We Attended the 'Barbie' Movie Press Conference – Here’s What We Know About the Film So Far

We were invited to the Barbie press conference in Sydney yesterday, and oh my god we are not ready for this.

Sydney was the first stop of the film’s global publicity tour, with director and writer Greta Gerwig, producer and ‘Barbie’ herself Margot Robbie, and actresses Issa Rae and America Ferrera, all in attendance.

So here’s the tea on what to expect from Barbie – a.k.a. one of the biggest releases this year.

The trailers have been exceptionally vague with what the plot of the film is - all we know so far is Barbie has an existential crisis in Barbie Land, and ends up in the real world.

But who exactly is the target audience?!

Greta Gerwig confirmed that in the U.S., the film has been given a rating of PG-13, but says that the movie is for everyone.

It’s for those who love Barbie, those who don’t, and for those of any age or gender.

Issa Rae, who plays President Barbie, says that the film also addresses the wide range of feelings people have towards Barbie and the franchise itself.

Greta describes the film as “wild and bananas”, and was asked if the film had to stick to any ‘rules’ while working with such a big IP.

Her answer? “If there were rules, I think we broke all of them.”

Even America said that when she read the script, she thought “are they going to even let Greta make this?”

America says that the film feels “important”, despite saying she didn’t grow up playing with Barbies, and didn’t feel represented in that world.

She says that the Barbie world that this film has created feels relevant to her, saying “it’s really exciting to be part of a moment that is expanding such a dominant... influential female iconic character in our global culture to include more of us, and also to include people with perspectives that aren’t necessarily positive and kind toward the very long legacy and history Barbie has.”

America says as a mother, she was thrilled this Barbie movie was getting made because it’s a “different world for young women, and boys, and non-binary people growing up in this day and age, to be seen and feel like they can look up into the things we value in our culture, and that they’re represented in it. It means everything to us.”

Issa Rae also talked about her concerns with tokenism and who else was going to be represented as Barbie, but said as soon as she walked on set “her fears were quelled” because there was “so much diversity of all types”.

She said Greta and Margot had “no interest in one specific type of Barbie being represented”, and walking onto set was “beautiful” and feeling like they were in a “perfect world that consists of everyone of every type.”

Margot discussed how important it is for a movie like Barbie to do well, stating “if Wonder Woman hadn’t done what Wonder Woman had done, I don’t know if people would’ve given us the budget we got to do [this movie].”

“I’m so grateful that Patty Jenkins made Wonder Woman,” added Greta.

If you’re still undecided about the movie, this is what Margot had to say at the end of the press conference:

“If you love Barbie, you’re gonna love it. If you hate Barbie, you’re gonna love it. But if you just like a good movie, you’re also gonna love it.

We’re planning our Barbie-core outfits as we speak.

Barbie releases in cinemas July 21.

Image: Supplied by Warner Bros.