Greta Gerwig: Going Beyond Barbie
Most famously known for her recent hit, Barbie, Greta Gerwig is one of the most famous directors at the moment. She’s received the most attention from Barbie, but she’s also produced, acted in, and directed other hit movies that have broken barriers in the movie industry. She’s most known for her phenomenal representation of women across the screens and her desire to expand the movie industry.
Gerwig grew up in Sacramento, where she was exposed to musical theatre. She found her love of theatre, specifically in her high school years, by taking part in several musicals. However, once she graduated, she chose to major in English. Throughout college, she wrote and acted in plays and intended to earn a Master’s in playwriting but was unable to achieve this goal. However, her boyfriend at the time got her a role in the 2006 movie LOL, which launched her into her acting career and helped her rediscover her love for filmmaking.
A year after LOL was released, Gerwig starred in her second movie, Hannah Takes the Stairs, and from that point on, she was consistently cast in movies. Her first hit was Greenberg, in which she plays a secretary who falls in love with her boss’s brother. She’s most well-known for her acting in Jackie (2016), where she was given a lead role. In 2017, she directed and wrote her debut movie, Lady Bird, which earned her multiple Academy Award nominations for her direction and screenplay along with Best Picture. She wrote and directed her next movie, Little Women (2019). The drama was nominated for several Oscars, including Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture. After Little Women, Gerwig took a break from directing and returned to acting. She was cast in 2022’s White Noise co-starring Adam Driver. In 2023, she went back to directing and directed Barbie, which was the highest-grossing movie of 2023 and the highest-grossing movie directed by a woman.
Across Gerwig’s career, there’s a common theme: womanhood. From Lady Bird to Barbie, Gerwig is constantly striving to break barriers for women. As a director in a male-dominated industry, it’s important for her to show the world what she believes, as a woman, deserves recognition. In Lady Bird, Gerwig paints the picture of motherhood and the pressure that comes with it. In every one of Gerwig’s productions, she portrays a message, big or small, that gives insight into what women’s lives look like. In Little Women, Gerwig beautifully displays the growth that happens between childhood and adulthood, and the conflict that happens between the two as a woman. In Barbie, Gerwig instills the meaning of girlhood and the unrealistic expectations women are expected to face daily, and the advantage men get in everyday life.
Gerwig has earned her title by exploring the deeper meaning of womanhood and constantly working harder to push society’s boundaries by normalizing open dialogue on what it means to be a woman, which isn’t an easy task, especially in an industry that tends to be mainstream. She’s successful because she tackles these complex (sometimes uncomfortable) topics with humor and sensitivity in a way that the world can understand and even encourages them to join the conversation. Gerwig cleverly uses her work to foster a cultural shift that inspires and will continue to inspire the current and future generations of women across the globe.
By Marin Zocca