In the new “Barbie” movie, the title character, played by Margot Robbie, lives in a perfect fantasy world with no war, violence, or conflict. Her life revolves around wardrobe changes and hanging out with her perfect friends in her perfect pink plastic dream house.
But in one scene, as reality starts to creep into the fashion doll’s consciousness, she blurts out a question in the middle of a loud, upbeat dance party with all her Barbie friends.
“Do you guys ever think about dying?” she asks suddenly.
The dancers suddenly stop dancing.
The room goes quiet.
The music stops with a scratch, like a phonograph needle dragging across a 33 rpm record.
It’s a defining moment in the movie, launching the character in a new direction with real-life choices and real consequences.
The movie has only been out for less than two weeks, but it’s already inspired a Barbie boatload of tweets, memes, parodies and social media reels.
It’s the best day ever! ✨
This Barbie is getting things done for all Michiganders. ? pic.twitter.com/gOHtJdf1vQ
— Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) July 20, 2023
Even Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg joined in the fun this week with a “Barbie” reel of her own, playing off the conversation-stopping scene described above to make a comment on — what else? — yet another hypothetical environmental disaster.
Greta Thunberg stars in #Barbie inspired TikTok raising awareness against the development of the Rosebank oil field. https://t.co/csCwj7Gwme
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 29, 2023
In the short clip, the music from the “Barbie” dance party scene plays as Thunberg and several friends jam to the beat. But the text superimposed over the screen alters the dialogue considerably.
Instead of bringing up death, Thunberg’s question for the group is, “Do you guys ever think about the climate crisis?”
“As in the movie, the question leads to an awkward pause but the awkward pauses don’t come from other Barbies and Kens but instead [U.K. Prime Minister] Rishi Sunak, [U.K. Energy Secretary] Grant Shapps and Equinor a Norwegian energy company that runs the Rosebank oil field,” Indy100 reported.
According to the news outlet, Rosebank is an oil field that was discovered in 2004 off the western coast of Scotland’s Shetland Island.
The Instagram version of the post — shared by a campaign group to end drilling for fossil fuels, Stop Cambo — ended with action steps to stop the approval of oil production at the site.
The stunt appears to have bought Thunberg yet another 15 minutes of fame. Mainstream media breathlessly reported on the event.
“Honestly? We feel like Margot Robbie would be in full support of her now infamous line being used to highlight such an important cause,” Yahoo Sports gushed.
“Thunberg has been a crusader of the climate crisis since she was a teenager,” Teen Vogue reported.
“She has become the unofficial spokesperson for climate activism and has met with — and feuded — with multiple world leaders.”
As usual, Thunberg also generated her fair share of skeptics, including The Babylon Bee.
Greta Thunberg Teaches Everything On MasterClass pic.twitter.com/zFf8rRpz9a
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 25, 2023
The Bee, which specializes in poking fun at left-wing causes, created a parody on X — the social media platform formerly known as Twitter — of a MasterClass site in which Thunberg replaces all the other teachers, scolding at her listeners, “how dare you!” in many of the roles.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.