Pink, Weird and Boldly Reimagined: Lessons for the Church from the Barbie Movie
This past Friday, on opening night, I corralled my three daughters to come with me to see the new Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and directed by Greta Gerwig. While I knew from some advance research that the plot line of the film would be way over their little heads, I also knew they would be captivated by the colors, outfits, music and dancing. Part of my drive to see this film is that I somewhat sheepishly admit that I am very much a “Barbie child”. Throughout the 80s and early 90s, I had a lot of Barbie dolls, as well as some of her friends, several Ken dolls and yes, even some of the more space-consuming accessories like a dream house and a bright yellow camper. In the opening scene of the film, I smiled as I saw two actors dressed as replicas of Barbies I had actually owned in the 80s, “Great Shape Barbie,” with her turquoise leotard and rainbow-striped legwarmers, and “Peaches and Cream Barbie,” with her peach-colored evening gown and matching boa!
Like many American women in their 40s, I have grown up having a somewhat complicated relationship with Barbie. My affinity toward her tanked as her popularity declined in the early 2000s. While I have great appreciation for how the Barbies of today intend to show kids all the professional possibilities that wait for women as adults – astronaut, doctor, chef, construction worker, etc. - I also have great dissonance about celebrating a doll that for decades contributed to social pressures for women to conform to narrow definitions of femininity and impossible physical standards of beauty. When my own daughters began expressing interest in Barbie dolls, I hesitated. However, when my three year-old told me she wanted the Barbie with dark skin, natural hair styled in an afro and bright blue lipstick, I caved, thinking maybe this new generation of Barbies might not have the same baggage as her plastic ancestors.
As I watched this new Barbie film, and found myself smiling and laughing out loud through most of it, I celebrated how as director, Gerwig had achieved a seemingly impossible challenge. She made Barbie fun without being painfully corny, and she made the storyline relevant for women today without disconnecting from the story of Barbie we have always known. As I have processed the film over the last couple of days, I can’t help but notice how some of the lessons from this new Barbie movie might be helpful lessons for the church. (Be warned, if you haven’t seen the film yet, there are many spoilers below.)
Lesson #1: Let’s Be Real About Patriarchy and Feminism
This film does not shy away from the topics of patriarchy and feminism, and how these concepts are part of the DNA of the Barbie story. Rather, they are central to the storyline. In the film, there are two realities – Barbieland, where all the Barbies live, and the Real World. In Barbieland, the reality reflects the idealized “woman power” that Mattel has sought to create in the more current iterations of Barbie. It brings to life that infamous jingle, “We girls can do anything. Right, Barbie?!” Barbies hold every position of power, every job, and life seems to revolve around their activities. The Kens, on the other hand, are accessory background figures, orbiting around the Barbies and hanging on their every word and action. Upon journeying over to the Real World, Barbie learns that women are not in charge, and Ken discovers patriarchy and successfully imports male domination to Barbieland.
Some of the most profound lines in this film are the real talk moments about the struggles women face against patriarchy, and how feminism is so often demonized. While the church has come a long way in creating opportunities for women to lead, we still have a long way to go in realizing a church where the gifts of men and women are valued equally. Some traditions continue to reject the leadership of women outright. And even in the most progressive of traditions, women still experience hardships not experienced by their male peers.
The dramatic climax in the movie comes when the human women and the Barbies start talking candidly about their experiences with patriarchy and the need for feminist affirmation. At one point this real talk literally snaps the Barbies out of a trance. Perhaps the church needs to engage in more open real talk about these issues. We can start with women speaking out about their experiences without being shamed or gaslighted. There is an old adage about how calling evil by its name lessens its power and grip. What might engaging in real talk about power and gender in the church give way to? What trances might be broken if we are brave enough to have these conversations?
Lesson #2: Weird is Wise
Perhaps the best character in the film is “Weird Barbie,” brilliantly played by Kate McKinnon. Any kid who had Barbies can relate to this character because all of us have experimented with giving a Barbie a haircut and applying some innovative and dramatic makeup with a marker. While other Barbies are apprehensive about engaging with Weird Barbie at first, it quickly becomes apparent that she is the wisest of all the Barbies, having maps of the Real World and knowledge of how to get there. She hangs out with a lot of other “experimental” Barbie outcasts who were canceled or recalled over time (actual Barbies that Mattel made), and Weird Barbie acts as a sage-like character for the other Barbies brave enough to visit her.
