Credit: Far Out / Eric Charbonneau

‘Barbie’ director Greta Gerwig addresses rumoured friction with Mattel

Wed 26 July 2023 9:38, UK

Following its cinematic release last Friday, July 21st, Barbie has lived up to its expectations as the biggest box office sensation since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. With a satire of consumerism and a nostalgic return to a classic toy, Greta Gerwig has seemingly addressed the key factors for a comedy of deeper significance.

In a new interview with The New York Times, Gerwig responded to claims that she and Margot Robbie had pitched a scene that was close to being entirely cut by Barbie creators Mattel. The scene in question sees Sasha, portrayed by Ariana Greenblatt, calling Robbie’s character, Stereotypical Barbie, sexist and “fascist”.

“I will say, that’s always sounded so dramatic,” Gerwig responded. “They were coming anyway, so it wasn’t like, ‘Stop everything. We all have to go to London!’ But with that scene in particular, my awareness of Barbie as a thing in the world completely corresponded with me knowing the arguments against Barbie.

“I didn’t think there was any way to do this without giving that real estate and having well-articulated, correct arguments from a really smart character given to Barbie against Barbie. Also, I grew up with a mom who was kind of against Barbie, so that’s how I knew all that. If you don’t give voice to that, then you’re nowheresville.”

Gerwig continued to explain how Mattel actually reacted to the proposed scene. “It wasn’t like I ever got the full seal of approval from [Mattel], like, ‘We love it!'” she said. “I got a tentative, ‘Well, OK. I see that you are going to do this, so go ahead, and we’ll see how it goes.’

“But that’s all you need, and I had faith once it was in there and they saw it that they would embrace it, not fight it. Maybe at the end of the day, my will to have it in was stronger than any other will to take it out.”

Watch the official trailer for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie below.