Recently, Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” has taken over the world, amassing $337 million worldwide during its opening weekend. Arguably serving as one of the biggest movies of the year, critics have welcomed the director with open arms, but her impact has lasted long before becoming a mainstream force in Hollywood.
Gerwig began her directing career later in life after starring in films such as “Frances Ha” and “20th Century Women,” creating the coming-of-age A24 indie “Lady Bird” in 2017. Starring Saoirse Ronan, the film explored the relationships between teenage daughters and their mothers, as well as the pressures women face in the gap between high school and college. Earning five Academy Award nominations the following year, the film received widespread praise from women all around the world.
At the time, TIME said, “In ‘Lady Bird,’ on movie screens from Sacramento to Brooklyn, women and girls are seeing themselves reflected in all their warts and glory: Mothers whose love for their daughters has at times filtered messily through envy and resentment. Women whose double shifts as nurses or police officers render magazines in the supermarket checkout line an extravagance.”
Gerwig continued to focus on the hard transition between girlhood and womanhood in her next work, which came two years later with her reimagining of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women.” “Little Women” was the first time a movie had ever struck a chord with me, and even though the book was incredible, Gerwig drawing inspiration from the present was profound.
You see it in scenes such as when Amy March, played by Florence Pugh, tells Laurie, played by Timotheé Chalamet, marriage is an “economic proposition” or when Jo March’s stories are not taken seriously by an all-male publishing company.
These scenes, along with countless others, were Gerwig addressing the ways in which women were and are limited, and that’s what makes her storytelling so relatable. In all her female-identifying characters, you feel something. Whether it’s anger, frustration, sadness or confusion, almost anyone can see themselves in her work in some way.
And that’s what leads to “Barbie.” While “Barbie” is all about discerning perfection from reality, it’s also a look into how feminism is actually supposed to work. According to Merriam Webster, feminism is the belief in and advocacy of the political, economic and social equality between men and women, and Gerwig does a great job of finding the balance all women have wanted since the beginning.
At the start of the movie, we’re introduced to Barbieland, where women hold all positions of power. Meanwhile, men serve only as side characters, worried only about getting in their beach time or snatching an invite to one of Barbie’s parties. While this may be an ideal world for most women to live in, Gerwig also shows how isolating it can be, not just for men, but for other groups of people.
This isolation is what causes Ken to question his identity, not sure who he is without Barbie. It also is what keeps Kate McKinnon’s character from being taken seriously, known as “Weird Barbie” for her appearance and eccentric behavior, a potential nod many fans have noticed to the way queer women are not acknowledged by other women for their successes or individuality.
These two characters in particular Gerwig uses for the first time to show the ways in which a lack of balance can hurt everyone, and thus that’s why “Barbie” becomes a story about acceptance and togetherness.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, she reflected on this central theme, saying, “My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men. I hope that in all of that passion, if they see it or engage with it, it can give them some of the relief that it gave other people.”
After three successful directorial debuts, there’s no doubt that Gerwig’s films have become ingrained in our culture, as each one leaves a lasting impression in a different way. Maybe you identify more with “Lady Bird” because of its take on family dynamics or “Little Women” due to its contrasting of girlhood vs. womanhood. Maybe, you see yourself in “Barbie” because you feel the constraints of unrealistic beauty standards.
All in all, even if you are not a fan of her, you can see yourself in one of Gerwig’s films because of how painstakingly real they are, and her legacy as a director is one that should be examined more often.
Grace Koennecke is a junior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnist do not reflect those of The Post. What are your thoughts? Let Grace know by tweeting her @grace_koe3
