Barbie Movie and Girl Up Club
Written by Cordy F. ‘27
This summer had everyone lining up to see the new Barbie movie, and it did not disappoint!
The Barbie movie is one to remember. It tackles tough conversations that our Girl Up Club at SJND is also advocating for.
I spoke to Lexi Roben and Hailey Bui, the president and co-president of Girl Up at SJND to see their thoughts on how Barbie conveyed their message. But first, what is Barbie about?
On the outside Barbie looks like a fun, fantastical film, but it quickly reveals its themes of feminism and existentialism.
All the Barbies of Mattel live in Barbieland. In Barbieland, women do the heavy lifting of the world. From construction to Congress, Barbies rule the world. And Kens? They just need Barbie to pay attention to them. Everything in Barbieland is practically perfect until Stereotypical Barbie starts pondering death and everything turns upside down.
Barbie learns she needs to go to the real world if she wants to fix what’s happening to her. But when she gets there, Barbie learns the hard truth of being a woman in the real world as she is sexually harassed multiple times in her one day on Earth. But she doesn’t just find the difficulties of being a woman, she finds the beauty of it. She learns that everyone should have a voice, not just women or men.
Girl Up is a global activist club that was brought to SJND. They advocate for women’s empowerment and education. Girl Up at SJND often has fundraisers for different issues worldwide.
I interviewed Lexi R. and Hailey B, president and co-president of Girl Up at SJND to see what they thought about the lesson being conveyed by the Barbie movie.
“I think it showed the realities of what it’s like being a girl now,” Hailey said. “It just shows how there are always issues with being a woman so it showed you can’t be perfect.”
Lexi said, “I think they did a good job in portraying the message that women need to stand up for themselves and for what they want.”
The Barbie movie is one to be remembered and I’m sure it will for many years to come.