As I watched McKinnon so brilliantly play this odd character, whose legs are always in the splits, I couldn’t help but sense the commentary on the church. Each week, as I drive downtown to my 195 year-old, small, urban congregation, I drive past several large churches with huge memberships and impeccable landscaping. The people going in and coming out are beautiful and dressed impeccably. I am sure that those churches have wonderful leadership, beautiful music, and are doing incredible work, but here’s the thing…. there’s no weird. I never see anyone with eccentric clothing, an exciting hairstyle or artistic makeup. Where’s the weird? Just like in Barbieland, are we relegating all difference to a weird house on the edge of town and choosing not to engage?
If we don’t have any weird in our churches, are we missing out on a lot of the wisdom? When I survey the Bible, many of the most prophetic voices were those from outside of the mainstream, voices that others would have probably considered “weird.” I mean, John the Baptist wore a camel hair shirt and ate wild locusts and honey. The prophets of the Hebrew Bible pretty showed up and told everyone how they were doing things all wrong so I imagine they weren’t very popular. And Paul was a malicious, murderous persecutor of Christians turned Apostle so that’s definitely a weird story arc!
The more time I have spent studying and in relationship with Millenials and Gen Z, which includes folks in their 20s and 30s, the more I have come to understand two things - their suspicion of organizations and their deep value of diversity. As such, most current churches in our very homogenous states on Sunday mornings, might be in trouble. I think it’s safe to say that we all need to invite in a little more “weird” through the doors of our sanctuaries. Not only can diversifying our houses of worship make us wiser by providing new perspectives that offer a fuller picture of the Kin-dom of God, but just like this new generation of Barbies on the shelves in the store, young folks are looking to join spaces where they are surrounded by others who do not look like them, have different cultures and abilities, and who have different stories to share.
Lesson #3 Reimaginination is Possible
As I noted earlier, Barbie has a lot of baggage. From her launch in 1959, Barbie has been both innovative and repressive. She’s allowed little girls to imagine their lives as adults but also perpetuated harmful stereotypes and images. There are still many who hear the name “Barbie,” and recoil while muttering something about eating disorders. And yet, while it was mostly curiosity that led me to the theatre this weekend, I found this film about Barbie in 2023 simply delightful. While not ignoring the more problematic elements of the past, this film incorporates them into the story but adds on to them so that they are minimized in the grand scheme of Barbie’s heroic battle against patriarchy. She’s still way too perfect, but she learns that the best things are found outside of perfection, even choosing to leave Barbieland and live in the very-flawed Real World at the end of the film.
I imagine that the task of determining how to write and produce a film about such a polarizing figure was monumental, and I came away impressed at how the film did not seek to distance itself from the whole of Barbie’s storied history. In a very tongue-in-cheek way, the film doubled down on who we have all known the Barbie brand to be through the years, and at the same time, told a new story that connects to the audience today. I saw several reviews noting that, “If you love Barbie, this film is for you. And if you hate Barbie, this film is for you.” The Barbie movie did an incredible job of telling the same story but in a bold and reimagined way.
The church is likewise overdue for some of this creative reimagination. We’ve done it before. As many of us deal with empty seats, tighter budgets and aging memberships, the time for reimagination of who the church is and can be in this world is right now. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated changes in behaviors and routines, and most of us have more folks opting for “pajama church,” watching a livestream from home, or looking for other ways to commune with God or center themselves spiritually on Sunday mornings.
Over history, we have been fairly adept at holding fast to who the church has always been and the story we has always told, even while the world has changed dramatically. Just like Barbie, the collective “baggage” of our histories doesn’t have to make us irrelevant. Perhaps we can discern how to tell our story and exist in this world in new ways, and in ways that connect with what folks are hungry for today. It will take work. It will take creativity and openness to reinterpretation. The future of the church depends on our ability to reimagine who we are and find new relevance in a world that is changing faster than ever before. We can be both old and new at the same time, and folks seem to appreciate reimagination that reconciles and carries the past forward with authenticity. Just look at Barbie.
Bonus Lesson: Music, Music, Music!!
Check out the soundtrack for the Barbie movie. It is a constellation of the biggest artists of today with some of the most catchy and inventive tunes out there. Even though the plot was over my daughters’ heads, they were captivated by the music throughout this film. They couldn’t keep their little bodies from dancing in their seats and their eyes were glued to the screen any time there was music playing. Perhaps there is also a lesson for our churches here as well!
Image Credit: Warner Brothers
