This Queer-Favorite Classic Movie Inspired Greta Gerwig’s Barbie
Barbieland is open to all friends of Dorothy.
If you watch this teaser trailer for Greta Gerwig's upcoming doll movie to end all doll movies, you'll notice that the movie theater marquee in Barbie's pastel-drenched world is showing Victor Fleming's iconic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz . Of course, that's no coincidence. In a recent interview with Letterboxd , Gerwig explained that the queer-favorite musical fantasy — which stars none other than Judy Garland — is one of the key inspirations for Barbie .
"[ The Wizard of Oz ] does something that I wanted to emulate," she said. "[It has] these incredible soundstages, and these painted skies, and this sense of, I say, 'authentically artificial,' which I think is very beautiful and emotional. I think of the painted backdrop of the Emerald City as they go towards it."
Pro tip for moviegoers: Keep your eyes peeled for Barbie's Pink Brick Road, an obvious homage to The Wizard of Oz 's famous Yellow Brick Road.
With its vision of escaping close-minded small town life for a vibrant world of adventure where even the most ordinary-seeming people can be heroes, it's no wonder that Wizard of Oz has remained beloved by generations of queer cinephiles. And of course, Judy Garland's enduring legacy as a gay icon can't be understated.
"Dorothy is inseparable from Judy — the anguished, dreaming quality, escaping from a drab black-and-white world where adults misunderstand her," author Nathaniel Frank told Entertainment Weekly when asked about Wizard of Oz and Garland's queer following. "Then this stormy day catapults her over the rainbow to a dream world where a cadre of lovable misfits like herself want to protect her."
Ironically, trailers for Barbie suggest that the world's most famous doll will embark on the opposite journey, going from a perfectly artificial utopia with no self-reflection into the real world, where she discovers what it means to be human, imperfections and all.
Musical theater gays will be happy to know that Gerwig cited a handful of other legendary old Hollywood musicals as Barbie inspirations, including Singin' in the Rain (1952) and Oklahoma (1995).
I'd venture to say that the Barbie movie's embrace of campy yet emotionally rich musical sensibilities is a major reason why it's become so many queer moviegoers' most anticipated summer release. Couple that with Barbie's exaggerated femininity and Ken's longstanding history as a gay symbol , and you've got a blockbuster that feels tailor-made for the girls and gays.
Hari Nef, who plays one of the film's Barbies, recalled a similar energy on set.
"I'm a lover of drag. I'm a lover and admirer from afar of ballroom culture," she recently told Out magazine . "I've joked before, it really did feel like Greta Gerwig's Drag Race . Because I was doing acting, dancing, comedy, and the whole time I was cinched, wigged, painted from head to toe, padded, heels… It felt kind of like a legacy that I could honor onscreen of dolls dolling."
The forthcoming flick features a number of openly LGBTQ+ actors, including Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kate McKinnon, and Scott Evans.
Barbie hits theaters July 21.
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