“Bee Movie” almost feels like a fever dream. It’s ostensibly for children, but there are a ton of jokes and references only adults would enjoy or even understand. One of those is the odd relationship between Barry and Vanessa, which gets to the point where Vanessa’s boyfriend, Ken (Patrick Warburton), tries to kill Barry because he’s jealous of all the time they’re spending together, resulting in Vanessa breaking up with him — over a bee.
Say what you will about Jerry Seinfeld, but at least he understands his audience. Making this kind of joke to a bunch of college students makes a lot of sense, as the graduates would have been little kids when “Bee Movie” first came out in 2007. Perhaps the movie influenced them in ways they’re only just beginning to understand. But the idea that Barry and Vanessa’s relationship could be read as romantic isn’t a new development. In fact, “Bee Movie” co-writer Spike Feresten told The New Statesman that he, Seinfeld, and the other writers needed some perspective: “Often we would lose sight of those characters in the room … Let’s dial it back to friend, and make it less romantic, because it’s getting weird.”
That weirdness is precisely why the internet has probably loved making memes about the movie for so many years. Maybe it’s time for “Bee Movie 2” to finally get off the ground and clear up how Barry and Vanessa are just friends once and for all.
