Posted in: Movies, Warner Bros | Tagged: barbie, greta gerwig, jodie foster

Jodie Foster: The Support Gerwig Got For Barbie Is A Step Forward

Jodie Foster sees the support Greta Gerwig got with Barbie and Warner Bros. handing her the "keys to the kingdom" as a step forward for women.

When it comes to seeing progress in Hollywood, sometimes it feels like saying it is moving at a snail's pace is too generous. We can point to little things that seem to indicate that Hollywood might be waking up and realizing that more than one type of person can be trusted to make a movie. There were smaller, more modest hits like Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Then there was the utterly off-the-wall reaction to Saltburn. There is a decent chance that everyone will talk about Past Lives when the awards season wraps up, and with good reason. Then there is Barbie, which captivated audiences and critics alike this summer. The momentum behind Barbie has continued through the fall and into the awards season as the film picks up some well-deserved nominations, even if the likelihood of it winning any of the major categories appears to be shrinking. However, there is no denying that the film has made an impact and shown that women-led films can succeed when given the support they need. Or, as Jodie Foster put it in an interview conducted at Sundance with Variety when they "gave her the keys to the kingdom."

"I've had the beauty of being able to be in the business since the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, and so on," Foster said. "The progression or bettering of our audiences translates into a kind of new thinking about who our marginalized voices are. In the old days, they saw women as a risk. Not sure why they saw us as a risk — 50% of the population! That thinking has changed now. With a big success like 'Barbie,' they gave Greta Gerwig, who had 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 all the money to support it. That's new for women. I hope that continues."

However, for all of the progress that Gerwig with Barbie and others might have made this year, there will always be those steps backward. When The Marvels underperformed, it appeared that everyone up to Disney CEO Bob Iger was quick to throw director Nia DaCosta under the bus. In the wake of The Marvels underperforming, some outlets spent weeks reporting every little thing that DaCosta did that would paint her in a bad light, like not attending certain wrap parties or screenings, as if it was somehow a massive deal. It should be noted that the woman thrown under the bus is a woman of color, and the woman handed the keys of the kingdom is white. However, we can barely get some people to acknowledge that racism in this country exists, let alone how to approach it and how to attempt to change specifically the sexism women of color face. Snail's pace, indeed.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!