Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie has already gone down in history, with the highest-grossing opening weekend for a film directed by a woman. After rave reviews and record box office figures, it's hard to imagine the film being done any other way. But, according to Greta Gerwig, there was one scene that she and the studio executives couldn't agree on. For them, it was superfluous. For Gerwig, it captured the whole message of the film.
And (spoilers ahead!) that scene turns out to be the one where Barbie (played by Margot Robbie) is sat on the bench at a bus stop in the 'real world' and is overwhelmed as she begins to notice the scope of human emotion for the first time – from couples kissing and friends laughing to a young boy sat alone in tears. She then begins to cry and looks over to the older woman sat at the bus stop with her (who is played by Oscar-winning costume designer Ann Roth) and tells her she's beautiful, to which the woman softly responds, 'I know'.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Gerwig said: 'I love that scene so much. It’s a cul-de-sac of a moment, in a way – it doesn’t lead anywhere. And in early cuts, looking at the movie, it was suggested, "Well, you could cut it. And actually, the story would move on just the same." And I said, "If I cut the scene, I don’t know what this movie is about."
'To me, this is the heart of the movie,' she added. 'The way Margot plays that moment is so gentle and so unforced. There’s the more outrageous elements in the movie that people say, "Oh, my God, I can’t believe Mattel let you do this," or, "I can’t believe Warner Bros. let you do this." But to me, the part that I can’t believe that is still in the movie is this little cul-de-sac that doesn’t lead anywhere – except for, it’s the heart of the movie.'
If the film can be interpreted as a utopian advert for self-acceptance, or the dismantling of our perceived idea of perfection, then the old lady quietly aware of her own beauty and unafraid of acknowledging it offers a perfect little window into that world.
Gerwig's adoration for this scene, and the way Ann Roth and Margot Robbie portray it, came up again in an interview Gerwig did with the New York Times. The journalist suggested that some people have interpreted the old lady as representative of a God-like figure, which Gerwig seemed to agree with. She said, 'The idea of a loving God who’s a mother, a grandmother – who looks at you and says, "Honey, you’re doing OK" – is something I feel like I need and I wanted to give to other people.'
It seems it was important for Gerwig not to compromise on the idea that Barbie should feature an older female figure to show younger women that things can be alright in the end. And hopefully that's something they can be reminded of even in the simplest of places, like when they're sat next to an old lady waiting for the bus.