I never thought I would identify with Barbie. As a little girl, I disavowed the doll and any potential ‘girly-girl’ association by telling people I owned Stacie’s 3-in-1 Bunk Bed and Barbie’s ‘So Much to Do!’ Kitchen set solely because I was a miniature enthusiast. As an adult woman, I neither resemble Barbie in appearance nor enjoy her level of professional accomplishment or material wealth. Yet, during the summer of 2023, I found myself sitting in a darkened theater and nodding knowingly when Margot Robbie’s Stereotypical Barbie interrupts an epic disco dance party to ask – “Do you ever think about death?” to the great bewilderment of her friends. The answer to your question, Stereotypical Barbie, is yes. I most certainly do think about death, and I’ve probably brought it up at a party or two.
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie should not be treated by religious audiences as a mindless popcorn film or a propaganda piece for progressive views on gender. The film has more in common with a Judeo-Christian worldview than not. The plot is set in motion through a pink plasticine variant of the Genesis 3 account of the Fall. Stereotypical Barbie undergoes a loss of innocence (flat feet, cellulite, and feelings of existential dread) and must find an identity outside the unsustainable synthetic perfection of Barbie Land. It ends with Stereotypical Barbie meeting her creator and making the choice to become fully human — her heart of plastic exchanged for one of flesh. Who would have thought that the doctrine of imago Dei could be so beautifully expressed by Mattel’s flagship doll?
Barbie is less an exploration of the legacy of a popular fashion doll than a film that asks viewers to consider what it means to be human in the twenty-first century. What is the purpose of life? Are we created beings or the products of cosmic chance? What defines womanhood or manhood? Who are you when all the underpinnings of your identity are stripped away? These are all worthy questions posed by the film and ones that religious viewers are in a unique position to offer meaningful responses to. — Prisca Bird (2023)
Arts & Faith Lists:
2023 Arts & Faith Ecumenical Jury — #6