The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Young Girls of Rochefort, and Model Shop all served as aesthetic inspiration. Gerwig has credited the French filmmaker with inspiring how she layered colors (particularly different shades of pink) in Barbie so everything would pop instead of clash. Not only does Barbieland mimic the artificiality of The Truman Show in concept, but Gerwig and Weir discussed how to physically light their sets to capture that feeling. Gerwig talked to The Truman Show director Peter Weir about how he shot his movie about a man unknowingly living on a reality TV set. We’ll talk about Singin’ in the Rain later. Gerwig actually references quite a few Gene Kelly movies in Barbie. Read More: We’re Ignoring the Real Reason Barbie Might Dominate the Box Office An American in Parisīarbie’s mornings also mimic how Gene Kelly’s character wakes up and gets ready in American in Paris.

Just like Cher, Barbie will go on to discover that there is a deeper meaning to life than clothes. In the Architectural Digest tour of Barbie’s Dreamhouse, Robbie talks about how Clueless set the high bar for cinematic closets, one that the crew of Barbie tried to meet. Cluelessīarbie’s getting-ready routine pays homage to another fashion-forward blonde, Alicia Silverstone’s Cher, brushing her hair and browsing her high-tech closet in Clueless. Barbieland has a pink brick road in place of a yellow brick road, and if you look closely you’ll see The Wizard of Oz is displayed on the marquee of the Barbieland cinema. The Wizard of OzĪ classic tale of a young woman venturing into an unknown land, Barbie is kind of Wizard of Oz in reverse: Barbie travels from what we would consider a wonderland to the real world. Similarly, Gerwig envisioned a movie in which Barbie’s perfect world is punctured by thoughts about mortality, and it’s only then that Barbie begins to discover the beauty of life. It is only when she begins to fall apart emotionally in the film that she discovers something new about herself. In that movie, the incomparable Hepburn plays a woman who is worshipped by men, like a goddess, because she is so cold and distant. Gerwig told Letterboxd that she asked Margot Robbie to watch Katharine Hepburn’s performance in The Philadelphia Story as inspiration for Barbie. Read More: Why It Took 64 Years to Make a Barbie Movie The Philadelphia Story Like the statue Galatea in Pygmalion, Barbie eventually does “come to life” by venturing into the real world, learning about death, and trading her Dream Life for an existence that’s more flawed but rewarding. Gerwig explores the impossibility of a single doll representing an entire gender, not only by adding a multiplicity of Barbies to the movie (played by different actors) but by showing how Barbie’s supposed perfection rubs some of the human girls who play with her the wrong way.

In this case, Ruth Handler is the creator and Barbie is supposed to represent the perfect woman. The story has been adapted many times over, including in George Bernard Shaw’s play of the same name and the musical My Fair Lady. On a plot level, Gerwig and Baumbach are drawing inspiration from the Greek myth of Pygmalion (as written by Ovid), a sculptor who creates a statue meant to represent the perfect woman and then falls in love with his own creation.

That spot spoofed 2001′s famous opening scene by replacing apes with little girls smashing their baby dolls when they discover the first doll who looks like an actual grown woman: Barbie. The internet has been chattering about this one ever since the first teaser trailer for Barbie dropped.

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