Barbie the Existentialist

Millions of happy teenagers, dressed in pink, marched in and out of the megaplexes this summer. Millions of grownups did, too. Meanwhile, thousands of dudes wondered whether they should be angry at the movie those festive crowds dressed up to go see. Dozens of intellectuals debated whether the movie was feminist or anti-feminist. A roomful of business executives at Mattel sighed with relief. I saw the movie, too. As the credits rolled and the soccer moms rose from their seats, I wondered, “Do they know they took their kids to see a movie about death?” The Stranger by Camus. Nausea by Sartre. Barbie by Gerwig. It’s too soon to say whether this blockbuster hit will become a classic of Western philosophy. But future adjunct professors will definitely assign it in their Intro courses. The critics are focusing on many ideas, many -isms, except the crucial one, summed up in a single line of dialogue at the end of the film: “Being a human can be pretty uncomfortable.” In other words, existentialism.