionistas use for cheap production.

Zoolander is a pure silliness that does no harm to anything but pretension, as when Mugatu uses Derek as the star of his new fashion line, Derelicte, based on the clothing of the homeless (watch for a hilarious bit from David Duchovny as a derelict who won’t take exploitation lying down). Will the brash exuberance of Zoolander go over less well in these sobering times? I think not. The gift of laughter remains now what it has always been: a celebration of life.

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Zoolander (United States, 2001)

Under normal circumstances, Zoolander is the kind of movie I would recommend giving a pass to in theaters and waiting for the video release. But these are far from normal circumstances. In the wake of the World Trade Center disaster, audiences are looking for distractions, so anything that offers opportunities for laughter, no matter how uneven or scattered those opportunities may be, cannot be immediately dismissed. Thus it is for Zoolander . This is by no means a great (or even a very good) comedy, but there are times when it tickles the funny bone, and, for that reason if no other, it may be the right film for this time.

Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) is the king of the male modeling world. The winner of three straight Model of the Year awards, Derek stands ready to claim his fourth, until he is unseated by upstart newcomer Hansel (Owen Wilson), whose freshness and versatility outmatch Derek's trademark "blue steel" stare. To add insult to injury, the same week that Derek loses his perch atop the fashion world, Time magazine publishes a derogatory article about him, written by pretty Matilda Jeffries (Christine Taylor), whom Derek had given full access to his life. When his three best friends are killed in a freak accident, Derek decides he has had enough. He's going to give up modeling and devote himself to charity, building a school for "children who can't read good". But in steps Derek's agent, Maury Ballstein (Jerry Stiller), and fashion mogul Mugatu (Will Ferrell) with a deal to convince him otherwise. Mugatu claims that he wants Derek to be the model for his new "Derelicte" collection, but what he really desires is a "beautiful, self-absorbed simpleton" whom he can brainwash and turn into an assassin. Mugatu needs to find someone to kill the latest Prime Minister of Malysia, because the new ruler is determined to institute laws limiting child labor, an act that will wreck Mugatu's empire.

With a premise like the one embraced by Zoolander , a viewer could be forgiven for expecting the storyline to represent a barbed lampoon of the shallow fashion industry. However, while the film contains elements of satire, it is much gentler and less edgy than one might anticipate, parodying only the most obvious aspects of modeling (the "easy targets"). Instead, much of the comedy is of the Dumb and Dumber variety, with the naivete of a moron being played for laughs. Derek is obsessed with his looks, has trouble pronouncing any word with more than two syllables, doesn't know his left from his right, and sometimes has trouble completing sentences. Not all of the humor makes fun of Derek's stupidity; there are some clever things to be found in Zoolander as well. One ongoing gag is that Derek's vaunted "blue steel" look is about as silly an expression as Stiller could come up with. And there are in-jokes (for example, Stiller, an avowed Star Trek fan, named "Mugatu" after a creature from the late-'60s TV series) for those who care to look for them.

One of the primary problems with Zoolander is that it doesn't have enough material to fill the running length. Even at a short 85 minutes, the movie seems padded. There are some very entertaining sequences - such as the awards show, the runway "walk-off" duel, and the breakdance fight - but there are also dead patches where there's too much exposition and too little humor. Zoolander 's laugh-aloud moments redeem much of the movie, but they also leave us wishing the comedy had been more consistent. From a visual standpoint, Zoolander is a riot of colors, and the use of some of the '80s least intellectually stimulating pop hits (like "Relax") injects a little extra intentional campiness.

For Ben Stiller, Zoolander is a family affair. In addition to directing, co-producing, and co-writing the film, Stiller is also in front of the camera for nearly every scene. His father, Jerry, has a supporting role as a crooked agent with big balls (his name being "Ballstein") and a bigger prostate. Stiller's wife, Christine Taylor (who viewers may remember as Marcia in the two Brady Bunch movies), is Derek's love interest, Matilda. As Hansel, Owen Wilson vies to out-do Stiller in the vacuousness department. And Will Ferrell dons strange clothes and a stranger wig as Mugato. There are also cameos from the likes of Jon Voight, Cuba Gooding Jr., Gary Shandling, Natalie Portman, Winona Ryder, David Bowie, Fabio, David Duchovny, and Billy Zane.

Despite its numerous weaknesses, Zoolander is more enjoyable than many of 2001's crop of so-called comedies. For one thing, it's actually funny, even if only sporadically so. And, with all the open wounds of the past few weeks, if laughter is a cure, then it's hard to argue the medicinal value of something like Zoolander .

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Zoolander No. 2

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Watch Zoolander No. 2 with a subscription on Paramount+, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

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Zoolander No. 2 has more celebrity cameos than laughs -- and its meager handful of memorable gags outnumbers the few worthwhile ideas discernible in its scattershot rehash of a script.

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Review: In ‘Zoolander 2,’ All Is Still Vanity

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By Stephen Holden

• Feb. 11, 2016

If you took away the extravagantly gaudy trappings of the overproduced, chaotic, not very funny comic circus that is “ Zoolander 2 ,” you would still have a surefire basic concept. Derek Zoolander ( Ben Stiller ), an airhead model forever pursing his lips, striking poses and practicing his telekinetic blue-steel glare in the mirror, is a Chaplinesque Everyman in a delusional bubble. The prevalence of outrageous male vanity was the dirty little secret in the first “Zoolander” that lent the film its satirical bite. In the 15 years that have passed since then, it is anything but a secret in a world of competing buff, preening dandies.

In Derek’s imagination — and, I would like to think, in Mr. Stiller’s on a good day — he’s a devastatingly handsome specimen with his laser-blue eyes and prominent cheekbones. One reason the character registers so strongly is that Derek suggests Mr. Stiller’s personal obsession with his looks. He knows firsthand that men, deep down, are more vain than women, that in their fantasies most men see themselves as irresistible lady-killers.

Mr. Stiller is a perfect case study in male insecurity. Depending on the role, the camera angle, the costume, and the hair and makeup, Mr. Stiller, 50, swings between polarities of trollishness and desirability. In some movies, he appears dwarfish and deformed with a head that’s too big for his body and empty space-alien eyes. He is of average height but looks shorter. And when bulked up, he appears hunched and musclebound. But when he fixes those baby blues on the camera and thrusts out his jaw to accentuate his cheekbones, he can pass as handsome: just barely.

Movie Review: ‘Zoolander 2’

The times critic stephen holden reviews “zoolander 2.”.

The original “ Zoolander ,” in 2001, was a belated hit that caught on as a home-viewing phenomenon. Because it was a family movie, its savaging of the fashion industry could only go so far (not very) and had to stop well short of portraying fashionista depravity. The same is true of “Zoolander 2,” which doesn’t have a trace of erotic energy. A bunch of orgiasts appear ready for action, but they don’t do anything beyond making faces and lightly petting one another in an ambulatory group hug.

“Zoolander 2,” which is overstuffed with celebrity cameos, opens with its strongest sequence, in which Justin Bieber is machine-gunned to death and in his last moment posts an Instagram picture of himself sucking in his cheeks and puckering his lips in a blue-steel pout. He is a casualty of an international plot to rid the world of beautiful celebrities. (The scheme never gains traction.)

Derek, self-exiled to the Arctic wastes of northern New Jersey, is coaxed out of his retreat by Billy Zane (playing himself), who also retrieves Hansel (Owen Wilson), Derek’s former best friend and rival, from the wilds of Malibu. They are dispatched to Rome, where Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig, unrecognizable) rules the fashion world as a Donatella Versace-like fashion empress whose pretentious diction is so comically clotted as to be unintelligible. Her latest protégé, Don Atari (Kyle Mooney), is an anti-fashion hipster and sour little twerp whose idea of a fashion-show locale is a garbage dump. Another protégé is a bald transgender supermodel (Benedict Cumberbatch) known as All.

Alexanya’s only other tic is her bizarre taste in unwearable clothes. The movie’s humor relies heavily on the outlandish creations of the costume designer, Leesa Evans, to evoke the fashion world’s insane excesses. Speaking of excess, “Zoolander 2” has enough plots for several movies. They are so jammed together that they more or less cancel each other out.

One of many half-developed strands concerns Derek’s reunion with his long-lost son, Derek Jr. (Cyrus Arnold), a chubby, smart boy holed up in a Roman orphanage who despises his father. Derek Sr. is horrified to discover his son is overweight.

