If you’ve seen Barbie (we hope you have, otherwise we’re ruining this comedic moment for you before you experience it yourself), you’ll perhaps agree that one of Barbie‘s qualities that made it one of 2023’s best movies was its honesty and earnestness.
Greta Gerwig used the Barbie cast to trojan horse a story about patriarchy, feminism, and self-actualization under the shiny pink veneer of Dreamland.
It approaches emotions and empathy with a refreshing openness, and not just with Ryan Gosling‘s journey as Ken. It’s Margot Robbie‘s movie, and one of the moments that made it a beloved crown among this year’s new movies was a scene where ‘Depression Barbie’ gets a fake commercial.
The faux ad shows her scrolling endlessly on her phone, eating copious amounts of candy, and watching the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice. For many women, this was a good-faith jab at the rewatchable ice cream movies like Bridget Jones’s Diary and Mamma Mia that get us through particularly awful nights.
Well, the BBC has responded on social media, and we love it. On August 2, the broadcaster’s official Instagram account posted a video you can see below in all its Colin Firth glory.
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Whether you prefer the 2005 movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice featuring the Succession cast‘s Matthew Macfadyen or are loyal to the BBC version, it’s great to see that whoever is behind the account took the joke lightly and as it was meant.
Barbie was nice because it poked fun without cruelty or insincerity, meaning we could all be in on a joke even if it was aimed at us. And, reader, I don’t know about you but I definitely was the target audience. If you’re in the US, you can watch Pride and Prejudice on Hulu, and UK viewers can stream it for free on BBC iPlayer.
For more on our favorite plastic doll ahead of the potential Barbie 2 release date (we don’t need it, but a Ken movie is looming on the horizon), check out how to watch Barbie and our thoughts on why Ken isn’t the villain, the patriarchy is. We’ve also got a story on how Barbie’s Snyder cut joke wasn’t meant to be a diss.
If you love this vibe, you can also check out why we want to bring back camp 2000s movies and the best comedy movies of all time.