The 'Barbie' and 'Star Wars' universes are entertaining, but they also unexpectedly can help people understand why revolutions happen
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Friday, September 29, 2023
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In particular, both the “Barbie” movie, released in July 2023, and a “Star Wars” franchise television series called “Andor” offer important lessons about revolutions.
Key Points:
- In particular, both the “Barbie” movie, released in July 2023, and a “Star Wars” franchise television series called “Andor” offer important lessons about revolutions.
- We also use films and shows in our classes to help students learn about why revolutions happen.
- Both “Barbie” and “Andor” are useful for those who want to understand why revolutions happen and what it takes for them to happen.
Repression leads to radicalization
- And the women – all called Barbie – are in charge of Barbieland.
- Yet the men – all collectively called Ken – are blissfully unaware that they experience political, economic and social repression.
- The Kens then claim all of the Barbies’ houses as their own, and grab all of the important jobs in Barbieland.
- It is not until he experiences severe repression in prison that he tries to actually overthrow the Empire.
Bottom-up revolutions are challenging
- Instead, they trick the Kens into being jealous of one another so they become divided and cannot work together to change the constitution.
- This is not the case in “Andor.” The cost of seeking change is death, and few people join in the revolution.
- In real life, recruiting others to join a revolution can becomes easier over time if more and more people participate.
- The more people there are, the harder it becomes for the government to punish all the people who are rebelling.
Maintaining peace in real life
- Both “Barbie” and “Andor” also teach us what it takes to maintain peace after a revolution: It is essential to include the opposition in government.
- Most civil wars end with one side winning, and few end in a negotiated peace deal.
- However, even with one side winning the war, research shows that the winning side still needs to include the losing side to prevent further violence.
- However, it is still challenging to maintain peace after a revolution takes place.