Writing with Essential Questions: Lessons from Barbie and Billie Eilish

By Jennifer Leigh Selig

I usually pride myself on resisting cultural hype, especially the silly stuff. But I made an exception for Barbie. Dressing in pink, a friend and I prepared for a frivolous afternoon of popcorn and eye-candy, taking time away from our highbrow, writerly selves to enjoy some lowbrow comedy and support a female director.

What we weren’t prepared for—what I suspect no one was prepared for—was how deeply moving the movie would be. We expected broad humor, we welcomed...