Barbenheimer summer may now be a thing of the past but the rippling effects of film outlast the original hype and this is definitely true for the 2023 Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie.
While the film brought us important lessons in the dangers of toxic positivity and the complexities of girlhood and womanhood, a new study published on the JAMA Network has revealed that the film may have also had lasting impacts on women’s health.
Introducing the study, the authors said: “Popular culture has been shown to influence health behaviours among the general public.
“For example, Katie Couric’s live streamed colonoscopy was associated with a transient 21% increase in colonoscopies, Angelina Jolie’s essay about her experience with breast cancer led to a transient 64% increase in genetic testing.”
But, how does a film about Barbie come into this?
Spoilers ahead for those that somehow haven’t seen the blockbuster but for those who have seen it, you’ll remember that at the end of the film, Margot Robbie’s newly-real character declares: “I’m here to see my gynaecologist.”
The researchers explained: “In the film’s final scene, after deciding to leave Barbieland for the real world, Barbie enthusiastically tells a receptionist, “I’m here to see my gynaecologist,” a joke that could be based either on her supposed lack of genitals or her evident excitement for care many women find unpleasant.
“We hypothesised that this final line may have spurred public interest in gynaecological care.”
Once the researchers dug into the data, they found that indeed, more people were searching for terms on Google related to gynaecology and gynaecological care.
They said: “Our results suggest that Barbie’s closing line may have spurred interest in gynaecology, further suggesting the potential influence of popular films on health literacy and awareness.
“While there were no changes in search volume associated with seeking care, a primary limitation of the study is that such changes in behaviour may not be adequately captured by search trends, and in particular, they may be temporally far removed from changes in awareness.”
So, what we do know is that at the very least, our favourite pink film spurred an interest in gynaecological care. Beautiful.