Greta Gerwig Shared Why She Ended 'Barbie' With That Iconic Last Line

Now that everyone is nursing a hot pinkBarbiehangover and dusting sparkles and glitter off their Barbie-pink clothes, director Greta Gerwig is opening up aboutthatfinal line from the film major spoilers ahead. As the movie (which made history as the "biggest debut ever for a film directed by a woman" after earning $162 million at

Now that everyone is nursing a hot pink Barbie hangover and dusting sparkles and glitter off their Barbie-pink clothes, director Greta Gerwig is opening up about that final line from the film — major spoilers ahead. As the movie (which made history as the "biggest debut ever for a film directed by a woman" after earning $162 million at the domestic box office, according to Variety) came to a close, Margot Robbie's Barbie struts into a nondescript office building and says something that Gerwig mentioned is a joke, but made some fans' jaws drop.

After some major moments involving the Kens' desire for world domination, Barbie's choice to come to the real world instead of her Malibu fantasy, and Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For" bringing on the waterworks, Barbie comes up to a receptionist and says, "I'm here to see my gynecologist."

Gerwig explained that the final moment was intended to deliver on "two levels:" as a joke and as an emotional situation that all women have to deal with.

"With this film, it was important for me that everything operated on at least two levels. I knew I wanted to end on a mic-drop kind of joke, but I also find it very emotional," Gerwig told USA Today. Of course, the joke part was that Barbie had real anatomy now instead of a plastic one. And the emotion? Gerwig noted that she, like many women, grew up being ashamed and embarrassed about her body and wanted to change that. 

"When I was a teenage girl, I remember growing up and being embarrassed about my body, and just feeling ashamed in a way that I couldn't even describe," she said. "It felt like everything had to be hidden."

Courtesy Warner Bros.

"And then to see Margot as Barbie, with this big old smile on her face, saying what she says at the end with such happiness and joy," Gerwig said. "I was like, if I can give girls that feeling of, 'Barbie does it, too' — that's both funny and emotional. There are so many things like that throughout the movie. It was always about looking for the levity and the heart."

Of course, Gerwig faced some hesitation from higher-ups as she was developing her take on Barbie, which she noted was created to empower women (Barbie can — and does — do it all, right?). 

Robbie told Fandango that she was surprised the film got to push so many boundaries, saying, "Greta kinda pushes [the movie] in directions that I didn't think [Mattel] would let us go in. I think a big part of that was kind of acknowledging the things that people find problematic about Barbie, as well as the things that people love about Barbie."

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