Plato’s Plaything: A Philosophical Inquiry into the ‘Barbie’ Movie

October 17, 2023

Learning Outcomes:

Introduction

Existentialism also examines the absurdity of human existence and the search for meaning in an indifferent universe. Barbie’s perfection and unattainable lifestyle might be seen as absurd in the context of real human lives and experiences. Existentialists would likely critique the pursuit of such an unattainable ideal and advocate for embracing the imperfections and complexities of authentic human existence. The character of Robbie in the movie faces these questions about her individual identity. It causes her much mental stress and duress.

Existentialism as a school of philosophy is often associated with the deep, the dark and the terrible. A student may get introduced to it through the works of Kafka and Satre in their college library. For the rest of us, it often appears as quotes on the internet written on dull grey backgrounds with maybe some rain and dark barren trees thrown in for good measure. So when it came to us clothed in bright pink and catchy song and dance on the big screen in the Barbie movie, it definitely created a buzz.

Credits: Apoorva Jyoti, Graphics Intern at Mandonna

The movie does not ease the audience into it- it opens right into the dreaded realms of death and dying. Barbie, played by Margot Robbie, is right in the middle of a song-and-dance in flashy disco clothes when she enthusiastically asks if anyone else has thoughts about dying like she did. It is almost comic, given the mindless and happy-go-lucky essence of Barbie Land and its inhabitants. It is shocking to the people at the party to hear her say this. What follows from this is the journey of Barbie from Barbie Land to the ‘real’ world to fix a tear between these two realms that is causing her to have worries of death (and cellulite) in her safe pink haven.

“Beauty is Pain”: Barbie and the Body

The exploration of Barbie from an existentialist perspective serves as an example of how philosophical lenses can be applied to various aspects of popular culture to analyse their implications on society and the human condition. Existentialism often critiques consumer culture and the commodification of objects and identities. Barbie, as a symbol of consumerism and a mass-produced doll with an idealized and unattainable appearance, and its re-popularisation in the new Barbie movie (2023), can be seen as emblematic of this critique. Critics argue that Barbie promotes conformity to unrealistic beauty standards and perpetuates feelings of inadequacy and alienation among individuals who cannot attain her physical appearance or lifestyle. The movie picks up on this critique of the product, that is, the Barbie doll.

An important motif in the movie was that Barbie did not really eat or drink anything because she was a doll and did not need any nutrition. If analysed critically, it appears possible that this may be a comment on the relationship between body image issues and eating disorders among women. Research supports the links between body image issues created by the representation of women in popular media and eating disorders. Then, when stereotypical Barbie loses the characteristic, and impossible, arch of her feet, it is the cause of much worry for all in Barbie Land. It is the first sign of something going horribly wrong. This reflects on the real-life insecurities that women in human society experience as a part of a universal lived experience of womanhood. Barbie begins to see cellulite on her thighs and is thrown into much worry and dread about losing her beauty. The loss of this beauty threatens her sense of self. There are many research studies that reiterate the relationship between body image and self-esteem as well. What the movie does well is to provide a meta-narrative where Barbie, who may often be the source and cause of these negative body image issues for people, herself becomes the subject of these insecurities.

Barbie and Absurdity

Existentialist philosophy emphasizes the importance of authenticity and individuality. In contrast, the image, wardrobe, and lifestyle of the Barbie doll are predetermined by the manufacturer, limiting the doll’s ability to express a unique identity. From an existentialist perspective, Barbie’s fixed identity raises questions about individuality, choice, and the influence of external forces on personal identity. It also explores the anxiety and responsibility that comes with human freedom. Barbie’s blank facial expression and limited articulation could be interpreted as a representation of existential anxiety—the feeling of emptiness or lack of meaning that arises when confronted with choices and freedom. This perspective suggests that Barbie’s lack of agency mirrors the existential dilemma of individuals navigating their choices and responsibilities in a complex world.

What seemed like an absurd, gaudy, pink utopia for her in Barbie Land, was all she knew about life, existence and being. In the real world, she came to know of the negative feelings that she, as a doll, caused among young women. It made her question her identity.

This points to a reflection that can be understood as a comment on the absurdism of human society. Absurdism as a school of thought, often overlapping with existentialism, is dominated by an emphasis on the pointlessness of human existence. In the case of Barbie, she feels meaningless in her hybrid human-doll identity as she delves into both realms. It can be analysed that in these aspects, the strong feminist lens of the movie takes us beyond normalized gender roles.

This is also reflected in the character of Ken, or the Kens. In Barbie Land, the Kens hold the subordinate and disadvantaged social position that women do in the real world. Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, puts his angst and anguish into words in the iconic ‘I’m just Ken’ song. When he travels to the real world and learns about patriarchy, he seems to have found a purpose to his existence; but when all order becomes restored, he is once again troubled by the questions of who he actually is.

