Barbie turns the plight of women in a patriarchal world into the universality of the quest for enlightenment
by Wil Guilfoyle
July 21, 2023
Birkenstocks or high-heels? Acknowledge death or live in denial? Seek out who I am or rely on my lover to complete me? These were the questions on my mind before I went to see Greta Gerwig’s new film, Barbie.
Let me start off by saying that FOX News warned me not to go see this film. But I didn’t listen. Now I’m gay and think all kids should transition. Not that I didn’t like the film, but see it at your own risk.
What stuck out to me about Greta Gerwig’s new creation is the existential theme at the heart of the film.
Sure, the film is stylish, often times hilarious, has some deep heart, clearly illustrates and defines patriarchy and how it harms both women and men. But it also directly deals with death and the ever-present reality of this looming destiny we all get to enjoy.
Cultural Anthropologist and intellectual giant, Dr. Ernest Becker, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1974 for his 1973 book, The Denial of Death. This was two months after he died of cancer at the age of 49.
In the book, Dr. Becker paints a very convincing picture of the world as we know it— inhabited by cultures around the world that deny the existence of death in varying ways, particularly by never really acknowledging it. He posits that all of our wars, fights, battles, fears, suffering, anxiety, and disharmony can be boiled down to our denial of death.
On the other hand, those who have embraced the reality of the inevitability of their own demise seem to live a life much fuller, much deeper, much realer than the majority.
Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” In my Death and Dying psychology class, my professor said, “The unexamined death is not worth dying.”
I tend to agree.
I try not to give spoilers in these film-talk reviews and discussions unless the film’s been out awhile, so I won’t give any details. But I will say that at the heart of Barbie the film is Barbie the heroine awakening to the temporary nature of existence, or, as the Buddhists say, “Change is the only constant.” She’s confronted with death and the reality of growing old and forming cellulite and feeling depressed and existential dread.
In the mythological story of the Buddha’s birth, the background was that he was born Prince Siddhartha, the son of a great king. Before his birth, his father was told by the oracle that his son would either become a great King or a great spiritual leader.
Wishing his son to take the throne, he devised a plan to insulate the prince from anything that would steer him toward the spiritual path. So he hid all of the suffering from the palace and the surrounding area. He pushed out the diseased, the aging, and those experiencing any physical pain, so his son wouldn’t see such things and wander into spiritual contemplation.
As the story goes, one day the Prince strayed a bit far beyond the palace walls and came into contact with an old and dying man. He witnessed this man die, and the reality of death suddenly became real to the Prince.
The Prince couldn’t stop thinking about the man who died nor the reality of his own coming inevitable demise. Finally, he swore off his birth right and left the palace to go out into the world with one goal in mind: to find the cause of suffering and to be rid of it forever.
We all know how the story ends: The Buddha joined a frat, objectified women, and spent the rest of his days playing video games.
But what the myth illustrates is that the spiritual path, or the contemplative path, is inspired by reality: that we are destined for death and change is the only constant.
In the film, Barbie has spent her entire life enjoying a perfect and unchanging world reminiscent of the blissful world of a child who has yet to develop the conscious awareness of the difficult realities of life: non-acceptance, growing old, depression, looming death, etc.
However, once thoughts of these matters arise, she decided to leave her perfect life in Barbie-land and is inspired to go on her own quest.
Barbie is totally the Buddha in this one. She goes on the journey of her own awakening, and finds her own enlightenment (another word for ‘enlightenment’ can also be ‘insight’).
I’m being a bit unnecessarily longwinded and pompous, trying to explain to a very hip audience of readers what we all already know about the Mattel™ created toy called Barbie™—that she was always meant to represent a woman on a quest for, and then achieving, complete, unexcelled Enlightenment™.
We can all take the leap that the brave Barbie has taken and face reality head on and quest for the Truth of our very own true nature. We can ask, “Who am I?” And we can listen to our own heart for the answer.
Or we can do as Cypher did in The Matrix and enjoy a fake steak right before getting shot to death with a lightening rifle on the Nebuchadnezzar.
The choice is ours.
The End
Oh yeah I forgot….Fuck the patriarchy!