As it bumps along on a stream of mostly unfunny jokes and awkward celebrity sightings, the movie, directed by Mr. Stiller from a scatterbrained screenplay he wrote with Justin Theroux, Nicholas Stoller and John Hamburg, rapidly loses its charm and turns into a silly, meaningless pseudo-spy-caper that suggests a discarded remnant of the “Austin Powers” franchise.

It picks up some steam with the late appearance of Will Ferrell returning as the nasty Mugatu, a power-mongering fashion titan whose mixture of imperious hauteur and prissiness suggests an extreme caricature of Karl Lagerfeld.

Penélope Cruz has the largely thankless role of Valentina Valencia, an agent for Interpol’s “global fashion division” investigating the murders of the world’s most beautiful celebrities. A running thread features Sting as the descendant of a bloodline that goes back to the Garden of Eden and the triumvirate of Adam and Eve and Steve. Lyrics of Police songs are a Da Vinci Code-like key that unlocks the Fountain of Youth.

The tepid satire is undercut by cameo appearances by fashion giants like Valentino, Marc Jacobs, Anna Wintour and Tommy Hilfiger. Because they are in on the joke, their very presence robs the movie of any remaining edge.

“Zoolander 2” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned) for vaguely suggestive sexual content and a little strong language. Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes.

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Review by Brian Eggert February 9, 2016

Trying to determine if you actually enjoyed Ben Stiller’s Zoolander ? Here’s a tip: Ask yourself if you’re a Brint or a Meekus. Allow me to explain. There’s a scene in the 2001 comedy where two of Zoolander’s male model roommates poke fun at his competition, a hipster model named Hansel. “Ex-squeeze me, but have you ever heard of styling gel?” says Meekus, played by a young Alexander Skarsgård. Brint, played by Alexander Manning, replies defensively, “I’m sure Hansel’s heard of styling gel. He’s a male model.” Meekus counters, “Uh, Earth to Brint, I was making a joke.” Brint answers, “Uh, Earth to Meekus. Duh, okay. I knew that!” Meekus comes down hard, “Uh, Earth to Brint, I’m not so sure you did, ‘cuz you were all ‘Well I’m sure he’s heard of styling gel’ like you didn’t know it was a joke!” Wounded, Brint responds, “I knew it was a joke, Meekus. I just didn’t get it right away.” Later, they all go out for an Orange Mocha Frappuccino and burn to death.

So are you a Brint or a Meekus? Did you appreciate the humor of Zoolander upon first viewing, like a Meekus? Or like a Brint, did it finally make sense years later, or even bypass you completely? If you’re a Meekus, you probably enjoy the film very much. If you’re a Brint, don’t feel bad, a lot of people are. Mark Caro of the Chicago Tribune wrote the film “exceeds the time span over which watching people acting dumb and making funny faces remains funny.” Roger Ebert seemed to take issue with the film’s politics and unfavorable representation of Malaysia, specifically the assassination attempt against their Prime Minister in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. (In retrospect, there’s little connection between the two events, but emotions were high in the fall of 2001, so who can blame him?) Favorable reviews were lukewarm, with mild praises sprinkled about words like “trivial” and “superficial”. But isn’t that what modeling is all about?

At any rate, those who rightly praised Zoolander for parodying such an absurd industry, and what’s more focusing on male models instead of the mountainous clichés associated with female models, remain few. Stiller’s one-note satire of the often ridiculous fashion industry contains plenty of insider jabs lost on viewers unfamiliar with high fashion (I include myself in that group). Its comic style avoids the customary scatological jokes embraced by most comedies (although, sex is prevalent; there’s one unnecessary scene with a curiously shifty erection). Instead, the film invents its own brand of mockery by poking fun at the vanity paraded about in the fashion world as artistic beauty. Further, it acknowledges the cruel conditions under which many of the top designers produce their clothes. But that’s not to suggest you should mistake Zoolander for having a deep-rooted social commentary.

Originally created by Stiller and writer-producer Drake Sather for a series of short films that aired during VH1 Fashion Awards in the mid-1990s, Derek Zoolander is an exceedingly stupid male model. As the tagline says, “3% Body Fat. 1% Brain Activity.” What’s even more amusing is that Stiller himself is not a classically attractive man, being short and sort of funny looking. Yet, he’s playing a character everyone onscreen, many of them involved in the fashion industry, ironically acknowledges as a beautiful physical specimen, albeit old for a male model (Stiller was 35 while filming). This single joke that models are moronic—even bulimic—wears thin over the course of a mere 89-minute runtime. But Stiller’s cast of cartoonishly over-the-top characters always entertains, particularly his costars Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell.

Somehow, Zoolander is also a brainwashing thriller not unlike The Manchurian Candidate , except set within the fashion industry. Amid the E! network interviews and random cameos from countless good-looking celebrities (David Bowie, Natalie Portman, Gwen Stefani, Billy Zane, James Marsden, Tom Ford, Victoria Beckham, Heidi Klum, Claudia Schiffer, Winona Ryder, and Garry Shandling), something sinister is afoot. Threatened by the Prime Minister of Malaysia’s decree to increase wages for (but not stop) child labor, fashion industry leaders hire malevolent designer Mugatu (Ferrell) to find a model that can be quickly brainwashed and programmed to kill the Malaysian leader. Enter Zoolander, a three-time Male Model of the Year and a fashion icon with his various trademarked pout looks—all identical, but not. When Zoolander loses his coveted prize to Hansel (Wilson), who’s “so hot right now”, the model begins to believe life is about more than being “really, really ridiculously good-looking”.

Fortunately, Stiller doesn’t fully saturate his audience in this surreal fashion world. Christine Taylor (Stiller’s wife) plays Matilda, a Time magazine journalist, and the only main character with an IQ above 80—she’s the audience’s straight man entry point to the fashion world, and it’s often her eye-rolls at Zoolander’s stupidity that make certain scenes tolerable. Matilda puts forth most of the effort to wrangle the sworn enemies Zoolander and Hansel to join forces and stop the assassination attempt, and expose a history of male-models-turned-assassins. Without her, the whole film would be about Zoolander finally overcoming his inability to turn left. (In addition to his wife, Stiller’s dad Jerry appears as the founder of Zoolander’s modeling agency, Balls Models. Look for his mom and sister in brief appearances too.) Then again, neither Zoolander’s arc nor the assassination scheme would be enough on their own.

Wild brainwashing videos with Ferrell’s hysterically weird faces incite belly laughs, while often clever gags about Zoolander’s stupidity amuse. The plot is thin, the short runtime padded with montages and comic asides, but many of those asides are the best parts of Zoolander . When the protagonist’s roommates try to cheer him up early on with an “Orange Mocha Frappuccino”, the sequence, set to Wham!’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”, proceeds as Zoolander and his model friends perform for a camera that isn’t there. Soon they’re splashing each other at a gas station with windshield cleaner, and then gasoline. One of them lights a cigarette and—BOOM! Through the nonsensical humor, the production is actually top notch, especially the work by costume designer David C. Robinson. His ostentatious outfits for Mugatu and his henchwoman Katinka (Milla Jovovich) combine the most eccentric fashion touches with James Bond villainy.

Although Stiller is perhaps best known for his neurotic, Woody Allen-esque characters from Flirting with Disaster and Meet the Parents , with Zoolander he harkens back to the parodying goofiness of his earliest video shorts—such as his bowling spoof on The Color of Money that earned him a brief spot on Saturday Night Live, and later his own sketch comedy show. Having made more than a dozen films together, Stiller and Wilson are at their prime here, whereas Ferrell’s outlandish villainy steals several scenes from them both. Zoolander may prevail on a singular joke that male models are dumb, but it’s a funny joke, actually, and Stiller finds countless ways to remind us just how dumb they are. There’s an old saying about actors, how one needs to be smart to effectively pretend to be stupid. If that’s true, Ben Stiller is a very smart man.

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The Untold Truth Of Zoolander

Ben Stiller has appeared in a smorgasbord of famous comedies. There's a great (or less often, terrible) Stiller comedy for practically any type of yuk-fest you enjoy watching, from the wildly successful comedy "Meet the Parents" to the trio of "Madagascar" movies to the provocative "Tropic Thunder." But perhaps one of his most memorable comedies is the 2001 feature "Zoolander." This project notably features Stiller stretching himself to play a role far removed from his nervous everyman archetype.

