"Forget the epic demons of myths and legends, cause these ones are lame, unthreatening, and they smell like toots."
"You'd think Christine would call him out more on his behavior, especially since her arc in the first musical involved getting to the point where she wouldn't let this guy manipulate her anymore. But apart from one scene where she gets genuinely mad at him, she goes right back to being a doormat, nobly suffering for the sake of the men in her life. Eventually this get to the point she's reduced to being a MacGuffin with vital signs, but more on that later."
"Maybe he was counting on the girls being pathetically weak, like they are 98% of the time. But unfortunately for him, they managed to find their strength this time."
—One of the many times Shadow Streak poked fun at The Powerpuff Girls being hit by this in the 2016 reboot.
"What really hurts the movie is Vadim’s insistence upon treating Barbarella as a mostly inept damsel in distress. Forest’s Barbarella gets shit done. She’s smart, she’s tough, she’s witty, she’s competent, and she pulls it all off without compromising in the slightest her credentials as a fantasy sex-object. But except for the dogfight against the Sogo air patrol and one solid attempt to bluff her way to Pygar’s rescue with a burned-out raygun (“De-crucify the angel, or I’ll melt your face!”), Vadim’s Barbarella is pretty much helpless in any situation she can’t fuck her way out of (off-screen). This is made doubly frustrating by the very effective performance Fonda gives on those rare occasions when a bit of the Forest Barbarella is allowed to show through. In those moments, you realize that she really was perfect for the part, and with this weirdly stylish school of sci-fi already well on its way to camp obsolescence by the time Barbarella was made, there wasn’t going to be another chance to get it right.
—Scott "El Santo" Ashlin, 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting
What's up with him? Our version of Robin was a fearless leader! This version is just...sad.
—Marv Wolfman, Teen Titans Go!
I see it, now...a multiverse of Aquamen! And out of all of them...I'm the LAMEST F*dolphin chirp*ING ONE!
