America Ferrera’s monologue in Barbie has been praised by viewers for highlighting the real difficulties of being a woman.
The live-action Barbie film directed by Greta Gerwig, who also co-wrote the movie alongside partner Noah Baumbach, debuted in cinemas on 21 July. The movie has since earned a whopping $155m (£120m) in US box offices during opening weekend alone.
Spoilers ahead.
The Warner Bros movie follows the iconic Barbie doll, dubbed Stereotypical Barbie, as she ventures out of Barbieland into the real world to repair a rift between the two universes. However, as Barbie, played by Margot Robbie, confronts ideas of patriarchy and sexism in the real world, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery as a human.
The film has since been lauded by critics as a “near-miraculous achievement,” but perhaps it’s one monologue delivered by actor America Ferrera that steals the show.
Ferrera – known for her roles in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and the comedy series Ugly Betty – plays Gloria in the Barbie film. Not only is Gloria the only female employee at Mattel, but she’s also a mother to a moody teenage daughter named Sasha, played by Ariana Greenblatt.
Towards the end of the film, Barbie is seen grappling with an existential crisis brought on by feelings of worthlessness. But it’s Ferrera’s poignant monologue that gets Robbie’s character out of her funk, and which touched the thousands of women who saw the Barbie movie on opening weekend.
“It is literally impossible to be a woman,” Gloria tells Barbie. “You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough. Like, we always have to be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.”
“You have to be thin, but not too thin,” she continues. “And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean ... You’re supposed to love being a mother, but don’t talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman, but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men’s bad behaviour, which is insane, but if you point that out, you’re accused of complaining. You’re supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood. But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. So find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful.
“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.”
In the scene, Gloria then admits that she’s “so tired” of watching herself and “every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us”. “And if all of that is also true for a doll just representing women, then I don’t even know,” she concluded.
The Barbie monologue highlighted the many double standards and contradictions that women face in a patriarchal society, which is why thousands of fans took to Twitter to praise the powerful message.
“Reading America Ferrera’s monologue in #Barbie before I go to bed every night like it’s my Bible,” said one user on Twitter.
“Made me cry,” another viewer said of the scene.
“Actually shed tears during this part! It is impossible to be a woman!” a third user wrote, while someone else said: “People in my movie theatre started clapping when she was finished and I thought that was beautiful.”
Others took the moment to applaud Ferrera’s Oscar-worthy delivery of the monologue, as well as screenwriter Greta Gerwig’s ability to create a heart-wrenching, standout moment across her three films: Lady Bird, Little Women, and now, Barbie.
“Woke up thinking about America Ferrera’s monologue in Barbie,” tweeted one fan. “Will go down as one of the best scenes of the year!”
“Thanks Greta, for saying what we all feel but do not have the courage to say it,” another wrote.
“Greta Gerwig really knows how to pull off that big third act monologue about being a woman that makes you cry and hits you right in the feelings because she’s somehow speaking to very common experiences we rarely utter out loud - and I love her for that,” said someone else.
Despite the high praise, some critics believed that the Barbie monologue was basic and surface-level, with one viewer comparing its messaging to “intro level feminism”. Still, fans pointed out the importance of witnessing such a truthful representation of womanhood on their screens.
“I’ve seen criticism that this is ‘intro level feminism’ and yeah, maybe, but it felt so affirming to have it said out loud in a major blockbuster film,” one person said. “I loved #Barbie, and this stays with me.”
Speaking to VanityFair, America Ferrera revealed that it took “30 to 50” takes to film her impassioned speech. “We shot it over two days,” the Barbie star told the outlet. “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.”
“It was probably 30 to 50 full runs of it, top to bottom,” Ferrera said, before adding that Ariana Greenblatt had the monologue memorised because of “how many times” she ran through the lines.
The 39-year-old actor also praised Gerwig for giving her “so much freedom” with the monologue.
“There were moments in shooting the movie where Greta really had written something in a very specific way that she heard a very specific way in her head with particular cadence in a particular speed or a particular inflection,” Ferrera said. “I thought maybe this would be like that, but it was the opposite. She wanted me to completely make it my own and find it as we did it.”
Following Barbie’s theatrical release, Greta Gerwig film broke the domestic box office record for biggest opening weekend ever for a female director. The film is estimated to amass more than $300m (£233m) internationally, making it the most successful opening of an original non-superhero film ever.
