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Culture > Entertainment

It’s the 30th Anniversary of ‘Matilda’ & There’s Now a Statue of Her Sizing Up Trump in London

Erica Kam

Roald Dahl was a beloved author in almost all of our childhoods—from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to The BFG, there was at least one of his books that you read when you were a kid. However, one of his characters would go on to have a special place in our hearts for her intelligence and bravery, and that’s Matilda.

Matilda was published 30 years ago today, and has since been adapted into a movie and Broadway musical. As people are celebrating the legacy of the five-year-old girl, one artist went above and beyond to prove that Matilda is an inspiration for people—especially girls—everywhere.

In Buckinghamshire, England, near Roald Dahl’s home, there is now a statue of young Matilda standing on a stack of books, staring right into the eyes of Donald Trump.

The artwork is amazing on so many levels: it equates Trump with Miss Trunchbull, the authoritarian villain of the novel, and also has comparisons to the Wall Street “Fearless Girl” statue, which had a similar message of empowerment. Many people on Twitter have been applauding the artist’s decision.

 

 

And that’s not the only way people are celebrating Matilda—original illustrator, Sir Quentin Blake, decided to reimagine what Matilda would be up to in her 30s, and it’s just as awesome as you’d expect: she’s an astrophysics professor, a poet laureate and a world traveler all at once. Oh, and she’s still reading a ton of books.

 

Happy birthday, Matilda! Cheers to 30 years of inspiring young girls—and adults—everywhere.

Erica Kam is the Life Editor at Her Campus. She oversees the life, career, and news verticals on the site, including academics, experience, high school, money, work, and Her20s coverage. Over her six years at Her Campus, Erica has served in various editorial roles on the national team, including as the previous Culture Editor and as an editorial intern. She has also interned at Bustle Digital Group, where she covered entertainment news for Bustle and Elite Daily. She graduated in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in English and creative writing from Barnard College, where she was the senior editor of Columbia and Barnard’s Her Campus chapter and a deputy copy editor for The Columbia Spectator. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her dissecting K-pop music videos for easter eggs and rereading Jane Austen novels. She also loves exploring her home, the best city in the world — and if you think that's not NYC, she's willing to fight you on it.