By Patti Garibay, American Heritage Girls, for THE CHRISTIAN POST –
Well, I did it. I went to see Barbie. I didn’t want to go. Yet, I felt a strong sense that I needed to go. After working with girls for over 40 years, I know very well the targeted messaging that has been crippling their ability to be all that God has called them to be. With the incredible investment and marketing that has gone around this star-studded movie, I sensed that all was not pink and innocent. I sensed there was a message that the writers, producers, and directors desperately wanted to deliver to today’s moms and daughters and that compelled me to see the movie for myself.
To say that I wasted two hours of my life is an understatement. However, if those two hours could be redeemed by sharing my learnings with others, it will be an investment well worth my time. The biggest lesson of all is to warn all of those that I am able: AVOID THIS MOVIE at all costs and above all do not bring your Barbie-loving daughters! Despite its blockbuster status, its Rotten Tomatoes rating, and superlative marketing plan, this movie is a horrible misuse of an iconic children’s brand that has been with us as long as I have been living. Sure, there are some pretty production designs, beautiful costumes, and slight humor, but they are all eclipsed by the overt messages of the importance of separating the sexes, usurping and maintaining power over one another, seeking meaning through secularism and the longing to be the Creator rather than the created.
