The Existence of God (goddesses?) in the Barbie Universe
Okay, let’s address the elephant in the room, the question obviously on everyone’s mind. Does G-d exist in the realm of the Barbie Universe? My interest in this question was peaked by a line from Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (the best Barbie movie ever made) by Erica during the song “Cat’s Meow”: “Noah’s ark should’ve had a cat like you”. This line is sung by Erika while she’s in the bathtub trying to convince her doggish cat to be himself, in case you didn’t know.
Upon starting my research, I quickly realized that not a lot of Barbie enjoyers shared my sentiments despite the clear presence of priests and holidays like Christmas. In fact, there were a lot of other interesting takes that I have included in my new analysis that together I think better fit this Universe. Let’s begin.
One of the most interesting theories I’ve found was a timeline centered around the presence of magic and how access to it is changed in the Barbie Movies ranking from more free to most restricted. The author, barbie-movie-reviews on Tumblr, organizes the movies in this order:
- Ancient – “In the beginning there were fairies, but they were not meant to last.” (Tumblr post 11/30/20)
- Fairytopia/Mermaidia movies
- Any other fairy movie
- Magic of the Pegasus
- Historical – Slowly, wingless fairies like Elina start to form their own societies and use technology to compensate for their loss of magic.
- Swan Lake
- The Diamond Castle
- Rapunzel
- 12 Dancing Princesses
- Princess and the Pauper
- Three Musketeers
- The Island Princess
- Nutcracker
- A Christmas Carol
- Present – Barbie gets a glimpse into the hidden world of magic all with wingless fairies (here the author of the Tumblr post argues the existence of a Fairy Illuminati who both know about the existence of humans and who actively try to influence the course of history)
- A Fashion Fairytale
- Barbie Diaries
- Barbie Spy Squad
- A Fairy Secret (the only fairy movie not in the ancient category)
- A Perfect Christmas
- A Pony Tail
- Thumbelina (okay, so there’s two fairy ones)
- Video Game Hero
- Great Puppy Adventures
- Puppy Chase
- Dolphin Magic
- Near Future – Where “magic is a privilege for the 1%” (Tumblr post 11/30/20); it’s important to note here that 1% is not always referring to the richest…
- The Pink Shoes
- A Mermaid Tale (and 2)
- Princess Charm School
- The Princess Popstar
- Rock’n Royals
- The Pearl Princess
- The Secret Door
- Princess Power
- Starlight
This theory is enhanced by the appearances of several prominent characters in other Barbie movies of that era. The Original author had a Postmodern category but I completely disagree with that so I’m not going to include it…
Moving on. In my most recent viewing of The Island Princess, it is clear that “civilization” has made its appearance and begun colonizing surrounding areas. You’ll note that in the first scene showing Prince Antonio’s kingdom has dark grey clouds directly over it and is based off of Italy, so that only furthers my argument of the existence of G-d in the Barbie Universe.
However, it only really complicates things since the religious things mentioned are fairly vague in origin. Turning a different direction, let’s look at some of the Barbie side characters. Specifically the three little girls that make an appearance (mostly always together) in almost every single movie. To the author of this blog, it is clear that the lack of aging, and the ability to be across the world in a single era, is an indication of godlihood and immortality. Further inspection of their positions in most movies shows their proximity to Barbie and a unique quality of innocence that some claim characterizes the Universe. “The trio of beautiful triplet girls. Seem to usually have red-brown-yellow hair” (Tumblr post 5/29/18). Some people might argue that the lack of funds for different 3D models/rendering might have come into play but I like to think of this as an excuse for the real magic of the Barbie Universe that plays on our world. The three girls in question:
According to Google AI, these girls might be Barbie’s younger sisters Skipper, Stacy, and Chelsea. But what does that imply for the sisters then? Especially since they are introduced in some movies and other media as much older and not triplets. Can these goddesses control their age to fit in with each era above? And what does this imply for Barbie herself? Is she also a goddess with the same abilities or does she serve in more of a subservient role unable to remember her past lives? Are the sisters somehow in control of her? My personal thought is no, due to their mostly kind and helpful demeanor that seem to greet Barbie in a new place that she eventually comes to trust. I think these girls serve as guides to help Barbie find peace and happiness in each of her lifetimes. You’ll also find that the number three also pops up quite a bit here and occurs frequently in myths, stories, and fairytales.
More evidence…
Bringing us back to our main question, how do these girls fit into the Universe’s religions? Certainly different cultures have different religions just like in our world and I’m not certain how much of an influence the girls would have had in it. It seems to me that maybe they are a separate thing all together. What are your thoughts? Please let me know in the comments along with your favorite Barbie movie!
P.S. – The fact that this How Are We Feeling? video came out on Jan 20th, 2025 LOL I never knew I could love Barbie more (especially after the Barbie movie). I love that Barbie is a vlogger. I would do that if I had enough time/a clean enough house.
P.P.S. – Does this mean that Barbie is officially a Democrat? Or at least not a Republican?