The clips narrations mused: “As women we are expected to grow up and grow out of childish things like dolls and leave them behind. Men also have some pressure to grow up, but they still have man caves and video games and even Lego sets aimed at adults. Women don’t necessarily get to play in the same way men do as adults.”
As such, some mental health experts have come to regard the blockbuster as more than just an impressive marketing scheme as the “Barbie” movie’s ability to inspire adult “play” may indeed be emotionally beneficial. Kristin Flora, a professor of psychology at Franklin College in Indiana, told CNN, “We have quite a bit of research that shows the benefits of play for children. But increasingly, we have scientific evidence that play is beneficial for adults as well, especially in the mental health realm.”She added that some research suggests that it has helped with depression and building a sense of optimism.
. And that’s when we start to see confidence really get broken down and disrupted in girls, whereas boys; confidence tends to excel,” she told the outlet. “That suggests that the psychological pressures at that age are really monumental for girls. A sense of play can help buffer against those changes.”and can have its own benefits for mental health.
So, while Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” has broken multiple records and joined an elite group of films that have all surpassed $1 billion in global box office sales, it has also shaped conversations on girl power and helped