It’s fascinating that we as a culture have gotten to a point where we demand solutions from even the most playful, fantastical media. By discussing gender in her films, Gerwig is expected to shoulder the burden of justifying why, as a woman, she chooses to craft stories about her particular brand of womanhood. Nevermind that she is one in a long line of female directors, many of which explored womanhood in their own way throughout history.
” If that is the case, how could she know the nuances of being any other kind of Barbie? Robbie plays the character as often apologetic for the things she doesn’t know, because up until now everything was easy for her. This isn’t just a story of Barbie finding herself, it’s about her seeing the world as it really is for the first time.