Warning: this article contains some spoilers for Barbie
One of the criticisms leveled at director Greta Gerwig before Barbie had even been released was that she’d sold out to Mattel, the toy behemoth behind the iconic doll. Although the indie darling rejected this out of hand, it was a relatively commonly repeated sentiment. Much like how the vast majority of war films made in the States need to go through Pentagon approval before they can be released, the company were thought to be keeping a tight leash on the Lady Bird director, despite very little about the film’s plot or script being leaked during its production. And, given the budget for the film seemed to be endless, it could be inferred that Gerwig was doing it for the cash. This wasn’t the worst assumption to make, given how Mattel have been particularly skittish (and litigious) when it comes to the Barbie brand, but as anybody who has seen the movie can attest to, the director does not pull any punches when it comes to the company — some latitude it seems Gerwig, too, was surprised about.
In a recent interview with Uproxx, the director spoke about a wide range of topics, from her and Ryan Gosling’s shared love of Sty Stallone, to just how she managed to get away with some of the dialogue and scenes in Barbie, especially those that explicitly and pretty savagely pilloried Mattel. Additionally, much of the film is distinctly feminist, which for a profit-seeking company that operates in such a politically divided landscape, is a depressingly rare stance to back so openly. Unlike the tokenistic, usually surface-level initiatives that companies tend to utilize during things like Pride and Black History Month, Mattel really has put the reputation of their main asset on the line here.
So, the fact that Gerwig was able to do what she did was just as confusing to her as it was to us, and so far her best explanation for how it all unfolded was that her initial script was so outlandish that the Mattel executives had no idea where to even go with it in terms of edits:
“Well, the truth is, I am not totally sure how this happened and how they let me do this. It was some amazing confluence of events and a ripple in the universe that allowed it to slip through. I think that the script that Noah and I originally turned in is very like the movie you see. But it was so wild and so anarchic that I almost think it was the sense of, ‘I don’t even know where to start.’ I think it created a sense of maybe they instantly felt like, ‘Since we can’t figure out where to start with this, maybe she should just make it.’”
Will Ferrell plays the CEO of Mattel in the movie, and is both cartoonishly inept and morally bankrupt, which isn’t exactly the most flattering combination. The company also gets roasted for a lack of diversity, which is a not so subtle nod to the reality of the situation, and a whole litany of other perceived crimes. Then there’s the feminist takedown of Barbie herself, delivered impeccably by the Zoomer Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), as well as a whole bunch of other jokes at the doll’s expense, most of which are intensely unflattering about Barbie’s legacy. While it’s fair to say the film is definitely an advert for the doll’s famous brand, it’s definitely not hagiographical, or even particularly even-handed in parts. At certain moments it even feels like a film that’s against the doll.
Despite all this, Gerwig is clear to point out she wasn’t just given carte blanche, having to suffer through the usual corporate meetings that accompany a huge project involving a massive brand (which may have inspired some of the scenes in the film that take place in the Mattel boardroom):
“So the truth is, I don’t know. But there were certainly meetings and different things. But at the end of the day, it all happened.”
It wasn’t just in the writing stage of things and the boardroom where the director was in awe of her luck. Much of the film is experimental in nature, even verging on bizarre, not only in terms of its bold aesthetics but also with regards to plot and sequences. After all, how many big budget blockbusters are so self-referential, satirical, and soap-like in their drama? Gerwig was aware of all of this, and went on to say that even on set, as some of the more slightly insane things were being filmed, the cast and crew were a bit like children who’ve realized the password for the parental controls on their television while mom and dad are out at dinner:
“And I think there were definitely moments on set where with everyone in the cast, it was a feeling of, ‘Oh, we’ve got to drive it like we stole it because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and if anybody realizes that we’re doing this, maybe they’ll make us stop.'”
She then added:
“I think even down to things like … we did do the whole dream ballet, which in the script, it just said, ‘And then it becomes a dream ballet with all the Kens.’ I don’t think anybody really knew what that was going to be at all and it sort of emerged in a way. And I’m so grateful that it was able to happen in a way that it did, but I couldn’t account for the fact that it did happen.”
While us and Greta herself might be shocked by just what she got away with, we’re glad it happened, because what we’ve been given is a hilarious and fresh look at a character who’s been with us for decades. Let’s hope that if Mattel continue to mine their vast world of existing intellectual properties for more content, whoever is placed in charge will be given just as much freedom as Gerwig was.