At the beginning of the 2023 blockbuster hit, Barbie, the narrator makes two claims: “All of these women are Barbie and Barbie is all of these women” and “Because Barbie can be anything, women can be anything.” Despite the appearances of Barbie being a superficial movie about a children’s toy, this sets the stage for the film’s foray into an existential crisis.
In Barbie, Stereotypical Barbie (henceforth referred to simply as Barbie) undergoes changes that challenge her sense of self. Thoughts of death, feeling of unease, things being more difficult than usual, and flat feet (the horror!) amongst other trials. In order to return to the standard of, “Barbie has a great day every day,” she travels to the real world to restore the rip in the portal between the two worlds. There she finds a world that is the opposite of Barbieland. There are feelings of unease with a mild undertone of violence. She is criticized by Sasha for the unrealistic expectations that Barbie dolls place on impressionable young women. She realizes that women in the real world are oppressed by the patriarchy and she longs for the happiness and superiority of Barbieland. However, after Barbie returns to Barbieland and sees what Ken’s introduction of patriarchy has done to the world she loved, Barbie falls to the ground, the lowest she’s been both emotionally and physically. Gloria and Sasha try to reach out to her unsuccessfully. Weird Barbie tells them, “She’s not dead, she’s just having an existential crisis.” And while this turn of phrase is often used lightly, in this case, it’s appropriate. Barbie doesn’t know who she is, she doesn’t feel like a Barbie anymore, she doesn’t feel like a human. She lists her shortcomings and says, “I’m not good enough for anything.” Gloria tries to console her and says that “it’s impossible to be a woman…And if all of that is true for a doll representing a woman, then, I don’t even know.” The juxtaposition of the real world and the patriarchal version of Barbieland have left her feeling empty; she doesn’t know who she is, she doesn’t know what she’s good for, and she doesn’t know what she was made for.
This aligns with the existentialist movement. In Existentialism is a Humanism, Jean-Paul Sartre advances the view that humans are born without a predetermined purpose. Existence, he claimed, precedes essence. That is, a human is born and then defines themselves through the choices and actions they take. For Sartre, when one makes choices about who they want to be, what they think their essence is, they are also choosing for all of humans. While this can cause some anguish, ultimately the choice and self-determination is an exercise in freedom and autonomy.
For Barbie, her existential crisis stems from her living her life assuming she was made with her essence intact. Her purpose was to be Stereotypical Barbie, to have perfect days, girls’ nights, be adored by Ken, and to have the perfect style. In the larger sense, she saw the importance of Barbie’s solving the problems in the real world and felt a sense of purpose in helping a girl in the real world. When she realized that there was more to life than this (and not of it good) she develops this existential crisis. She is unaware of her purpose and who she is. At the end of the film, Sasha asks Ruth what Barbie’s ending is. Barbie says, “I don’t know, I’m not really sure where I belong anymore. I don’t think I have an ending.” Then she says, “I don’t really feel like Barbie anymore.” She is in a full-blown existential crisis—not knowing what the meaning of her life is. Ruth responds that she wasn’t created to have an ending. This aligns with Sartre’s claim that existence precedes essence; Barbie was created without an essence, without a set path or ending. She is free to choose for herself who she is, what the meaning of her life will be. She will define herself through her choices and actions. Despite her claim that she’s not good at anything beyond being Stereotypical Barbie, Ruth presents her with a choice. Barbie has the option to give up being a doll to become human. Ruth cautions her that humans only have one ending, death. Barbie replies, “I want to be a part of the people that make meaning. Not the thing that’s made, I want to do the imagining. I don’t wanna be the idea. Does that make sense?” Through her existential reflection, and what Ruth shows her about being a human, Barbie is developing a sense of what her essence and meaning of life are. She asks Ruth for permission to become human and Ruth replies that permission isn’t needed. “So being human’s not something I need to ask for or even want, I can just…It’s something I can discover I am.” And she chooses with a simple, “yes.” She chooses to become human, to pursue her own sense of self, to buck the expectations of others based on her being a Barbie doll.
In making this choice, Barbie is affirming Sartre’s version of existentialism. Not only is she choosing her essence, she’s making a choice for all humankind. She is recommending that all people discover who they are and make the choice to be that person. As the narrator says, “Because Barbie can be anything, women [and Kens] can be anything.”
Darci Doll
Dr. Darci Dollis an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Delta College. Her main area of emphasis is virtue ethics, often with a focus on how friendship and love contribute to the attainment of virtuesand flourishing. She has several published chapters and presentationson Philosophy and Pop Culture.