The “Barbie” film is the cinema hit of the summer. Various photos can be found online showing fans dressed in pink on their way to the cinema. But some owe “Barbie” not only the trend color of the year, but also a whole new life.
Various women report that the “Barbie” film made them realize that their partner is not right for them. Through “Barbie” they felt emancipated, the film opened their eyes. In English-language media such as “The Independent” the phenomenon is referred to as “Barbie Breakup”. But can that be?
In an interview with the star, the Hamburg psychologist Daniela van Santen explains that fictional material can certainly lead to separations: “Books or films that go in depth and touch you can lead to separations.”
So have other couples who had the courage to break up, conversations with friends, or with a therapist or coach. The sudden death of a person can also bring about a change in thinking. In short: “Any intensive examination of one’s own situation, one’s wishes and needs, one’s dissatisfaction and disappointments can lead to separations.”
It’s about dealing intensively with yourself and/or your partner. “The impetus to suddenly start looking for a solution can come from outside. That can be a separation.”
But it could also go in the opposite direction: maybe the impulse comes from outside that leads to “talking openly with each other and discovering the huge opportunity to make the relationship better and happier,” explains van Santen.
However, she considers it unlikely that “Barbie Breakups” will now become a social phenomenon. “I’ve read news like this and was first amazed, then curious.”
However, since the sources were not a serious survey or statistical survey, but rather individual posts on social media channels such as TikTok, the psychologist criticizes that the functioning and mechanics of social media should once again be recalled.
“Rather, if something is posted that gets an above-average number of views, likes and comments, other women ‘jump on the bandwagon’ and also publish such posts – unimportant, whether true or false – and also publish this attention got it. Having actually seen the ‘Barbie’ movie, I think it’s ridiculous that it has ‘what it takes’ to encourage women to take such a step.”