To portray Derek Zoolander, Stiller had to tackle the personality of an oblivious yet comically confident male model, which is just not the kind of role that pops up frequently in his filmography. It isn't only Stiller's deft and unique performance that makes "Zoolander" stand out, though. The film itself is also a riot and home to a bountiful supporting cast of comedic all-stars, including Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell.

Even if you know every line in "Zoolander" backward and forward, though, the lore of the film is still bound to be full of surprises, particularly when it comes to Derek Zoolander's origins and an animated "Zoolander" TV special that's flown right under the radar. Go grab your diploma from the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good and Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too and prepare to study up on the untold truth of "Zoolander."

Zoolander's origins as a VH1 character

For many audience members, Ben Stiller's comically oblivious male model Derek Zoolander premiered on the big screen with the eponymous 2001 movie. But this feature film wasn't the character's first appearance in pop culture. Years earlier, Stiller had debuted the Zoolander character as a sketch comedy figure on VH1 in a filmed segment at VH1's 1996 Fashion Awards .

Though the supporting cast that would surround the character in his big-screen exploits weren't included just yet, Stiller established Zoolander's absent-mindedness and self-absorption quite firmly in his first sketch. This iteration of Derek Zoolander was seen talking to the camera about his daily routine to keep himself at the top of his craft as a male model by practicing eyebrow tilts. There are also gags, like Zoolander engaging in a playful skirmish with his fellow male models, that serve as precursors to jokes that would eventually emerge in the feature-length "Zoolander" movie.

As pointed out by sites like The Dissolve , there isn't a substantial amount difference between this early VH1 iteration of the character and the one seen in the two "Zoolander" movies. While some sketch comedy characters get tweaked when it's time to translate them into motion picture stars, Zoolander was consistent: Even the character's voice would remain the same over the years. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, they say, and that was certainly true of the original VH1 incarnation of Derek Zoolander.

Ben Stiller's unforgettable bit of improvisation

One of the most memorable scenes in "Zoolander" sees hand model J.P. Prewitt (David Duchovny) letting Derek in on an evil scheme to use male models for malicious purposes — and why exactly people from that line of work would be so perfect for this dastardly plan. After this deluge of exposition, Zoolander poses Prewitt an important question (and one that he'd just asked moments ago): "But why male models?" Incredulous at this seemingly air-headed query, Prewitt responds, "Seriously? I just told you!"

It's an amusing little exchange that gets a lot of mileage out of Stiller's total commitment to playing the ditziness of Zoolander without a hint of self-aware snark. To make this moment even better, it was actually improvised , with Stiller repeating the question about male models because he couldn't remember his actual line on the set and Duchovny staying in character to deliver that indignant follow-up. The great improvisation on both parties cemented this as one of the funniest parts of "Zoolander."

Zoolander's reckoning with 9/11

"Zoolander" is an extremely silly comedy full of gags about "centers for ants!" and sudden David Bowie cameos. But when the film was theatrically released at the end of September 2001, it had to contend with something exceedingly more serious. Just before "Zoolander" hit movie theaters, the World Trade Center attacks occurred and left a massive impact on the United States public. In the wake of such a devastating and senseless tragedy, everyone in the comedy world was figuring out when, if ever, it would be appropriate to laugh again.

Just 17 days after that event, "Zoolander" strolled into theaters not only with an abundance of ridiculous gags but also a subplot involving assassinating a foreign leader. The only alteration made to "Zoolander" to make it fit into a post-9/11 world was digitally removing the Twin Towers from any shots in the film featuring the buildings. In the end, "Zoolander" didn't become a worldwide smash. However, its solid $60.7 million worldwide box office gross indicated people were ready for some goofy laughs after so much horror.

Roger Ebert apologized to Ben Stiller for his Zoolander review

When "Zoolander" was first released, renowned critic  Roger Ebert was no fan of this Ben Stiller comedy. Giving it just a single star, Ebert began his review by throwing down the gauntlet and offering up "Zoolander" as evidence of "why the United States is so hated in some parts of the world." While Ebert offered praise for Stiller's ludicrously simple-minded performance as well as the film's social commentary on the role of child labor in the American fashion industry, Ebert was overall negative on "Zoolander" and in particular its commentary on geopolitical relations.

It's impossible to read Ebert's review and not feel the unique tension of reviewing movies directly in the wake of the September 11 attacks, especially since Ebert references the tragedy in his review. From his perspective, the tastelessness of the film using the potential assassination of the leader of Malaysia as a key plot point must've seemed insulting rather than humorous in this context. Interestingly, though, this review was not the end of Ebert's relationship with "Zoolander." Years later, Stiller claimed to The Huffington Post that he had had an encounter with Ebert in which the film critic apologized to the director for his "Zoolander" review and admitted he had come around on the comedy.

Sum 41 almost made a Zoolander song

It's always appealing, especially for promotional purposes, when movies score original songs made by hot artists. After all, what's better for publicity than having your new feature film attached to the star power of a major musician? Thus, it's no surprise to learn that, per an interview with the band Sum 41 for Men's Health , the producers behind "Zoolander" asked the group to create an original tune for the movie. It wasn't meant simply to play over the end credits, though. This original song was meant to accompany a mid-movie gasoline fight between Derek Zoolander and a gaggle of other male models.

After a screening of "Zoolander," though, the band members absolutely refused to create a song for this particular scene in the comedy. This wasn't due to their objections over the content or actors in "Zoolander," though. On the contrary, their reason for refusing was solely due to the temporary song that was playing over the scene, "Wake Me Before You Go-Go" by Wham! Originally meant to be a placeholder needle drop until an original song was added instead, Sum 41 told the people behind "Zoolander" that the scene was already hysterical with this boppy retro tune. It can be awesome to get a popular band to create an original song for your movie, but sometimes, you just have to go with the classics.

Stiller has refused to cut Trump from Zoolander

Some parts of the "Zoolander" movies haven't aged perfectly, and one particularly distracting out-of-touch element in the first "Zoolander" comes in the form of an appearance by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Though plagued by controversy surrounding racism and other pieces of inappropriate behavior since the 1970s, Trump, circa. 2001, was seen in pop culture as just another larger-than-life celebrity.

Thus, when he was interviewed at the VH1 Fashion Awards, the production had his responses spliced into a star-studded montage at the start of "Zoolander." Though not explicitly stated in the text of "Zoolander," Trump's presence prompts the viewer to consider how the fictional celebrity blowhards in "Zoolander" aren't enormously different from similar figures in real life.

In the years since the film's release, Trump's image has only grown more and more clouded with controversies, and that's led to people expressing wishes for Trump's scenes in "Zoolander" to be cut. However, writer-director Ben Stiller has made it clear Trump won't be getting removed. "At the end of the day, that was a time when that exists and that happened," Stiller explained to MovieWeb . "There were so many movies (back then) that had a silly cameo from Donald Trump. He represented a certain thing." Considering these comments, those expecting a Trump-free cut of "Zoolander" to be released will have to adjust their expectations. 

What it was like filming that David Bowie scene

In the middle of "Zoolander," arguably one of the film's most enjoyable moments emerges when Derek Zoolander and Hansel engage in a competition to see who can strut it best on a runway. Who could possibly judge such a contest properly? Well, that's where a surprise appearance from David Bowie as himself comes in. He pops up from the crowd to offer his expertise on who can serve the best looks. It's a memorable moment not just for the sight of Bowie in such a ludicrously comical context, but for how fitting it is that he would be perceived as the ultimate decider of what is and isn't good in men's fashion.

In retrospect, writer-director Ben Stiller is as shocked as any of us that this moment happened. While live-tweeting about the movie, Stiller remarked that everyone on the "Zoolander" set was "in shock" that Bowie was there to do this cameo. It may have been a stupefying experience, but Bowie fit like a glove into the sequence and managed to stand out as one of the most impactful appearances in a movie chock-full of celebrity cameos. Bowie's work in "Zoolander" was so memorable that Stiller ended up dedicating some words to this pop culture icon at the premiere of "Zoolander 2" in February 2016, just one month after Bowie passed away.

How Stiller thought male models would receive Zoolander

While watching "Zoolander," if you can take a break from giggling, it may cross your mind to wonder how real-life male models might take this comedy. It's not like Derek Zoolander is depicted as a total aberration in the world of male modeling: All individuals of this craft in "Zoolander" are depicted as dolts. One can't help but contemplate exactly how people in the actual modeling profession would receive this movie, and that thought process would have to run through the minds of people tasked with bringing "Zoolander" into the world as well.

