Dunn's story was starting to paint Hollywood in a bad light, so to dodge any backlash from his peers, he quickly shifted gears—
"I thought it was so weird back then. Rules? What rules? Was I supposed to sleep with that girl for a night and then hand her the lead role? I've made a ton of movies, and I've never heard of any rule like that!"
"Sure, old Hollywood had its share of dirty habits, but times have changed. Society's moved on. These days, that kind of unspoken rule doesn't exist—at least not in my circle or among my friends. I've never run into anything like it."
"Hollywood movies answer to investors and fans alike! No producer or director worth their salt would gamble with a film's quality!"
Natalie rolled her eyes at his lofty speech.
Others might buy it, but she knew better.
Dunn and leading ladies? That was hardly a rare combo.
From Titanic to My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Wedding Crashers, Spider-Man, and Unsinkable—which heroine hadn't he hooked up with?
Still, she wasn't about to call him out now. She clapped along with the crowd, her face lit up like she was totally on board with his spiel.
The applause went on for ages. Dunn motioned for quiet, his tone turning serious. "What kind of messed-up reasoning makes a girl and her mom think giving up dignity is just part of chasing dreams? I'm no sociologist—I'm just a regular director—so let's talk movies."
"Movies?"
The reporters in the room perked up, eyes glinting.
This speech wasn't Dunn's usual vibe. The guy was a walking scandal factory in Hollywood!
The moment he mentioned "movies," seasoned journalists started connecting dots. Was he about to take another swing at Disney?
Sure enough, Dunn straightened up and said, "I don't know when it started, but somehow our education's been feeding us this idea that 'women need men to survive.' The Constitution's clear: men and women are equal. Free, independent women—that's the new standard for a new era!"
"Education starts young, so let's talk cartoons. What do little girls love most? Snow White, Cinderella—those princess tales where a prince swoops in to save the day. Isn't that ridiculous?"
"Those stories are a hundred years old—do they still fit today? Women need liberation! Why should princesses sit around waiting for a prince? Why are they always helpless, simple-minded, needing a guy to bail them out? Women hold up half the sky too!"
The room erupted in applause again.
Every woman there felt it—some even teared up.
Thinking back to their own childhoods, hadn't they been obsessed with Snow White and the like?
"What should a modern woman be? She's Rose from Titanic, Queen Amidala from The Phantom Menace, Nicole Kidman in My Big Fat Greek Wedding! They don't compromise, don't quit—they fight the system and chase their own happiness!"
Dunn's words hit hard. Even Natalie blinked, wondering if he was for real this time.
The clapping kept cutting him off, wave after wave. He was loving the reaction, pressing down with his hands. "Disney's fragile, dainty, pitiful princess lineup? It's time the world left that behind. Did you know their princess doll sets are selling like crazy lately? How ironic is that?"
A few reporters exchanged looks, nodding to themselves.
There it was—Dunn still had it out for Disney!
Before, it was just movies. Now he was going after their doll line too.
Wait—dolls?
Some journalists' eyes lit up.
Just days ago, Mattel held a press conference where their spokesperson kept kissing up to Disney and throwing shade at Dunn Films.
Could this be…
His counterpunch?
And then, right on cue, Dunn name-dropped Mattel's golden goose—Barbie.
"Of course, there's Barbie too! I think toy companies are seriously messed up with the male-centric, discriminatory designs they push on little girls!"
That was a heavy accusation.
"Look at Barbie's look—it's straight out of Disney's princess playbook. They've locked women into this image: parted lips, big chest, tiny waist. How pathetic is that? Scaled to real life, a Barbie's waist would be 20 inches!"
"Does that even make sense for a human body? Bluntly put, it's deformed! Not even a Victoria's Secret Angel could pull off those curves! And that's not all—Barbie's decked out in gold, dripping with luxury. That's blatant materialism, feeding kids all the wrong values!"
"In slang, 'Barbie' means a ditzy woman. Should that really be the kind of toy kids play with? She even says stuff like 'I love shopping,' 'I want new clothes,' 'Math class is hard'—isn't that textbook sexism?"
"I've heard tons of women end up with eating disorders trying to mimic Barbie's figure. When a woman's body fat drops below 17%, it screws up hormones and cycles. That's wrecked countless women's health—not to mention the ones risking plastic surgery, bone-shaving, or implants!"
…
The crowd broke into a cold sweat.
Dunn's attack was brutal. They'd thought his Disney jab was sharp, but Barbie? That was where the real fireworks landed.
Debates about Barbie had been bubbling up for years. Mattel, with its deep pockets and slick PR, always managed to dodge the heat.
But a public figure like Dunn tearing into it without mercy? That was a shockwave.
His tone was fierce, and every word rang true!
Barbie's controversies were glaring—eating disorders, surgery, implants, bone-shaving—all to chase that "perfect" figure, hurting women left and right.
And Barbie's obsession with new clothes, hairstyles, and jewelry? It was relentlessly warping generation after generation of girls' values.
No doubt about it—Dunn's speech was about to shove Mattel right into the storm!