Barbieland
Wherever you look at the moment there is ‘Barbie’! The release of the film about the Mattel fashion doll that was launched way back in 1959 has become a global cultural phenomenon. Within a couple of months, it has become the 7th most popular film in UK Box Office history, and the 15th highest grossing movie in the world of all time-and is already available to stream. It has also ignited a lot of talk about women, their role in society, and where men fit into that as well.
However, for me the really interesting thing about ‘Barbie’s colossal success is how influenced it is by the Bible stories. When I, with the encouragement of a female friend took the plunge to see the film, I thought to myself “..I know this story…”, and people of faith viewing it may have the same reaction.
If you have so far escaped ‘Barbie’, the story is set in ‘Barbieland’, where Barbie lives somewhere where there is no aging, no death, no pain, no shame or self-consciousness…but then suddenly she becomes self-conscious…. Now, where or what does that remind you of?
It is of course Genesis 3, the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve and ‘The Fall’. Now in case you think I am reading too much into what could just be a joyous, fluffy and very pink comedy, its writer/director Greta Gerwig has spoken about the parallels between the Bible and Barbie and that it was a conscious choice she made to link them together. She talked about being brought up in a Catholic school and how the Bible stories continue to resonate with her. Although taught as a Catholic, she was brought up and still attends a Unitarian Universalism Church- the spiritual movement that evolved from Protestant Puritan movements, and you see that influence in ‘Barbie’.
She also pointed out that a central scene where Barbie meets her maker -not in this case God but the spirit of the real life Barbie creator Ruth Handler- was specifically framed to look like Michelangelo’s fresco painting of ‘The Creation of Adam’ in the Sistine Chapel, where of course God gives life to Adam.
Where the film differs from Genesis 3 though is that it is Man in the form of Barbie’s boyfriend Ken, that is created for Woman (Barbie) rather than the other way round. The most touching moment of the film for me is when Barbie and Ken have to leave their Garden of Eden to go the real World to make things right again in Barbieland. There the two of them become very self-conscious with people looking at them- all that is missing is them wearing fig leaves!
‘Barbie’ although seen as a feminist film is in effect a very optimistic, happy film which tells its audience that it is OK to be vulnerable, that change in life is inevitable and through the gift of goodwill our futures are ours to make. Barbie’s maker does not force her to act in a particular way- that is left to Barbie and in a real sense to all of us.
Its huge success tells us something else too. That no matter how challenging current society is for Christians and the Church, the Bible’s ‘soft power’ and influence is very much present and ‘on trend’, as its adapted stories continue to excite and engage modern audiences even if they are covered under huge layers of pink!
Tags: Genesis, barbie, barbieland, garden of eden