Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
This article was originally published on July 28, 2023.
On January 23, 2024,Barbiewasnominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture.
Be sure to also read Alison Willmoresreview of the film.
As the soundtrack blared, moviegoers yelled Hi, Barbie!
Her advice: Its theBarbiemovie.
Just leave big words out of it and enjoy.
I dont think my neighbor or anyone else there expected to weep over the state of womanhood.
The emotionally pure, ultrarelatable moment when Gerwig tells us how a woman should be.
The music swells; the actresss face splits open with yearning and pathos.
Its the name you gave me.
Its a good one).
InLittle Women,itsJo Marchs Women have minds number.
There are two big speeches inBarbie a movie of such blockbuster proportions requires double the emotional wallop.
(Its never really explained why.
The setup: Barbie returns to Barbie Land a broken doll.
Shes seen some shit, like everyday being-a-woman shit: The world is super-sexist.
Barbie isnt a feminist icon; she just upholds impossible standards and makes women feel bad about themselves.
(Depression Barbie is simultaneously the funniest and most pandering bit in the movie.)
Gloria has the antidote: thebig Gerwig speech.
Someone in my screening snapped emphatically after every line.
And nobody gives you a medal or says Thank you!
), I heard sniffles in the crowd.
TheLos AngelesTimespublished the monologuein full.
Headlines called it epic and powerful and inspiring and resonant.
I dont even know?
Thats the best we got?
What was the movie trying to say?
There are many guesses.
One friend insists its an allegory for the postpartum experience.
(At leastBarbieisnt as empty as thepink pussy hatin the back of my closet.)
(I worry about our emotional states by the time thePolly Pocketfilmadaptation drops.)
And it says a lot about its director.
I was instantly drawn to the place and the women.
They all seemed like superheroes to me.
She was funny and a little awkward.
Are you gonna let me in?
is the first line Gerwig speaks inGreenberg,the 2010 film byNoah Baumbach.
Bless that early-aughts body positivity).
Her character, Florence, is the patient, willing love interest of an abhorrently self-involvedBen Stiller.
Are you gonna let me in?
I will find that one door and then push it wide open.
Im lucky to find collaborators and kindred spirits.
But I dont need a man, and I would have done it anyway.
Shes basically a Barbie.
Tracy secretly writes stories about her, lifting details from her life for her own creative advancement.
This could all be something you guys share in, she explains.
I slurred at her about the ways I was Jo and she was Meg.
You chose a baby, and I chose a book, I declared.
I dont think these are mutually exclusive, I remember her responding, stiffly.
Why should I be ashamed of that?
Ive always known Id marry rich, Amy says matter-of-factly.
Look past the muddled feminism and the pro forma blockbuster car-chase scene andBarbiestill feels laden with Gerwigs main considerations.
By now, Barbie Land has been restored.
Better to be the director than the muse.
Her movies enact a fantasy in which the biggest hurdle is deciding you want to become something.
The rest, they seem to imply, will work itself out.
Frances has her desk job and a future as a choreographer.
Lady Bird puts on a blazer and calls her mother.
AndGreta, shes remakingThe Chronicles of Narnia.
Its aperfect Gerwig ending.
Thank you for subscribing and supporting our journalism.
