Barbie Director Greta Gerwig Says She Was Discouraged From Playing With Barbies Growing Up

The Barbie film is hitting theaters this month, and moviegoers are eager to see how director Greta Gerwig tackles the complicated history of the iconic doll. There have been many debates about Barbie and whether or not the doll was helpful or harmful to young girls. On one hand, Barbie showcased women in all sorts of careers when previous dolls only served to prepare little girls for how to be mothers. On the other hand, Barbie set ridiculous body standards that could be harmful. During a recent interview with  The Guardian, Gerwig talked about making Barbie, and explained her own complicated history with the toy. 

“I was always intrigued,” Gerwig said of Barbie. “Barbie was, if not exactly forbidden in our house, well, it was not encouraged.” She explained, “Oh, the usual criticisms. ‘If she was a real woman, she wouldn’t even be able to stand up; she wouldn’t be able to support her head.’ My mum was a child of the 60s. She was like, ‘We got this far, for this?’” However, Gerwig’s mother eventually gave in. “She got me my own,” Gerwig shared. “Fresh out the box.”  

Gerwig continued, “I played with dolls until… I don’t want to say too late, but I played with them long enough that I didn’t want kids at school to know I still played with them. I was a teenager. I was about 13 and still playing with dolls. And I knew that kids at that point were already kissing.” She added with a smile, I was a late bloomer.” 

“I always think that 8, 9, 10 years old is peak kid,” Gerwig explained. “I was brash and unafraid and loud and big. And then, you know…” Puberty. “It’s a shrinking. Wanting to make yourself smaller, less noticeable, take in all that spikiness and bury it. And you’re profoundly uncomfortable because you’re going through metamorphosis, literally … But also, you’re getting tall. You’re getting your period. You get spots.” She explained, “My experience of it was wanting to hide.”

She added of the film, “It’s not about growing up, exactly … This is about Barbie, an inanimate doll made out of plastic. But the movie ends up, really, about being human.”

What Is Barbie About?

In Barbie, to live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken. From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig comes Barbie, which hits theaters on July 21st. Barbie stars Oscar-nominees Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, alongside America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. The film also stars Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Dua Lipa and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren. Gerwig directed Barbie from a screenplay by Gerwig & Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach, based on Barbie by Mattel.