Later on, Barbie meets her creator and is forced to confront the basic idea of what it means to be Barbie, and whether she is free to be herself and live in this “real world” in the way she wishes. She has no idea what that is, but she is on her way to finding out. All of this is set against Plato’s cave experience of first stepping out of Barbie Land and realizing the world isn’t this utopian, glossy, pink reality. This is the closest the film can approach to The Matrix narrative of “freeing your mind” and escaping.

Ruth Handler, the original Mattel creator of the Barbie Doll, emphasizes to her that the concept of Barbie is more essential than the exact description or appearance of Barbie; that is what truly matters. While the movie does end with Barbie (and Ken, of course) finding meaning in their lives in a manner which can only happen in movies, the absurdist context of the movie remains a strong undertext of the plot. Barbie’s ultimate thesis is about who she is, how she navigates and exists in the world, and how her experiences and understanding of the world affect who she is as a person.

Barbie Then and Barbie Now

Barbie has historically served as a surrogate for cultural aspirations and worries about womanhood. The toy initially appeared on the market in 1959. In the initial period, Barbie may have represented the ambitions and aspirations of the independent working woman. It appeared as the first doll to urge girls to aspire to anything other than motherhood. The movie begins with this scene of Barbie coming-in at a time when all the dolls that young children played with were built like young babies. However, when it came time for later generations to play with her, the doll began to be critiqued for the essentialist ideas that it promoted.

The stereotypical ideal of beauty that is promoted by Barbie has come under much criticism. For example, her protestations that "math class is difficult" send the message that math and science are for men and that women should be more concerned with being lovely than being smart.

As was also shown in the movie, Mattel discontinued those Barbie dolls which went against the stereotype, like Pregnant Barbie. All of this made Barbie a visible and prominent representative of the restrictive norms of femininity and womanhood, and its criticism as well. For many women, being a strong and ambitious woman meant rejecting pretty much everything Barbie stood for. Addressing this issue, Barbie, the movie, opens a space for the popularisation of a feminist discourse that expands our knowledge of gender to acknowledge that every woman subject, based on her very specific social positionality, does gender differently and yet is tied together with other women by a unified, almost unexplainable essence.

Conclusion

In the movie, Barbie faced it all. She became subject to body insecurities and faced questions about her identity, as are the real-life lived experiences of women all over the world. Through the analysis of existentialist and absurdist philosophies, Barbie can be seen as an examination of life, and an examination of humanity, of the real world and its gendered structures and hierarchies, and the human condition. It has the ability to make the viewer ponder, even re-examine their life, choices, and identity, and maybe raise questions about self-identities. A thought-provoking line from the movie comes at the end, when Barbie is in conversation with Ruth, and says that sometimes the things that one believes, define them are actually not the things that define them. This reflection was in fact at the heart of the movie. Barbie, for long the representation of a stereotypical and restrictive womanhood, was reimagined by the genius and feminism of Greta Gerwig, into a symbol of individual expression and empowerment.

References

Baudrillard, Jean. “Simulacra and Simulation“. Michigan: University of Michigan Press Publication, 1994
de Beauvoir, Simone. “The Second Sex“. New York: Vintage Books Publication, 2011.
Flynn, Thomas. “Existentialism: A Very Short Introduction“. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Levine, Michael P., and Kristen Harrison. “Effects of media on eating disorders and body image.” In Media effects, edited by Jennings Bryant and Mary Beth Oliver. 506-532. Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2009.
McBride, William L. “The Existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre“. Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2009
McDonough, Yona Zeldis, ed. “The Barbie Chronicles: A Living Doll Turns Forty“. New York: Touchstone Publication, 1999
Mellor, David, Matthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, Marita P. McCabe, and Lina A. Ricciardelli. “Body image and self-esteem across age and gender: A short-term longitudinal study.” Sex roles 63 (2010): 672-681.
Rogers, Mary F, ed. “Barbie Culture“. California: SAGE Publications, 1999.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. “Existentialism Is a Humanism” Yale: Yale University Press, 2007.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. “The Philosophy of Existentialism: Selected Essays“. Miami: Citadel Press Publication, 2000.

Authorship Credits

Kaushiki Ishwar (she/they) is a student at Miranda House pursuing History and Philosophy. Her research interests include feminist epistemology and its intersection with neoliberal cybernetic superstructures. Her favourite philosophers are Zizek, Gayatri Spivak, Judith Butler and Baudrillard.

Rukmini Bhuyan is a postgraduate in Political Science from the University of Delhi. Currently residing in the capital city, she comes from the state of Assam in the northeastern corners of India. Half her personality and mood are very subjective, depending on what she is reading that day. Dance makes up the other half of it.