Barbie and the Bible

Christopher B. Hays is D. Wilson Moore Professor of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Fuller Seminary and a research associate of the University of Pretoria (S.A.). Meghan R. Henning is Professor of Christian Origins and Senior Assistant Provost of Undergraduate Curriculum and Student Success at the University of Dayton.

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is a goldmine for theological and religious reflection, and the essays edited by Hays and Henning illustrate the wondrous depths of this cinematic resource. These essays embrace “serious play” by constructing a diverse range of fruitful and mutually illuminating dialogues between Barbie and the Bible. These interdisciplinary conversations help us rethink and reinterpret Barbie and biblical texts. This volume is a treasure for those interested in the interplay of Bible and Film, Gender, Material Culture, and Pop Culture. This book is more than Kenough!

• Foreword, Candida R. MossIntroduction, Christopher B. Hays and Meghan HenningPart I. Barbie, the Hebrew Bible, and the Ancient Near East1: The Creator and Her Creation: The Representation of Ruth Handler as God in the Barbie Movie,Hanne Løland Levinson2: Innerbiblical Barbie: Teraphim and Image of God in Genesis, Collin Cornell3: Come Play With Me!: Barbie, Judean Pillar Figurines, and the Economics of Reuse, Kristine Garroway4: Why is Barbie Called a Jezebel?, Tammi J. Schneider5: “That Power Looks So Good on You”: Esther/Ishtar in Pink, Esther Brownsmith6: ‘What Was I Made For?’ ‘For Such a Time as This’: Diaspora, Identity, and Purpose in Barbie and Esther, Alexiana FryPart II: Barbie, the New Testament, and the Classical World7: “Do You Ever Think About Dying?”: Death and Transformation in Barbie, Breaking Bad, and the Bible, Christopher B. Hays8: Barbie’s Otherworldly Journey: From Plastic Possibilities to Toxic Positivity and Back, Meghan HenningPart III: The Barbie Movie in Contemporary Culture9: It's Hard to be Fragile When You're Made of Plastic: How Dolls with No Genitalia Expose the Absent Center of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, Kutter Callaway10: “Am-Bar-Be-Veil-Lents”, Neomi De Anda