Warning: this article contains major spoilers for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.
Hey Barbie, we know we’re all living in fantastically pink worlds where every day is the best day ever, and every tomorrow too — but if you’ve ever stopped and thought about dying or found yourself feeling more like Existential Crisis Barbie than Stereotypical Barbie; well, we totally get it.
Watching Greta Gerwig’s Barbie brought forward a lot of feelings for audiences everywhere, and as a movie-goer who laughed, cried, and felt all the feelings during the film — there was one moment that really stuck out to not just myself but the girlfriends I saw the movie with. It’s a moment that many of you probably thought of before I even finished typing that phrase. Yes, I’m talking about America Ferrera‘s monologue.
Speaking to Variety, Ferrera recalls filming between 30-50 takes of her now-iconic monologue, and that was in terms of full runs, top to bottom:
“Neither one of us went into it feeling like it’s got to grow and crescendo to this big moment where you burst into tears, or you’re laughing so hard you cry. There were no targets to hit. It was much more a moment-to-moment drop in. Truly, every take was very different. There were takes that leaned into anger. There were takes that leaned into laughter. It really did, over the course of filming, find a shape. It was about just staying as present in the moment and just seeing really where the words would take it.”
The emotional speech hit home for her, and there were so many options for delivering it, yet somehow, they all felt right. Each take helped Ferrera nail the final cut, and that speech will be an essential piece of the pop culture realm for the foreseeable future.
Ferrera continued by saying that she initially thought that Gerwig might have a very particular idea of how she wanted the scene filmed in terms of “cadence in a particular speed or inflection,” but instead, she asked Ferrera to take it and make it her own.
Of the scene, Ferrera said that it was shot over two days, in part because of how monumental it was in size and star power:
“We shot it over two days. It’s one part of a much bigger scene with lots of characters in it. I had to do it many, many times for other people’s coverage and to get through the whole scene and over the course of two days.”
Ferrera’s speech was a moving part of the film, and while it resonated with audiences everywhere in terms of how many women feel about themselves, it also touched on how we see our people. It reminded us of how even our strongest friends often struggle with the pressures of the world and how even if they appear to have it all together, they can still feel like it’s crumbling beneath the surface. It urged us to meet people with more kindness:
“It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.”
How often do we reflect upon ourselves and see the grey area in which we wish to exist but feels taboo? We want to be thinner, healthier, more wealthy, a better mother, a stronger power, and so many things — but sometimes we simply wish to be ourselves. To have great days, moments of strength, but also spaces where we’re allowed to have a moment to honor the fact that all of our days aren’t going to be perfect.
“You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It’s too hard! It’s too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault.“
You can read her entire speech in full here, and it goes without saying that while many pieces of the Barbie film are iconic, this monologue is genuinely something special. It’s the words Ferrera delivers and how she does so; it’s the passion she feels in simply embracing herself and how she wishes we could all find a place to feel safe, comfortable, and free to be.
Be it in Barbie Land or the real world, there’s always pressure to do better, be more extraordinary, achieve more, and somehow take up less space. May we all embrace our inner Gloria, Barbie, Ken, or Allan and bring more of that to the table instead. Here’s to breaking out of the fantastically plastic and being alright crying it out sometimes.
You can now see Barbie in a theater near you, and you won’t want to miss it.