Barbie: What Nobel Peace Prize-Winning Activist Malala Yousafzai Thinks Of Blockbuster
Everyone has opinions about the "Barbie" movie. Critics, by and large, really enjoyed it. Fans showed their support for Greta Gerwig's third directorial effort by flocking to the theater in droves, leading to an enormous box office haul for the brightly-hued feminist film. Ben Shapiro threw some Barbies into a trashcan and missed the shot. There are a lot of feelings floating around about this movie, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has some as well.
Yousafzai, the second Pakistani native and youngest-ever Nobel laureate, attended a screening of the film with her husband Asser Malik (whom she married in 2021). Just like so many other audience members, Yousafzai posed inside the life-sized Barbie box so many theaters featured to pair with the "Barbie" movie alongside Malik. On Twitter, she posted a caption that really summed it all up: "This Barbie has a Nobel Prize," with a heart emoji after that. The follow-up? "He's just Ken."
On Instagram, Yousafzai clarified that both she and Malik really liked Gerwig's movie and that her Twitter comment was just a joke that was too good to pass up. Featuring that same joke on Instagram, Yousafzai also said, "We loved the movie, it was so funny and thoughtful. I hope this caption doesn't hurt all the Kens as much as the movie Ken."
The best part? Malik responded in an Instagram comment on Yousafzai's post, writing, "I'm Kenough" with a laugh-crying emoji.
One of the Barbies in Barbie also has a Nobel Prize
Yousafzai's joke is perfect, but it also ties perfectly into the movie... because one of the Barbies has a Nobel Prize herself. Physicist Barbie, played by "Sex Education" standout Emma Mackey, has a Nobel Prize in Physics — which makes it all the more disturbing when she's overtaken by the Kens during their hostile takeover of Barbie Land.
After our main Barbie (Margot Robbie) heads to the real world to figure out why, in Barbie Land, she's experiencing things like thoughts of death, flat feet, and cellulite, her Ken (Ryan Gosling) returns to Barbie Land with some brand new knowledge. Specifically, he discovered the wonders of patriarchy, and he and the other Kens subjugate the accomplished Barbies around them, turning them into servants and objects. Mackey's Physicist Barbie is especially egregious — she ends up wearing a French maid outfit and spending her days serving up "brewski beers."
Thankfully, Gloria (America Ferrera) returns to Barbie Land with Barbie and gives a rousing speech that snaps the trapped Barbies out of their trances, which then gives them the power to restore Barbie Land. Still, the fact that Physicist Barbie seemed to forget about her Nobel Prize is definitely unsettling; Malala would never.
"Barbie" is in theaters now.