Barbie, Tolstoy, and Irrepressible Thoughts of Death

You can be memento mori and still dance the night away

The movie Barbie is about death anxiety. Specifically, it’s about what irrepressible thoughts of death do to someone who has spent their entire life fitting in. Barbie reminds me of Neo from The Matrix, entering the real world for the first time. She reminds me of Eve, gaining consciousness, meeting her creator, Ruth Handler, and accepting her earthly life. But, most of all, she reminds me of Leo Tolstoy’s Ivan Ilyich, who, in the process of coming to peace with his impending death, learns about love, compassion, and the true priorities of life.

At its core, Barbie is about existential alienation upon confronting mortality. It’s about developing deep, purposeful desires that go beyond status, palazzos, and romantic jealousy. It’s about wanting immortal things—ideas—in a world where things are temporary. It’s what Romans 12:2 conveys when it tells us, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Everyone knows they’re going to die, yet …