Guest Post: Finding What Barbie Was Looking For

It’s not every day I’d dress in all pink but last night was different. 

I opened up the bag of popcorn my wife had smuggled in, settled in alongside dozens of others, many adorned in pink, and felt the anticipation build as the show was about to begin.

There’s something about the Barbie movie that has captured imaginations. It’s smashing the box office and filling cinemas around the globe. As I sat looking around the crowded room I could tell I was taking part in something of a cultural moment.

Plenty to enjoy

There was a lot I appreciated about the Barbie movie, including how it’s brought people together. I absolutely loved seeing groups of people laughing and joking and enjoying friendship, which is so powerful and precious in our increasingly divided, dark and lonely society. 

I was also grateful for some of the messages it portrayed:

1. Don’t numb to life’s pain

Barbie learns to pick the Birkenstock sandal over the high heel, symbolising that it’s better to experience real emotions rather than fake perfection. With our tendency to suppress and numb through screens and substances we’re reminded that facing our pain and recognising our emotions may be difficult but it’s a key part of what makes us human.

(Barbie is presented with a shoe dilemma - promotional image from the film)

2. Consider your mortality

The perfect Barbieland bubble is burst when in the midst of a dazzling dance party Barbie asks, “Do you ever think about dying?”. The music screeches to a halt and everyone stares awkwardly at her. Seeing what she’s done Barbie quickly deflects and they get back to dancing the night away. The subject of death being taboo isn’t just something in Barbieland but in our world too. It’s good that this issue is highlighted in the film and we would do well to consider our own mortality.

While it does present some helpful messages, the film often provides more questions than answers.

“It is Literally Impossible”

The primary theme of the movie can be boiled down to a question that is one of the most pressing and provocative of our age - what is a woman?

Is Barbie meant to be a spacewoman or sex object? Servant or superior? Pregnant or president? In love or independent?

Since Barbie’s conception in 1959 she has been surrounded by questions of identity and sex and gender; questions so personal and intimate to each of us that it’s no wonder that her existence has always caused such debate.

To give manufacturer Mattel their due, they display a healthy amount of self awareness and allow for Barbie’s dirty laundry to be aired throughout the film. Indeed, a central theme seems to be Mattel wrestling with the ethics of the doll that makes them over a billion dollars a year and the narrative regularly addresses how Barbie’s image has played into a culture that has made it difficult to be a woman. 

There are some poignant moments and in one pivotal scene America Ferrara’s character Gloria has a monologue in which she outlines the great challenges of being a woman. 

"It is literally impossible to be a woman… Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong…You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin."

It’s an emotive moment and has understandably resonated with many. 

What Was I Made For?

As the film reaches a climax the soft and sombre sounds of Billie Eilish are heard and her song “What Was I Made For?” is played. The film, like the song, struggles to find answers. By the end of the film, you’re still not exactly sure what Barbie, and the women she represents, were made for. The credits roll and the next thing we hear is a modern take on Aqua’s 90’s hit Barbie Girl, with the new raunchy remix depicting a sexualised and aggressive image of femininity. Is that what women were made for?

The issues surrounding identity and meaning also surround Ken. In exploring what it means to be a man, we learn that it’s not to be the passive, insecure or emasculated like Barbieland Ken, nor patriarchal, patronising and arrogant like Kendom Ken. But what then is it to be a man in the real world? We know what’s toxic but do we have any idea what’s good? We know what we shouldn’t do but do we know what we should? 

The stats and stories show that there are a lot of struggling men in our world, disillusioned and unsure of who to be and how to live. They need an exciting, empowering, practical vision of what it means to be a man. In a world void of such things there is a reason so many have found answers in those such as Andrew Tate. Simply encouraging men to reject the patriarchy and assure themselves that they are (K)enough won’t be enough. 

(Ken is (K)enough - promotional image from the film)

Finding Answers

Barbie and her movie are confused and full of contradictions. And that reflects our society’s current state when it comes to gender, bodies, purpose and meaning. To Gerwig’s credit, it seems such an approach was intentional. When asked about the mixed messages of Barbie, director Greta Gerwig explains, “I'm interested in how life is complicated and messy”.

I valued how Gerwig wasn’t overly preachy and left space for discussion and exploration rather than simply regurgitating the current Hollywood cultural narratives as so many films now do. But while Gerwig leaves us wondering, and while life certainly is complicated, we can indeed find what we’re searching for. Because there are answers out there.

To find out what we were made for we must ask the one who we were made by. 

Because just like Barbie we have a creator. We have a creator who made you not as plaything for profit, not a clone, but as a unique, precious human being. He knit you together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13).

The Better Story

And like Barbie we are presented with a choice - not of a high heel or sandal but of life with God or without him. And life with him is real life, true life, one where we experience the fullness of all we were created to be. Having a creator means we can embrace the bodies and sex which we were born into because it was no accident. We can experience and express our emotions to him, knowing that he understands and cares, even if our kids or partners or friends do not. We need not experience existential dread when considering death because we can have peace knowing that there is a world waiting for us beyond the grave - not an imaginary Barbie one but a real, tangible beautiful one; a new heavens and a new earth.

I love that Greta and Barbie have got people coming together. I love that they’ve got us asking big questions. And I love that there is a creator in whom we can find answers. 

Editorial Note: Jon Brown is the author of MORE: Real - a short book about living more authentically. He's drawing on themes from some of the books we've published around and about identity over the past few years - click on the covers below to find out more.