Barbie and the Bible

How the Barbie movie could have ended if they knew the gospel

A few weeks ago, I watched the Barbie movie. It wasn’t really a top priority or particular interest of mine, to begin with, but spending time with three friends whom I hadn’t seen in quite a while was.

I wasn’t expecting much from the movie, but after listening to half of a podcast episode prior, I had a feeling there would probably be some significant content. Of course, there was all the fun and craze about Barbie in her world. But more than that was the portrayal of men and women in relation to each other and the issues it raised.

On the surface, it addressed the question of what it means to be Barbie/Ken/human. But it also displayed a cultural moment for all of us. Here’s what it showed, [spoiler alert]

Barbieland
The utopia of what Barbie was meant to be. Women who are professionals and defined/valued by what they do. Women ruled and had each other’s undying support and company. Every night was ‘girl’s night’. They were strictly independent. Kens were irrelevant. It’s a world where all the Kens yearned deeply for Barbie’s attention as his ultimate purpose but never really got much of it. Everything was perfect, for Barbie.

Ken-dom
The movie depicted “Ken-dom” as the world we live in today. Where men rule, men have their way over women simply because.. they’re men. Even in the pursuit of women (Barbies), it wasn’t about showing kindness or compassion to the Barbies, but instead a showcase of how great the Kens are. Perhaps a way to describe it would be ‘toxic masculinity’. It irked me that, in many ways, its true. But it didn’t surprise me.

The problem
..is pretty clear. It’s about who comes out on top, a power struggle. It’s self-centeredness, your world vs my world. It’s the pursuit of their own interests at the expense and diminishing of the other. It’s a fallen world because it’s all about me. Sounds familiar.

The climax of the movie was an emotional speech delivered by a character called Gloria who lived in the real world. She explained to all the Barbies that their insecurities and frustrations are a common experience. You can almost feel the audience in the cinema cheering her on for what she’s saying. It was a moment of affirmation and confrontation that raised the issue and was begging for an answer. But the last line of her speech was, “I don’t even know”. I felt for her.

The movie, in its context, showed us the problem and its consequences, but it didn’t show us a fitting solution. The movie landed on finding our purpose from within ourselves, being enough, or ken-ough, and ended with a lot of tears. It didn’t give us an answer because it couldn’t. But the gospel message in the Bible has.

So the question remains,

Who are you?

I remember speaking to a retired Christian lady at church a couple of years ago. We were talking about the younger generation of our time. So I asked her, “What would you say to your younger self [as a little girl] if she was standing right in front of you today?”

Her eyes began welling up. A wave of emotions overcame her. I wasn’t aware of how weighty that question was. I thought about changing gears and switching the topic of conversation, but at the same time noticed she was deep in reflection and wanted to share. I paused for an answer until she looked up at me, with tears rolling down her face, and gave me a heartfelt, genuine response, “She’s beautiful; She’s deeply and intimately loved and cherished by God. She is of infinite value and worth to the God of the universe, and Jesus knows her profoundly and gave his life for her. I’d tell her to trust him.”

That is the speech Gloria should have given to all the Barbies.

I am reminded of Jesus and his encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. I won’t go into the details of the story; read it if you can. But the story shows us Jesus’ character, who humbles himself and shows deep compassion to an outcast at her wit’s end, affirming her of all human dignity. It shows us that he knows every single one of us like no one else ever can because he made us. It shows us that Jesus offers an invitation to trust in him and rely on him for eternal life. He came through on all his promises by giving his life on the cross at Calvary. He did it so that we may know him and be known by him.

The gospel attests to the truth about humanity and is the answer to the predicament of humanity. Freedom isn’t being whatever we want to be or doing whatever we want to do, because we can’t. Freedom is being and living out the truths about who we were made to be - in a relationship with God under his rule as his image bearers (Genesis 1:27).

When we root our identity in the things of this world, we know it always ends in disappointment and emptiness (let’s be honest). When we root our identity in the God who made us, loves us, and gave his life for us, we find a peace that surpasses all knowledge. We find abounding comfort, overflowing joy, unshakable security, and life everlasting.

That’s how the Barbie movie could have ended if they knew the gospel.