Br. Charles Marie Rooney, O.P., on Barbie, Billie, and Thomas Aquinas and What We Are Made For

"Dolls don't die because dolls don't live. But they are made by people, who do live and who do die and who, since the Stone Age, have dreamt their destiny through dolls. Which is why it is so ingenious that the Barbie movie should have as its central plot line the existential crisis of a doll. And not just any doll, but the most famous and culturally complicated doll in the world since its creation 65 years  

"Whatever exactly the Barbie doll stands for - it is difficult to say - the Barbie movie stands to pose one fundamental question. Hidden underneath the film's cupcake color scheme, acute Greta Gerwig wit, and mostly ironic wokery is a Billie Eilish song - both Grammy (Song of the Year) and Oscar winning (Best Original Composition) - whose title pronounces the movie's sure theme: 'What Was I Made For?' In its quest for an answer, Barbie grips the human imagination and calls for serious reflection, even for the insights of Saint Thomas Aquinas."

In a recent commentary, Brother Charles Marie Rooney, O.P., reflected on the movie's quest and its implications for us.

To access Br. Charles Marie's complete post, please visit:

Dominicana: Barbie, Billie, and Thomas Aquinas on What We're Made For (11 MAR 24)