With the long-awaited, live-action movie, Barbie, making its debut this past summer, people everywhere have been embracing the mottos and messages behind the beloved and iconic doll. However, her resurgence didn’t just start with Greta Gerwig’s masterpiece of a film.

In recent years, fans of the iconic, early 2000s Barbie movies, such as, “Barbie of Swan Lake,” “Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper,” “Barbie: Fairytopia” and “Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses,” have been at the forefront of TikTok and other social media platform audiences.

Many young women who grew up watching these movies are now entering adulthood, and there seems to be a gap they are looking to fill within themselves by collectively reviving the original Barbie movies. Their fantastical storylines and nostalgic undertones make them the perfect form of escape. Only further adding to the allure of the old Barbie aesthetic, many of us older Gen Z who grew up playing with Barbies are just now entering the career stage of our lives – placing even more emphasis on the need for escapism and the mysticism of the doll who does it all: Barbie.

Navigating adulthood is quite the challenge, but combined with the current state of our economy, the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and our domestic and worldly affairs, Gen Z is, simply put, stressed. Hence the reason Gen Z has turned to nostalgic movies as a form of coping since we seem to have lost our connection to the world around us. The sights and sounds found within the illustrious Barbie movies provide the perfect backdrop for childhood nostalgia and whimsical, visual escapism. These films act as our means of time travel, back to a time when we could just simply exist and when it felt as if we did not have a care in the world. It’s our escape back to girlhood – dare I say, a reclaiming of our girlhood.

With life’s stressors and seemingly endless obstacles, what better woman to take them head-on than Barbie herself? It’s easy to see that Barbie’s grip and empowerment continue to have a generational impact, with Greta Gerwig’s rendition only furthering that claim. As Gen Z continues to find comfort in familiarity, Barbie and her slew of enchanting films will continue to be a guiding light for those in their girlhood, and will uplift those now entering womanhood. By immersing ourselves in the original Barbie movies, we are finally finding peace as we reconnect with our inner child, and escaping the tumultuous existence of our everyday lives.

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Hi! I’m Annie Gleydura, A Magazine’s editor-in-chief. My staff and I are committed to bringing you the most important and entertaining news from the realms of fashion, beauty and culture. We are full-time students and hard-working journalists. While we get support from the student media fee and earned revenue such as advertising, both of those continue to decline. Your generous gift of any amount will help enhance our student experience as we grow into working professionals. Please go here to donate to A Magazine.