Greta Gerwig has admitted that she wasn’t allowed Barbie dolls as a child.
According to the director, her mother was initially against the idea because it reinforced female stereotypes.
She told Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs: “My mom wasn’t so into Barbie. Certain moms, they would be like: ‘I don’t know if this is a good example of womanhood,’ the body type and everything … she was less excited about that.
“But I got hand-me-downs from girls in the neighbourhood where I was growing up and so I got a lot of pre-loved dolls.”
She went on to say that her mother eventually bought her a doll one Christmas.
Gerwig added: “Although my mom, I will give her credit, she did give me a doll, a proper doll, for Christmas, in a box. She relented and then I destroyed her [Barbie].”
In a four-star review of Barbie, NME‘s Alex Flood wrote: “The script contains unexpected subtlety, particularly during the tender moments which pack an emotional punch. Presumably, part of Mattel’s motive for bringing Barbie to the big screen was changing her outdated image of rigid beauty ideals and unrealistic body conformism. Gerwig is clever enough to deliver these with self-awareness and some sarcastic jokes (Mirren thanking Barbie for ending misogyny is a highlight), meaning the balance between reality and commercial is never lost.”
It was also recently named NME‘s seventh best movie of the year.
Meanwhile, Gerwig made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live at the weekend to introduce Billie Eilish, who sang two songs as the final musical guest of 2023, including Barbie hit ‘What Was I Made For’.
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