Despite the stereotypes around the Mattel doll, Greta Gerwig revealed that "Barbie" has a much deeper meaning than it seems.
Barbie” by Greta Gerwig opens this 2023 and, apparently, not only seeks to charm the younger audience. In addition to the color and accurate representation of Mattel's world on stage, the film's mature storyline aims to impact adults in theaters.
In a lengthy Vogue article, actress Margot Robbie and the production team discussed some important details of the project. Thus, the director of the tape explained what its true meaning was.
Considering that she is the maker of groundbreaking projects like “Lady Bird” and “Little Women”, it wouldn't be surprising if she took a totally different approach to the film than many might imagine.
THE TRUE MEANING OF THE MOVIE “BARBIE”
According to Greta Gerwig, the plot of the film is inspired by the book "Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls" (1994) by Mary Pipher, one of the works she read during her childhood: "My mom took out books from the parenting library and then I would read them,” she said.
The text analyzes the effects of peer pressure on American adolescents and uses many cases from the author's experience as a therapist. In itself, it describes the abrupt change of girls when they reach adolescence and how they begin to give in to external expectations.
“They're funny and cheeky and confident, and then they just…stop,” adds the screenwriter. In this way, she hints that the tape is a metaphor for what women must face when going through this period of their lives.
The director, then, uses the figure of the protagonist to emphasize the message: “How is the journey (of Barbie in the film) the same as what a teenager feels? All of a sudden, she thinks… Oh, I'm not good enough,” she points out.
“BARBIE” AND THE STEREOTYPES ABOUT THE DOLL
At another point in the interview, Margot Robbie revealed how she faced the challenge of playing a character as stereotypical as Barbie. Not knowing how to build it, she asked Gerwig for help. Fortunately, she shared an episode of the "This American Life" podcast, about a woman who doesn't introspect.
“Do you recognize that voice in your head all the time? This woman, she did not have that voice in her head, ”said the actress. In that sense, we can have a more accurate idea of Barbie's way of acting at the beginning of the film.
