by Jordyn Bonelli

The movie, Barbie, has quickly become this year’s biggest box office hit, making $609.5 million and $771.5 million overseas. The movie has skyrocketed because of its theme of the many struggles of being a modern female.

Image Courtesy of Dexerto.com

The message displayed by Barbie centralizes on female empowerment. The movie goes into the depths of trying to live life as a woman: “Basically, everything men do in your world, women do in ours” explaining how in Barbieland, it is a women based place. Women do almost all the jobs that men do in the real world. This continues to be developed through the character of Gloria: “We have to always be extraordinary but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.” This now famous line shows how women that go through this daily do so much but are still expected to be more. Overall, the Barbie movie’s message truly resonates with women universally because they see that they are not alone with their struggles.

Barbie is officially one of the highest grossing movies of all time. The movie was so popular people were even raving about it before it was released. Oppenheimer, released near the same time, contrasted greatly with Barbie. Many people were going from Barbie to Oppenheimer, even starting to call it “Barbenheimer”. The movies helped bring more attention to each other, and their popularity increased. Even the star of Barbie, Margot Robbie, says, “It’s like having a steak dinner, then an ice cream sundae for dessert. I want both!” Another reason Barbie is so popular is because it is an original movie. Though it is based off of a doll, it completely follows a different storyline than other Barbie recreations. The movie made $93 million after just three weeks of being in theaters.

Fans were so thrilled once the movie was finally released that many dressed in all pink. A few people even dressed up as the different kinds of Barbie and Ken. “Around the world, people are showing up to Barbie wearing either their pinkest attire or their most fabulous fashion” says Petrana Radulovic, reporter for Polygon. All around the world, people are doing the same thing for the same movie. This movie has really brought together many people in ways no one would ever expect.

Overall, Barbie centralizes on women empowerment and equality, with the director Greta Gerwig becoming the highest grossing female director. Barbie grew so quickly within days and is now world wide, being one of the world’s most popular movies of 2023.

Work Cited
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