Crucified ‘Jesus Ken’ and ‘Virgin Mary’ dolls relaunch amid ‘Barbie’ movie craze sparks outrage

Aug 8, 2023 by Jill

By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post:

The planned relaunch of religiously-themed Barbie dolls in Argentina, dubbed “Barbie Virgin Mary” and “Jesus Ken,” has sparked outrage globally, especially among Catholic groups in Buenos Aires, the birthplace of Pope Francis.

This comes after the international success of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, prompted the creators, local artists Emiliano Pool Paolini and Marianela Perelli, to reissue their contentious collection.

As reported by Jam Press, the artists’ original “Barbie: The Plastic Religion” exhibit in 2014 received serious death threats for representing important religious figures, including Catholic saints and the Virgin Mary, as dolls.

Despite these threats, at least one toy shop in Argentina has allegedly agreed to stock some models of the revived collection, with the artists planning to showcase their dolls in an art show in December, according to the New York Post.

The previous exhibit, “Barbie, The Plastic Religion,” drew ire worldwide, according to USA Today. Priest Adrian Santarelli from St. Thomas More parish in Buenos Aires at the time questioned the appropriateness of the dolls, saying their representation of sacred images might damage a child’s understanding of the sacred.

It included Barbies depicted as Joan of Arc and Virgin of Guadalupe, among others, and Ken as Buddha and Moses. It notably avoided dolls representing Muslim figures due to Islamic prohibitions on such depictions.

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