It turns out, though, that writer-director Ben Stiller had already given this some thought and was pretty optimistic about how real-life male models would receive "Zoolander." "I have to say I think the male models will [understand the movie]," Stiller told Hollywood.com . "The male models are incredibly good-looking, incredibly nice young men who have had a really good sense of humor about this. Mark Vanderloo and Jason Lewis — they all know about it and I've met them and did some research and hung out with some of them." Given the time he invested with actual male models, Stiller grew confident that these individuals would actually enjoy, rather than be insulted by, the antics of Derek Zoolander and company.

How important Owen Wilson was to the Zoolander cast

Across their individual careers in Hollywood, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson have worked together numerous times. That's no coincidence, as the two clearly have a fondness for each other, and audiences enjoy watching their unique personalities bounce off one another. When it came time for "Zoolander," it was inevitable that Wilson would show up in the "Zoolander" cast . However, Stiller didn't just find Wilson to be an important part of the project, he openly viewed him as the most important part of this goofy puzzle of a movie.

"Owen was the most important casting to me in the movie because I think he is one of the funniest people around — and the part was written for him. I don't think [the movie] could have [been] made if he couldn't do it," Stiller explained to Hollywood.com . He went on to describe their friendship and their affinity for working together, as well as the unique personality that enabled Wilson to take what was once a VH1 sketch to the next level. "[When] making a movie like this where it's based on a short film — a sketch originally — you figure out ways to make it work in a longer format. ... The relationship with Derek and Hansel is really important and a real thing. He is just a uniquely funny guy. There's no other person like Owen."

The forgotten Zoolander cartoon

"Zoolander" is such a wacky movie that it does sometimes feel like one is just watching a cartoon that somehow got airlifted into the real world. Given the innately zany, overly animated nature of these characters and their world, it shouldn't be a surprise that "Zoolander" was eventually turned into an animated property. Rather than a high-profile revamp or continuation of the original, though, this foray into animation came in the form of a one-off TV special launched with minimal fanfare.

Entitled "Zoolander: Super Model," this 84-minute long miniseries brought back Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, and Christine Taylor in voiceover versions of their roles from the original "Zoolander." Released in 2016, it would appear that this production's whole purpose was to promote "Zoolander 2," which debuted the same year, but that ambition was thwarted by how the film was  released solely through Netflix — and only in the United Kingdom and Ireland .

It would take another four years for this oddball spin-off of the "Zoolander" franchise to makes its way to the U.S., where it would get an unglamorous debut on CBS All-Access in May 2020. The prospect of "Zoolander" entering the world of animation would seem to be one jam-packed with potential, but the treatment of "Zoolander: Super Model" during its release suggests that somebody behind the scenes of this franchise didn't feel the same way.

Ben Stiller's response to filming alongside his wife

There are many famous faces in the "Zoolander" cast that Ben Stiller has some level of personal attachment to. The actor-director's former wife, Christine Taylor, was the female lead of "Zoolander" and, per Stiller himself, working with his significant other on a major theatrical comedy turned out to be quite the enjoyable experience for both of them.

"[Working with my wife] was great. I love my wife," said Stiller to Daily Bruin . "It was really helpful for me because I trust her sense of humor and she's really smart. When you're acting and directing, you miss having a director, so I would go to her a lot of times for feedback." For her part, Taylor also said it was delightful getting to spend so much time with Stiller on the set of "Zoolander" since, at the time of this 2001 interview, they were still in what she described as the "honeymoon phase" of their relationship. The on-set experiences proved so enjoyable that Taylor and Stiller would act together again in subsequent movies such as "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," "Tropic Thunder," and "Zoolander 2."

Owen Wilson is surprised how popular Zoolander has become

Owen Wilson has no shortage of famous movies in his filmography. This guy's been in everything from "Armageddon" to "Wedding Crashers," not to mention providing the voice of the protagonist for three separate "Cars" movies. If the average person were to come up to Wilson to praise his work, they could start with any number of titles. However, according to Wilson, it's "Zoolander" that's turned out to be among his most popular projects.

Despite the original "Zoolander" not registering as either his or Ben Stiller's biggest movie at the box office, Wilson has found himself bombarded with people who just can't get enough of those clueless male models. "I noticed that when I was travelling, there were a lot of people who came up to me quoting Zoolander," Wilson revealed to The Independent . "Ben said he had the same experience and a kind of following developed." Wilson said this fanbase had become so sizeable that the reaction when he and Stiller announced a sequel was akin to the kind of response when a new "Star Wars" project is revealed. Even in Wilson's dense body of work (and honestly, in entertainment at large), "Zoolander" still stands out as an especially beloved piece of cinema.

"Narcissistic Numskulls"

What You Need To Know:

(PaPa, Ho, PC, B, C, LLL, VV, SS, NN, A, DD, M) Pagan worldview with a homosexual subtext & homosexual worldview elements (though the narcissistic protagonist eventually gets married to a woman & has a child) plus some politically correct, anti-capitalist elements & some moral & redemptive elements (narcissistic protagonist becomes a hero & makes his father proud of him); about 26 obscenities & 8 mostly strong profanities, plus some bodily humor & urinating; some comic violence such as comical martial arts violence, a recreation of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination, another man shot dead, pickaxe flies off the handle & hits someone off-screen, female villain struck on face & seems to enjoy tasting tiny trickle of blood, egg thrown, brainwashing session, explosion, & man deliberately knocked unconscious; depicted sexual references such as men kiss woman's upper shoulders & back & scene dissolves into an implied orgy, photo of men in sado-masochistic gear, man has an erection under a towel, veiled reference to masturbation, & narcissistic male models & fashion designers present a homosexual subtext in the movie; rear male nudity, people in skimpy outfits & sado-masochistic outfits shown; alcohol use; smoking & brief drug references including marijuana smoking; and, assassination plots revealed & rebuked or defeated, narcissism spoofed, crazy man says, “Obey my God,” while holding his little poodle, & stupid men play around with gasoline.

More Detail:

ZOOLANDER tries to re-invent the numskull comedy by setting its wild shenanigans in the unique world of high fashion. It almost succeeds in this endeavor, but ultimately succumbs to the problems facing many of today’s “hip” comedies: the failure to turn a good idea into a full-length feature movie comedy that uses story, character, wit, and physical humor to build audience laughter into a finely tuned crescendo.

Actor, director and co-writer Ben Stiller stars as the title character, Derek Zoolander, the world’s most famous supermodel. Derek is vain and surprisingly short in the brains department. When Derek loses his expected repeat of the Male Model of the Year honor to dashing newcomer (and equally mentally dense) Hansel, Derek’s narcissistic world begins to crumble. He wonders if there’s more to life than just being “really, really super good-looking.”

After failing to find the answer, things start looking up when fashion mogul Mugatu picks Derek to model his new “Derelicte” fashion collection. What Derek does not know is that Mugatu intends to brainwash Derek into assassinating the new president of Malaysia, who wants to stop the fashion industry from using cheap labor in his country. Helping Derek to unravel the plot is a female journalist from Time magazine and a mystery man who believes that all the political assassins of the last 200 years have been male models.

Joining Ben Stiller in these zany proceedings is Owen Wilson as Hansel, Ben’s father Jerry Stiller as Derek’s agent, Ben’s wife Christine as the Time reporter, and goofy comic actor Will Ferrell as Mugatu. (Ferrell plays Janet Reno, President George W. Bush, a nerdy cheerleader, and a host of other characters on TV’s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.) There are several funny sequences in this movie (such as a runway “walk-off” between Derek and Hansel), as well as some pretty funny jibes at the fashion industry. Too many of the jokes, however, do not build upon one another, but are made for immediate effect only to then disappear. The actors help carry the show, though Jerry Stiller and Will Ferelly get a little annoying at times. It’s also hard to sympathize with a numskull unless he has a bigger, much meaner antagonist, or unless his goals and objectives are worthwhile. For example, the script tells us that Derek just wants to make his father proud (a noble goal perhaps), but this is not always stressed. Derek also tries to find some bigger purpose for his life, but then he gets caught up in his own narcissism again. Furthermore, while Will Ferrell is very funny as the evil antagonist Mugatu, it’s hard to take him seriously.

