Well it’s been several months since I’ve written but nothing like a controversial movie to draw me back to the keyboard. I initially had no interest in seeing it, Barbie the Movie. The thought of it just struck me as lame and trite. And seeing ladies going out in droves decked out in pick was even more of a turnoff, to be honest.
Then the negative reviews came: it was a feminist screed that made men look like morons. Ok, I definitely don’t want to see that. It’s not that I don’t have any interest related to feminism (or rather women given full validity for who they are and what they bring to the table). That certainly shouldn’t come at the expense of bashing or belittling males. No thanks.
But then I saw something interesting, from pastors I respect, none the less–commentary that suggested maybe something was missed in the easy target of pro-feminism. But it was reading this review from Amy Peeler, aptly named, Neither Ken nor Barbie, that piqued my interest. Now that I’ve actually seen the movie, I don’t think I could write a better review or rather a better interpretation of it. Because really, every review and commentary can get the facts about a movie right, but not necessarily interpret it’s meaning according to what it was intended to convey.
Now in full disclosure, I have not read any interview with Greta Gerwig and what she intended. But Peeler does note that there is an explicit nod to the Genesis narrative, but reversed to make a point about men and women’s interdependence on one another. Let me expound on this a bit to convey an important message I believe the movie was making.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. (Gen. 1:28)
Them. God intended for men and women to work together, compatibly, to tend to his creation. We know the Fall ruined that and created all kinds of hostilities between the sexes resulting in animosity, power plays, dominance. We’ve seen that with centuries of patriarchal rule. We see it now with certain forms of feminism that create matriarchal paradigms where men are expected to play a certain supporting role.
And there are certain expectations placed on each gender. To be sure, the stereotypical caricatures depicted in the movie were a bit extreme. But I think they gave a nod to the rules and expectations about the two genders that we create. The stereotypical Barbie is perfectly formed, creates perfect food, and perfectly happy in her world of matriarchal dominance. On the flip side, the expectation for men to rule regardless of their leadership abilities, the carelessness with which it is acceptable to “be a man” that gives no place or regard for female voices or contributions. The human condition will tempt us to these ends, if we are not careful, and be at odds with one another.
But what does it mean to be a man or a woman in today’s society? Does it mean carving out our little gender-centric niches of dominance? Does it mean creating specific roles and expectations for genders? To be honest, this is something I think certain segments of the evangelical world need to wrestle with a bit more while carving out neat little boxes of biblical manhood and womanhood. Now, I’m not saying there are no distinctions to be made. I’m not giving a nod to eradication of genders. At the end of the day a man is a man and a woman is a woman. I’ve seen criticism of the movie’s end with Barbie back in the real world at the gynecologist. But I thought it was a really good ending because it was a nod to a biological reality that contemporary society wants to erase.
However, I do think maintaining a gender specific lens with its accompanying assignments have caused some interpreters of the movie to miss the boat. There are pressures on both men and women to perform according to expectations that tap into our humanity. When we fall short and life challenges what we “should” be like, we know it. We feel it. This is what I think the movie brought out rather brilliantly. Whatever we believe about gender roles, we are first and foremost human. And in that humanity is where we grapple with what it means to be a man or a woman according to our biological design, internal makeup, and role expectation.
I agree with Peeler that the movie fell short of resolving identity and tensions between the sexes from a Christian perspective. But we have a better way, as she says here;
Again, this is where the Christian message finds its opportunity. Christians are as guilty as anyone for failing to achieve the ideal of mutuality between the sexes, but it is our sacred texts that lay out the ideal with unmatched depth and beauty. What Barbie and Ken wished for is a description of the Christian church, where all people find their identity, worth, and purpose in Jesus Christ, and where men and women cannot relegate one another to the margins because both are necessary for the in-breaking of God’s kingdom on earth (1 Corinthians 11:11).
And I do believe this is what Gen. 1:28 is all about.
TheoThoughts 