Barbie and the Banshees of Inisherin will be taught starting in 2026.
Students will also be able to study The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Shawshank Redemption among other films.
Barbie would 'dumb down' the curriculum? DCU School of English Assistant Professor Dr. Ellen Howley refuted this assertion in an interview with Newstalk.
A wide variety of films, including The Shawshank Redemption, On the Waterfront, and The Grand Budapest Hotel, are available, according to Dr Howley.
Therefore, I don't believe that Barbie's inclusion in the curriculum devalues it. Students are expected to think about films in a specific way before relating them to other texts.
“There is a wide variety of writers there. You may study Daphne Du Maurier or John B. Keane alongside that.”
“Arts operates on a continuum and if we're only really challenging stuff then we're not thinking about other forms of art, and we need to interrogate those forms as well.”
Alongside Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, Greta Gerwig's smash movie brought in over €9 million at the Irish box office, making it the largest movie of 2023.
Numerous 'Barbenheimer' memes were inspired by the films.
In addition to the weekend's Bafta wins, Irish actor Cillian Murphy, who appeared in Oppenheimer, is certain to win the Oscar for best actor.
For their appearances in Barbie, Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera were nominated for Oscars, but Margot Robbie's absence from the best actress category caused outrage.
Dr. Howley advised students to write on how feminism is handled in Barbie and Pride and Prejudice for the exam's comparison part.
“You may take that America Ferrera statement about women and the heavy expectations placed on them; it could be likened to Pride and Prejudice, where the main character's need to marry in order to survive.”
“Their mother worries about them having money and a place to live. Thus, while the issues are distinct, there could be a link between those two scenarios.”
English