Jodie Foster Believes Barbie's Success Proves One Important Thing

Summary

• Barbie is one of the most hyped films in the upcoming Oscar race.
• According to Jodie Foster, the film industry used to be very skeptical of female directors.
• The actress has said that Gerwig's Barbie has helped us see that such superstitions belong in the past.

As the 96th Academy Awards draws near, people are getting more and more excited as many remarkable films will be competing for the coveted title of Best Picture. One of the main contenders for the title is Greta Gerwig's pink-tinged comedy Barbie, which made a huge splash upon its release in the summer of 2023.

Following the titular character, portrayed by Margot Robbie, as she embarks on a quest to get to the root of her unexpected depression, Barbie immediately won over a wide audience with its seemingly light-hearted satire tackling such serious issues as gender inequality, societal pressures on individuals, and so on. As a result, it became the highest-grossing film of 2023, earning a whopping $1.4 billion at the box office. But it will most likely go down in history for another reason.

Barbie's Success = New Opportunities for Female Directors

Written and directed by Greta Gerwig, of Lady Bird and Little Women fame, Barbie became the highest-grossing film ever made by a female filmmaker. According to Jodie Foster, an iconic, two-time Oscar-winning actress whose career spans decades, the success of Gerwig's comedy will further empower female directors.

'I've had the beauty of being able to be in the business since the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, the 2000s, 2010s, 2020s and to have seen a great progression in the film business and in what audiences are willing to take in,' Foster said in a recent interview.

'That kind of freedom, the progression or getting better the consciousness of our audiences also translates to a kind of new thinking about who our marginalized voices are. In the old days, I think, they saw women as a "risk." Not sure why they [movie studios] saw us as a risk, that they were taking a risk on us – 50% of the population! But that thinking has changed now.'

Jodie Foster's View on Barbie's Contribution to Empowering Female Filmmakers

Jodie Foster on Barbie's contribution to empowering female filmmakers

Barbie was an extraordinary film in the sense that it had a staggering budget of over $140 million. Before that, no female director had ever received such impressive funding.

'With a big success like Barbie, they gave Greta Gerwig, who had really made two mostly independent films, they gave her the keys to the kingdom and said, "We're going to give you our most important child and we're going to give you all the money to support it, because we believe in you." That's new for women. And so, I hope that continues,' Jodie Foster added.

Hopefully this trend will continue and we'll see many more female-produced blockbusters in the near future.

Source: Variety.