Greta Gerwig says the genitals gag finale of ‘Barbie’ was inspired by the childhood shame she felt with her body.
Greta Gerwig says the ending of ‘Barbie’ was inspired by the childhood shame she felt with her body
The 39-year-old filmmaker’s hit film about the doll ends with a joke where actress Margot Robbie’s Barbie character appears to have become human and strides into a doctor’s office where she exclaims with a grin: “I’m here to see my gynaecologist” – after the film earlier stressed she and the other Barbies and Kens had no private parts.
Greta, who co-wrote ‘Barbie’ with her director husband Noah Baumbach, 53, told USA Today about the finale: “With this film, it was important for me that everything operated on at least two levels.
“I knew I wanted to end on a mic drop kind of joke, but I also find it very emotional.
“When I was a teenage girl, I remember growing up and being embarrassed about my body, and just feeling ashamed in a way that I couldn’t even describe. It felt like everything had to be hidden.
“And then to see Margot as Barbie, with this big old smile on her face, saying what she says at the end with such happiness and joy.
“I was like, if I can give girls that feeling of, ‘Barbie does it, too’ – that’s both funny and emotional.
“There are so many things like that throughout the movie. It was always about looking for the levity and the heart.”
‘Barbie’ pulled in a massive $162 million during its opening weekend, giving Greta the record for the biggest opening ever for a film directed by a woman.
The ‘Little Women’ director also told IndieWire about the movie’s ending: “I feel that line and that ending is something that I feel about most things that I’ve ever made – there’s something where I don’t rightly feel like I can take credit for it.
“It sort of came to me in a dream and then it was like, ‘It can be no other way.’”
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