This is not what makes ZOOLANDER unfit for viewing, however. The reason for that problem is the movie’s foul language, including several strong profanities, and its lackadaisical attitude toward sexual immorality and even drug abuse. Thus, there is an implied orgy scene in the movie, two or three sexual body jokes about male genitals, and brief references to sado-masochism and masturbation. Also, there are a couple jokes about Hansel’s drug use, which makes light of a significant, dangerous problem that affects millions of children every day. All of these things fit in well with the homosexual subtext that exists in some parts of the fashion world and in this movie.

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Zoolander 2, common sense media reviewers.

Racy sequel to cult comedy hit is a hot (but funny) mess.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

While there's a lot of shallow behavior on dis

Derek and Hansel may not be the smartest or deepes

A gunshot draws blood and ultimately kills its vic

Plenty of innuendo, and several jokes about both b

Strong but relatively infrequent language includes

Many products/brands seen/mentioned: Netflix, Alfa

Social drinking by adult characters.

Parents need to know that Zoolander 2 -- the highly anticipated sequel to star Ben Stiller's 2001's silly but edgy modeling comedy Zoolander -- has a lot of similar content, from violence and mayhem played for laughs to jokes about orgies (and tons of cameos, natch). While there's no…

Positive Messages

While there's a lot of shallow behavior on display (as well as jokes at others' expense, including a character who's overweight), underneath the surface is the idea that sometimes when you're down and out, there's nowhere to go but up. Also, don't be defeated by challenges; instead, regroup and come up better and wiser.

Positive Role Models

Derek and Hansel may not be the smartest or deepest of characters, but they usually mean well and are totally without guile, which is somewhat appealing. Jokes are made at an overweight character's expense.

Violence & Scariness

A gunshot draws blood and ultimately kills its victim. One character wants to blow up a room full of famous fashion folks out of sheer spite and bitterness. A man throws a knife at another, stabbing him in the cheek; the same knife is later used to stab someone in the thigh. Though blood is shown, these scenes are intended to be funny.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Plenty of innuendo, and several jokes about both breast size and orgies. No graphic nudity/simulated sex in the orgy scenes, but the groupings include women, men, and animals; related discussion of the resulting pregnancies (a turn of events that freaks one character out). After a character flashes her cleavage, two men are visibly aroused. One scene shows character briefly touching a woman's (clothed) breast at her invitation. A man inadvertently tells a kid about a sexual encounter the man had with the kid's mother.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Strong but relatively infrequent language includes "s--t," "bitch," "a--hole," and one "f--k."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Many products/brands seen/mentioned: Netflix, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Uber, CNN, Valentino, Facebook, Instagram, Samsung, and more.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Zoolander 2 -- the highly anticipated sequel to star Ben Stiller 's 2001's silly but edgy modeling comedy Zoolander -- has a lot of similar content, from violence and mayhem played for laughs to jokes about orgies (and tons of cameos, natch). While there's no graphic nudity or actual simulated sex on display, the orgy scenes involve groups that include men, women, and animals. There's other innuendo, breast-size jokes, and sexual references as well. Characters are shot and stabbed, and other murders are planned. There's some swearing, including one "f--k," as well as social drinking and plenty of blatant product placement. Jokes are made at the expense of a kid who's overweight. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (10)
• Kids say (24)

Based on 10 parent reviews

What's the Story?

It's been years since supermodel Derek Zoolander ( Ben Stiller ) stopped a deadly weapon with his signature "look," Magnum, and built the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good, and things aren't looking so great for him. His school collapsed, killing his wife and injuring his best friend, Hansel ( Owen Wilson ), who now won't speak to Derek and has retired from modeling, spending his days with his perpetual orgy. When the tabloids photograph Derek losing his temper while attempting to make spaghetti for his son, Child Protective Services whisks the boy away, leaving Derek holed up in the wilds of northern New Jersey. Then Billy Zane (reprising his role as himself from the original) shows up with an invitation for Derek to attend a fashion show hosted by the supreme fashionista, Alexanya Atoz ( Kristen Wiig ). Reunited in Rome, Derek and Hansel find themselves roped into a murderous plot hatched by the evil Mugatu ( Will Ferrell ), who still hates Derek.

Is It Any Good?

To enjoy ZOOLANDER 2 is to ignore all the usual ways in which you measure fine filmmaking (like plot and story arc), because a) it's a hot mess, and b) it's still funny. Nostalgia fuels the comedy, from the moment we spot Derek in all his high-haired, narcissistic glory (and brief morose "hermit crab" stint) and Hansel in his loopy, laid-back ditziness. There are few better buddies to pair up in a buddy comedy than these two. (They're well-matched by Penelope Cruz as a swimsuit-model-turned-Interpol-investigator; she holds her own against the returning stars' wackiness.)

That the storyline -- something about the fountain of youth and Derek's son -- makes absolutely no sense (and is uncomfortable to boot, given that it makes fun of a young boy's weight) doesn't fully detract from the enjoyment of seeing Derek and Hansel back in action. But make no mistake, this movie is silly, crude, and even a bit outdated with all the jokes about supermodels, their (lack of) intellect, and their obsession with weight. It's also sometimes irritating in its zany mindlessness. But anything with Stiller, Wiig, Ferrell, and Wilson deserves watching ... as long as you adjust all expectations accordingly.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Zoolander 2 's messages. In theory, it's mocking the shallower aspects of fashion and celebrity culture, but it also makes jokes at the expense of an overweight character. Is that inappropriate or in keeping with the film's themes? Can media affect kids' body image?

Derek and Hansel are portrayed as airheaded supermodels: Is that a cliche? How does the movie balance its affection for the characters with its commentary on models and fashion?

Does the film work as a sequel? What are the perils of following up on a movie that's become a cult favorite?

Who's the intended audience of this movie? Why do so many people love silly comedies? Why do different types of humor appeal to different people?

Movie Details

• In theaters : February 12, 2016
• On DVD or streaming : May 24, 2016
• Cast : Ben Stiller , Owen Wilson , Penelope Cruz
• Director : Ben Stiller
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Paramount Pictures
• Genre : Comedy
• Run time : 102 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : crude and sexual content, a scene of exaggerated violence, and brief strong language
• Last updated : March 25, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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• DVD & Streaming

Zoolander No. 2

Content caution.

In Theaters

• February 12, 2016
• Ben Stiller as Derek Zoolander; Owen Wilson as Hansel; Penélope Cruz as Valentina; Cyrus Arnold as Derek Jr.; Will Ferrell as Mugatu; Kristen Wiig as Alexanya Atoz; Kyle Mooney as Don Atari

Home Release Date

• May 24, 2016
• Ben Stiller

Distributor

• Paramount Pictures

Movie Review

The working lifespan of a male model lasts about as long as that of the common mosquito. Once your steely eyes begin rusting and your pouty lips lose their pucker, you know your career on the runway is coming to a close.

But even by male model standards, Derek Zoolander’s fall from the dizzying heights of fashion was steep.

It wasn’t so long ago that Derek was a world-renowned model-slash-celebrity-slash-savior-of-the-prime-minister-of-Malaysia. He possessed a myriad of famed pouty poses. He married his love, Matilda, and he realized his dream of building The Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and Who Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too.

Alas, he built the center with the same materials his architects used to build the model of the center—used popsicle sticks and rubber cement, mainly—and the whole thing fell into a nearby body of water two days after it opened. The cataclysm horribly disfigured the face of his one-time rival and BFF, Hansel, and sadly, killed his wife. And if that wasn’t enough, his son, Derek Jr., was taken away from him when it was learned that Derek didn’t know how to “make spaghetti soft.”

These difficult circumstances sent Derek to become, as he says, a “hermit crab,” retreating to the wilds of northern New Jersey to live out his days in well-dressed solitude.

But “fate” had other plans. And given fate’s excess of free time, those plans are needlessly complex.

Both Derek and Hansel are invited back to the world of high fashion by Alexanya Atoz, the heavily Botoxed industry icon. She invites the pair to strut the runway in Rome—which just so happens to be home to the orphanage where Derek Jr. is cooped up. And the high-security fashion prison in which Derek’s archenemy, Jacobim Mugatu, is kept locked away. Oh, and also the site of a number of high-profile murders of famous rock stars. Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Justin Bieber … they’ve all fallen victim to mysterious killers. And without exception they took selfies of themselves while dying, sporting pursed lips and flinty stares.

There’s only one person who might be able to interpret those barely pre-mortem pouts. And Valentina, head of Interpol’s super-secret global fashion division, is determined to get his help.

Yep, that’s right: Derek Zoolander is going to work for the fashion police.

