I read the article about the use of Push and it makes sense. The song is about an emotionally abusive relationship and the Kens believe that's how their relationship with the Barbies has been. They are also doing the same thing to the Barbies by brainwashing them into thinking the Kens should be in charge.
The joke would still work if it was Nolan or Tarantino, but there is a masculine cult around The Godfather too. Yes, it is without a doubt of the best films ever made, but if you declare to a group of people that you've never seen it, the most emotional and shocked responses you get from such a declaration would be from men. This isn't even a new observation. Nora Ephron made it a running joke in You've Got Mail.
I was in a nearly full theatre of mostly women that were mostly middle age & up. The godfather line landed really well.
It should have been Drive and Ryan Gosling should have said "OMG it's literally me for real" and then everyone claps
Was it an intentional reference that Ken trying to be cool looked very much like Gosling's character in The Place Beyond the Pines?
I was not familiar with the Matchbox Twenty song Push before this film lol. If anything that’s the joke that didn’t land for me, I loved the Snyder Cut and Malkmus and Godfather jokes.
"Push" is probably one of the 10 or so songs I heard most growing up, so that joke was a direct hit for me.
Push is a million times funnier as the radio song, but I can see an argument that the campfire scene could have been even greater with Wonderwall - Wonderwall's obviously THE quintessential song to make that joke with, and at that point it's more funny that you're making that joke in general than because it's Push specifically. But Push is so great and I was still riding the comedic high of it being in the movie in the first place that I think it worked just as well in reality. Probably overthinking it!
Like I know 3AM and Unwell and heard those ones EVERYWHERE growing up but somehow Push completely missed me.