I loved all the themes in the Barbie movie, but the theme of humanity stuck out to me most. Barbie was facing an existential crisis as she was becoming more real and less plastic. She was confronting flaws, feelings, and death. Barbie was asking one of the biggest questions, “What does it mean to be human?” She began to realize it was messy, up and down, back and forth, imperfect. Full of love, loss, sorrow, and beauty. Before this personal revelation and transformation Barbie was disconnected from reality. She lived in a fantasy world — Barbie world. Breaking into the real world was how she became real, how she became fully human.
The story of Adam and Eve is a metaphor for humanity as well. Most view it as an explanation for how sin came into the world. But what if the fall is more about how we lost our humanity? A loss which resulted in separation from the divine. Maybe that’s the rift, the gulf, we have to cross — to find our humanity again. If that’s the case then we need to be shown a way to get back in touch with our humanity. And that’s what Jesus does for us.
So, what exactly did we lose? We lost connection: with ourselves, others, and God. You see it as soon as the fruit is eaten - there is alienation between God and the couple, as well as between Adam and Eve. What we need now is to get back in touch with ourselves, with others, and with God. To join in the communal dance. God told Adam and Eve to have dominion over the Earth. We were always meant to tend to ourselves, others, and the world, we just lost our way. The Judeo-Christian way of saying it is to love God and neighbor, because it is the whole point of the law. It was never about the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law as Paul said. And it was Jesus who clearly demonstrated this and taught this.
Jesus showed us, not just what it means to be divine, but also what it means to be human. Jesus’ humanity was expressed through inclusion. He humanized people who were considered impure or unclean in his socio-political climate. He healed those who needed to be restored — touching and inspiring people’s hearts, minds, and bodies. He was raising up the powerless. As he said the first will be last, and the last first, as well as those who are exalted will be humbled and the humble will be exalted.
The opposite of being fully human is evil. Ever heard someone refer to something or someone as inhumane? That basically means not human. So, humanity must equal goodness. Evil is when we forget our own humanity and the humanity of others. We dehumanize ourselves as we dehumanize others, meaning we take away our inherent dignity and worth and the dignity and worth of others. So, humanity doesn’t just equal goodness, but also dignity and worth. Evil happens when we act like this isn’t true.
To be human means you are automatically worthy, and Jesus was always one to humanize people. The Samaritan woman at the well, the woman about to be stoned, the diseased, the demon possessed, the poor, those despised and rejected. Jesus gave them back their humanity. And by doing that he was telling them of their worth.