Positive Elements

Derek may have the intelligence of an empty soda can, but that doesn’t make him a bad person. No, his selfishness does that. But as Zoolander No. 2 progresses, he becomes a mite less selfish. Fatherhood has a way of getting under selfish people’s skin, and Derek truly wants to become a real father to his boy. While this trip to semi-maturity takes a great many detours in this very silly movie, Derek eventually forgives Derek Jr. for not being quite the physical specimen he is, comes to appreciate the boy’s unexplainable smarts and does his best to make sure the kid isn’t horribly murdered—risking his life in the process. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life,” he tells the lad, “but you were the best one.”

Hansel exhibits some derring-do, too. But perhaps the show’s real heroes are those selfless music stars who sacrificed themselves to protect a mysterious figure known only as “the chosen one.”

Spiritual Elements

So … the chosen one. This modeling myth seriously twists up the Bible’s origin story, alleging that there were three people in the Garden of Eden: Adam, Eve and Steve, the latter man being the first male model. Once Steve was booted from the Garden, he started a family and throughout history, each of his descendants was known as the “chosen one.” This, alas, is not a good thing: For it is also said that if someone is able to rip the still-beating heart out of the chosen one and eat it or drink its blood—or something—that person shall be immortal.

It’s later revealed that the whole “Steve” story was completely made up. Imagine that!

Derek Jr.’s orphanage has a Catholic affiliation. (We see women wearing nun-like hats and shorts.) Hansel is seen meditating in the deserts of Malibu while posing in painful-looking, yoga-like positions. Derek’s dead wife, Matilda, returns in various visions. Neil deGrasse Tyson offers a naturalistic view of existence, suggesting to Derek and others that to ask “Who am I?” is completely pointless in a universe bent on pulling itself apart. Mugatu sports a tattoo of the crucified Christ on his back. Someone wears a crown of thorns. A scene takes place in an old church.

Sexual Content

Hansel is sexually involved (offscreen) with several people and at least one goat, a collective that he calls Orgy. (Included in this ménage à onze are human women, female elves, male sumo wrestlers and Kiefer Sutherland.) He freaks out when he learns that Orgy is pregnant (all members, male, female and non-human, whip out pregnancy tests as proof) and runs away. He then cheats on Orgy in another orgy that we see parts of (from the shoulders up, with suggestive movements, etc.). It includes Susan Sarandon, a bondage-clad Ariana Grande, a rabbi, a chicken and a pygmy hippopotamus. “Meaningless sex always makes me feel better about myself,” someone says by way of encouragement. Hansel later goes back to Orgy.

Derek and Hansel meet All, an androgynous model who insists that gender is meaningless. While his/her designer, Don Atari, brags that All recently married himself/herself in Rome, where “monomarriage is finally legal,” Hansel presses the dude/dudette about the true nature of his/her gender—using a variety of crass colloquialisms as he does so.

Models wear outfits that reveal quantities of skin. Valentina, we learn, is a former swimsuit model, and she strips down to her strapless one-piece to swim—carrying Derek along. (She insists he grab onto her breasts for flotation.) Derek and Hansel display obvious (but covered) erections after staring at her cleavage. Hansel talks at great length to Derek Jr. about a threesome he had with the little guy’s father and mother.

There’s talk of prostitutes, masturbation and manual stimulation, also sexual prowess and endurance. In a commercial, milking a cow turns metaphorically sexual. Hansel poses with a champagne bottle suggestively positioned. A door is shaped like someone’s backside. There’s an intentionally gross, tongue-filled kissing scene.

Violent Content

Justin Bieber is shot about a half-million times—though he still has time to select a nice selfie before he passes from this mortal world. Someone is grotesquely stabbed in the cheek, while another person suffers a knife wound in the leg. Derek and Derek Jr. get into a horrific car crash. (Their convertible tumbles about 20 times down the road, though both are remarkably uninjured.) At least two people die when their necks are snapped. Hansel throws a variety of objects at—and into—Derek’s head. Characters jump into a pool of lava (offscreen). A bomb goes off.

Crude or Profane Language

One f-word, one f-word substitute and three s-words, along with a sequin-studded roster of other swears, including “a–,” “b–ch,” “b–tard” and “h—.” God’s name is misused, three or four times with “d–n.” Jesus’ name is abused twice. Susan Boyle flips off the paparazzi.

Drug and Alcohol Content

One of the things Hansel hurls at Derek is a tequila bottle. Willie Nelson makes a smoke-filled entrance.

Other Negative Elements

The hotel Derek and Hansel stay at was apparently built with human excrement. Derek Jr. is encouraged to partake of a lard bar, where the lard pours out of a pig’s nose. People are regularly insulted for being fat or old or lame.

While writing this review, my attention was drawn to Plugged In’ s review of the original Zoolander. Then-writer and now-editor Steven Isaac said of it: “An orgy scene was reportedly edited at least five different times to convince the MPAA to give the film a PG-13 rating instead of an R. The goat is gone, and what’s left is shot from the shoulders up, but the implications are still clear.”

Well, 15 years later the goat is back—and it’s joined by a chicken, a very small hippopotamus and perhaps a few other animals I’ve already blocked out of my mind. And the MPAA ratings board apparently didn’t even squirm once.

I am not one to say that culture across the board is uniformly getting worse … but to me, this is a great illustration of how the culture has changed—and degraded—in terms of its sexual attitudes.

Zoolander No. 2 has a slightly sweet father-and-son story connected to it. And its jabs at our looks-obsessed culture are welcome. But mostly the flick is silly, salacious fluff—a bit of unseemly drivel determined to use its gags to make us gag. And unlike some movies that could’ve done away with the unfortunate content and been just as funny, this film is largely predicated on that very content. It depends on it.

That might be fashionable these days. But it’ll never be pretty.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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As July draws near, anticipation is building around all the exciting things to expect from the Barbie movie. Directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, it follows the iconic Mattel doll as she journeys from her bubble-gum utopia of Barbieland into the Real World, hoping to find answers to why Barbie has arched feet (that have suddenly flattened) and other of life's mysteries. Ken hitches a ride and the plastic pair head off on an eye-opening adventure to Los Angeles, California, where Barbie grows to understand more about herself as an authentic individual by interacting with real people.

The latest trailer for Barbie has not only revealed more about the plot but promised a technicolor explosion for the senses, featuring choreographed dance routines, a tour of Barbie's palatial Barbie Dreamhouse, and a star-studded cast of fellow Barbies and Kens. Now that fans know more about the Barbie movie, the hype is real for a clever examination of a pop culture icon who's managed to remain a relevant inspirational phenomenon for decades. Finding out what Barbie, her lifestyle, and her adventures in self-discovery are really like remains the event of the summer.

10 Greta Gerwig's Take On The Barbie Brand

Greta Gerwig's particular directing style focusing on nuanced and satirical humor has been applauded in movies like Little Women , Lady Bird , and Frances Ha , each one centered on women exploring their identities by analyzing the people and environments around them. Gerwig has presented Barbie as a tongue-in-cheek but very self-aware comedy that reflects on femininity and gender identity, consumerism, and the roles that they play in self-actualization. In her hands, Barbie will be as amusing as it will be shrewd and enlightening to watch a doll takes back her agency.

9 All The Different Barbies And Kens

Fans of the Barbie brand can look forward to myriad Barbies and Ken from all eras showing up in Barbie . Simu Liu, Ariana Greenblatt, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Michael Cera, America Ferrera, Alexandra Shipp, and more portray all the colorful residents of Barbieland. Barbie and Ken have changed their style quite a bit since Barbie was first released as a doll in 1959 and Ken in 1961, and based on the trailers, the actors embody the '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s with their hairstyles and outfits. Kate McKinnon even portrays a Barbie most fans had in their toy chest, complete with chopped off hair and a face streaked with permanent marker.

8 John Cena's Merman Barbie Cameo

Even with everything we know about the Barbie movie , nothing can quite prepare fans for pro-wrestler-turned-actor John Cena in a Merman Barbie cameo! Cena will be flipping his fins alongside Dua Lipa, who will play Mermaid Barbie alongside him, most likely in the beach scene that's been heavily featured in all the Barbie trailers so far. Cena hasn't been featured in the trailer so far, making his cameo even more exciting for fans who can't wait to see how the star of such hit comedies as Trainwreck and Peacemaker looks as a Merman.

7 Barbie's Empowering Themes And Journey Of Self-Discovery

Barbie is often enjoyed on a superficial level as a children's toy, but Barbie gives the doll a deeper meaning when she has an existential crisis and realizes there's something "different" about her. When she can't quite explain it, she decides to go find the "truth of the universe" by leaving Barbieland and going to the Real World, and after interacting with other people who aren't imbued with the same effervescent Barbie personality, she learns that it's okay to be different. While Barbie is often seen as an inspirational figure, she's also capable of reinforcing superficiality and stereotypes, so Barbie staying true to her authentic self sends an empowering message.

RELATED: The Barbie Movie Is Beating Christopher Nolan At His Own Game

6 Barbie's Iconic Costumes & Fashion

No Barbie movie would be complete without some of her iconic costumes and fabulous fashion, and the trailers have certainly shown plenty. From signature Holiday Barbie outfits to California Dream Beach Barbie swimwear, there's no shortage of classic Barbie looks filling every scene in the movie. Even the footwear gets a lot of attention, from Barbie's fluffy pink heels to Ken's Day-Glo yellow and pink rollerblades that he "literally" never goes anywhere without.

5 Ryan Gosling's Hilarious "Kenergy" As Ken

While the internet may have been initially split about whether Ryan Gosling was right for the part of Ken, all suspicions have been put to rest based on how much "kenergy" the actor is bringing to the part. Throughout the trailer, Gosling, normally known for reserved and intense performances in movies like Drive , Bladerunner 2049 , and The Gray Man appears to be having a blast. The best part is, besides being cast against type, Gosling knows that the funniest part about Ken is that while he's in on the joke, his character isn't, and playing Ken straight, but lovably goofy, is the key to his charm.

4 Margot Robbie's Biggest Comedy Lead Role

Margot Robbie is a versatile performer known for movies that span genres, from superhero movies like Suicide Squad to historical dramas like Mary Queen of Scots , but she hasn't gotten the opportunity to star in very many comedies. Barbie gives her the chance to tackle her biggest comedy lead role yet, and playing the iconic Mattel doll highlights her range. Hopefully, it will lead to more roles in the future that show a side of her that is free to be silly and outrageous.

3 Will Ferrell In His Best Villain Role Since Zoolander

Will Ferrell has been glimpsed in the trailer discovering Barbie has escaped Barbieland and wants to "put that doll back in her box!" Much like his character in Zoolander , he's a diabolical representation of the subjective whims of consumerism and wants to force Barbie to confine herself to his expectations when she's setting boundaries of her own. Not only does Ferrell look hilarious in the trailers, but it's also the chance for him to embody another iconic villain role.

2 Barbie's Soundtrack & Song Remixes

From the moment Dua Lipa performs beside a shattered pink disco ball in the trailer, Barbie's soundtrack is turning out to be just as exciting as the rest of the movie. Margot Robbie, Issa Rae, Emma Mackey, and even Gerwig herself are seen dancing to a remix of "Dance the Night ," and Gosling's Ken will even be singing "I'm Just Ken" on the soundtrack alongside Lizzo's "Pink," Charli XCX's "Speed Drive," and Tame Impala's "Journey to the Real World," to name a few. The highly anticipated remix of Aqua's iconic "Barbie Girl" will include the '90s band joined by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice.

1 Barbie's Numerous Easter Eggs & References To Classic Movies

From the first teaser trailer that featured an homage to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey , fans can expect the Barbie movie to be packed with Easter eggs and references to both the Mattel doll and other classic movies. As Barbie speeds out of Barbieland in her pink car there's a nod to Dorothy going to Oz in The Wizard of Oz , and Kens competing with another through dance evokes the iconic Sharks versus the Jets gangs in West Side Story . Barbie looks like it won't just be an ode to the doll, but all of pop culture.

Key Release Dates

• Barbie (2023)

Hari Nef Is Just Another Barbie and That's Important

The joys of Hari Nef's presence in 'Barbie' are nearly as endless as the wonders of the movie itself.

The Big Picture

• Hari Nef as Dr. Barbie embodies comic timing and absurd mannerisms in her role, breaking away from harmful stereotypes.
• The presence of a trans actress in Barbie challenges societal norms and provides a subversive portrayal of trans identity.
• Hari Nef's performance not only enhances the film's comedy but also reinforces the importance of embracing vulnerability and breaking free from societal expectations in the journey of self-discovery.

In April 2023, the world finally saw Hari Nef as a Barbie. A poster displaying Nef’s Barbie character Dr. Barbie was released, and this performer had to celebrate the occasion on social media. In addition to sharing the poster, Nef also revealed a letter she wrote to writer/director Greta Gerwig about what being in Barbie would mean to her as a trans woman. In the piece, Nef noted that "Barbie's the standard; she's The Girl" before noting that she and her other trans gal pals had begun calling themselves "the dolls" in recent years. Even though there was more than a hint of irony in this term, it still meant something to her and her comrades. "We call ourselves 'the dolls',” Nef explained, “In the face of everything we know we are, never will be, hope to be. We yell the word because the word matters."

In her Barbie performance, “doll” Hari Nef indulges in her gifts for comic timing and committing to extremely absurd mannerisms (the latter quality hysterically featured in her intense depiction of faux-vomiting) throughout her role as Dr. Barbie. Even better, it’s a role that doesn’t force Nef to occupy harmful stereotypes that dominate many roles trans folks are cast in. Dr. Barbie is never even defined as being trans within the narrative of the film! Writer/director Greta Gerwig’s treatment of Nef in Barbie doesn’t sensationalize the presence of a trans lady in Barbieland … but, of course, that hasn’t stopped dumb criticism over Nef’s presence in Barbie . Right-wing bigots and grifters have tried to turn the very existence of a trans person in the cast of Barbie as a reason to claim the apocalypse is occurring. For instance, the Christian website Plugged In referenced the presence of Hari Nef in its "Sexual Content" section while warning parents about the fact that the actress is simply in the film in the first place.

It's all intolerant poppycock that reaffirms how no handling of trans identity will ever please people predisposed to hating this community. However, none of it takes away from the countless joys of seeing Hari Nef occupy her specific role within the narrative of Barbie .

Barbie suffers a crisis that leads her to question her world and her existence.

Hari Nef Was Perfect Casting For ‘Barbie’

In the 2014 short film, She Told Me She Was Dead , Hari Nef, in one of her very first acting roles, portrayed Amber Mugabe, a famous figure tormented by relentless paparazzi. This role, combined with her forays into modeling in 2015, immediately instilled a sense of splendor in Nef's silver screen persona. She wasn't just an ordinary soul, she was so glamorous she inhabited L’Oréal ads and played fictitious movie stars. Nef has the chops to play more grounded characters , like her role on Transparent or her various forays into the New York theater scene in plays like Daddy . However, she’s also shown a gift for playing human beings that instantly convey a grand sense of magnificence. Even her high school character in Assassination Nation is shown to be so powerful that she can snap her fingers and inspire music to just suddenly start blaring.

This quality meant that she was a perfect choice to play a member of Barbieland in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie . Within this movie, Nef’s talents for playing uber-polished and commanding figures, not to mention her knack for superb comic timing, are the focus of the role. Nef’s Dr. Barbie is primarily introduced by helping Ken ( Ryan Gosling ) heal from a surfing injury, while later on, she displays skills in operating a DJ booth. The confident energy emanating from Hari Nef makes the multi-talented facets of Dr. Barbie incredibly believable. They also provide a great contrast to Stereotypical Barbie’s ( Margot Robbie ) increasingly vulnerable qualities. As a cherry on top, Nef is an obvious expert on camp cinema legends like John Waters . If there’s anyone who would know how to inject some gloriously campy energy into Barbie , it’s her.

It also can’t be stressed enough that Hari Nef is an incredibly hilarious person , a quality that further makes her casting in Barbie a no-brainer. After all, Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumabach ’s screenplay is an incredibly wacky creation that often evokes classic Simpsons episodes and David Wain films in its nonchalant absurdity. Hef has no problem handling whatever outlandish comedy Barbie threw her away. Most notably, her gift for comic timing and line deliveries make Dr. Barbie’s attempts to mimic what a “brainwashed” Barbie would sound like outright hysterical. There’s such an intentionally stilted quality to her line deliveries as if Dr. Barbie is just repulsed by the idea of even faking she’s not the smartest person in the room.

As folks like Julianne Moore in Boogie Nights have demonstrated, it takes a lot of talent to accurately convey “rigid” or “artificial” acting. Nef’s stiff portrayal of Dr. Barbie in this sequence exudes that level of talent and then some. It’s a remarkable supporting performance that proves incredibly charming and memorable without overwhelming the lead turns of Robbie, Gosling, and America Ferrera . Just in terms of Nef’s acting, her work as Dr. Barbie is something remarkable. However, the way Barbie handles a character portrayed by an actress who happens to be trans adds another deeply moving layer to how wonderful this character is.

Why Seeing Hari Nef as Dr. Barbie Is So Important

It’s no secret trans folks haven’t been portrayed well in mainstream cinema throughout history. The sensationalism and misery that have defined so many trans figures in American cinema make the presence of Hari Nef in Barbie already immediately a subversive act. This is a feature rooted in the visual influence of Jacques Demy and Powell & Pressburger rather than the cinematography norms of The Danish Girl or The Crying Game . It’d typically be preposterous to even expect a trans performer to have a throwaway role in such gloriously bubbly confines. Plus, presenting trans folks in any context might make some cis-viewers uncomfortable and that can never ever happen!!

As a rebuke to these deeply entrenched norms, Dr. Barbie is casually depicted as just another Barbie in Barbieland. The character is never even referred to as trans. Her primary attributes instead are her medical and DJing skills, not to mention her repulsion at the sight of flat feet. This allows Hari Nef a chance to establish a personality for the character beyond just being potentially seen as a “token” trans figure. Still, trans viewers conscious of Hari Nef playing the role will undoubtedly get an irrepressible grin seeing moments like Dr. Barbie brushing a lady’s hair and urging Stereotypical Barbie to join them for “girls' night.” A trans woman is just a part of the gal group, a development never treated as something unique or unusual. If only that was the norm in the real world!

'Barbie' Review: Greta Gerwig’s World of Plastic Is Fantastic

Returning to the ways Dr. Barbie subverts cinema norms, it’s also great to see Hari Nef’s character occupying a movie planted firmly in the world of mainstream comedies. These crowdpleaser affairs often would only reference trans folks as punchlines. Their very existence would be boiled down to their genitals before cis-characters began vomiting profusely. Just look at titles like Ace Ventura Pet Detective , The 40-Year-Old Virgin , or The Hangover: Part II for proof of how widespread this phenomenon is. As late as the second half of the 2010s, projects like Zoolander 2 , Baywatch , and Deadpool were still engaging in transphobic rhetoric to score easy laughs. By contrast, Barbie’s rampant silliness finds humor in more inspired sources than regurgitating trans jokes that were tired in 1997. Hari Nef is here to deliver a performance that reinforces the absurd, comedic atmosphere of Barbie rather than get relentlessly mocked by cis-people.

A genre of mainstream entertainment previously used to dehumanize trans folks is now a vessel to reinforce the talents of Hari Nef. Even better, the third act includes a moment where Ryan Gosling’s Ken refers to Dr. Barbie as “beautiful.” Granted, that comment comes as Ken is displaying chauvinism. Still, it’s still disappointingly rare to see a big-budget movie pause for a moment where a cis-man recognizes a trans woman as pretty without it being the prelude to a dehumanizing joke.

Barbie doesn’t draw attention to the fact that one of the more prominent and comedically memorable residents of Barbieland is played by a trans woman. However, whether intentional or not, the treatment of Dr. Barbie throughout the story subverts various harmful stereotypes of how trans folks are often portrayed in movies. Even better, the inclusion of Hari Nef in the confines of a big mainstream comedy redefines the kinds of roles trans people can occupy in American cinema. In so many ways, Barbie nonchalantly shatters the norms for mainstream representation and gives trans viewers the bubbly, brightly-colored vision of trans existence they may have never realized they’d been craving. Even better, the presence of Nef and other queer performers in the cast of Barbie reinforces one of the key themes of the entire movie.

What Was I Made For?

By the end of Barbie , Greta Gerwig’s third directorial effort has revealed itself to be a meditation on identity and the importance of breaking away from societal expectations to embrace our true selves. Ken’s entire “villain arc” is predicated on his wanting to live up to the real world’s idea of “ideal manhood,” not to mention struggling with the notion of defining himself beyond his dynamic with Stereotypical Barbie. He eventually finds solace by embracing vulnerable displays of emotions and remembering that he is “Kenough.” Meanwhile, Stereotypical Barbie grows to learn that the qualities that she thought made her an outcast in Barbieland aren’t anything to be feared. Messy emotions don’t make you a monster. These character details are all a reminder of the complexities that define the human experience.

Having Hari Nef around in the cast of Barbie doesn’t just ensure this comedy contains another incredibly talented cast member. She also provides a metatextual extension of this movie’s primary thesis. Though trans people have existed for centuries , our very existence has been demonized and suppressed by many modern societies. Trans folks, especially those belonging to further marginalized groups (like being disabled or people of color), do not often innately have welcoming spaces to explore themselves in. Because of these external forces, it’s often a conscious choice for trans folks to realize who they are, and to embrace the parts of themselves society says are abhorrent. It’s a daunting experience that many don’t have the freedom or ability to explore. However, once you have the tools and domain to realize how malleable your identity is, amazing things happen. Our bodies are like clay that can be molded to whatever we want. We do not have to be confined to the packaging we first came in, or the labels assigned to us.

In one of her first public interviews, Hari Nef remarked to Vice Magazine that "to be trans is to be vulnerable; to be trans in public is to be vulnerable in public...to be trans is to create yourself in your own image, to insist on something beyond the essentials of your body and circumstance." These comments from Nef echo the core details of the finale of Barbie , where the film’s two lead characters underscore the importance of embracing vulnerable emotions and “[creating] yourself in your own image.” Hari Nef’s presence in Barbie is already a gift to this comedy because of how funny she is and how well her screen persona fits into the world of Barbieland. However, the themes of Barbie also poignantly intersect with ideas Nef has often talked about regarding trans identity as well as the experiences trans folks have in molding who they are.

“We Yell Because the Word Matters”

In that 2014 interview Hari Nef conducted with Vice Magazine, she was asked what she felt the future looked like for the trans community writ large. Nef's response was four words: "With any luck: more ." She had no clue what was ahead in her career, but she was keeping a hopeful and ambitious eye on the future. The maximalist visual and storytelling sensibilities of Barbie certainly live up to that hope for "more," as does Nef's role within the feature itself. Dr. Barbie's style of line deliveries and very distinctive personality contribute heavily to the wacky Joe Dante / David Wain -inspired comedy in the realm of Barbieland. Her function here is to be funny and enhance the atmosphere of Barbie , not just be defined as an "other" in the eyes of the audience. A trans person just gets to exist in this heavily-stylized space and it's incredibly lovely to witness.

Even without Barbie making a flashy deal out of Nef's gender, there is something to be said for how this actress’s presence here enhances the underlying themes of Barbie as a movie. After all, Nef herself noted that the film's core message would resonate powerfully with trans viewers, and having a trans person in this film's cast indicates that Gerwig is aware of which audience members Stereotypical Barbie's journey could especially resonate with. Plus, the nonchalant presence of Hari Nef within Barbie subverts the norms for how trans women get treated in mainstream silly comedies.

In sharp contrast to the mean-spirited references to trans folks in other comedies like Hot Pursuit , Dr. Barbie is not an object to be mocked or used to show how “accepting” cis people are. Gerwig’s script just lets Dr. Barbie exist as one of several Barbies in Barbieland, with the jokes she tells orienting around comic timing and sharply-written dialogue rather than transphobia . Best of all, it’s a role that allows Nef to embrace her greatest traits as a performer and reinforce to people why she's taken off so much as a performer in the last decade. Any way you look at Dr. Barbie's presence in Barbie , it's bound to bring a smile to your face, even if it's just because you're remembering her funniest jokes.

Of course, Hari Nef’s Dr. Barbie isn’t the perfect trans representation since the character isn’t the protagonist of Barbie and isn’t surrounded by other trans folks. Still, her presence within the confines of a super-mainstream feature adapted from Barbie dolls means something. After all, in the words of Nef herself, "Barbie’s the standard; she’s The Girl; she’s certainly THE doll.” Nef found it important to join this project because “no doll matters more than Barbie.” For countless moviegoers around the planet, Hari Nef’s presence in Barbie will also become incredibly personally important. Just like the word “doll,” nonchalant depictions of trans lives like Hari Nef’s performance in Barbie matter more than words can express.

Barbie is now available to stream on Max in the U.S.

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