We can say, for the most part, that audiences were ready for director Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, seeing as how it was the highest grossing movie last year, the highest grossing in Warner Bros. history, and the highest grossing film of all time for a female director. Fans showed up in costume, many of them over and over, to see the movie that resonated with audiences, especially female ones. But 30 years ago, the studio wasn’t ready to make a movie like this.
Academy Award-nominated actress Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct, Casino) commented on America Ferrera‘s social media post of her Critics Choice acceptance speech for her role in Barbie, and she recalled:
“I was laughed out if the studio when i came w the Barbie idea in the 90s w the support of the head of Barbie. How far we’ve come thank you ladies for your courage and endurance.”
The attitude exemplified by Stone’s experience wasn’t eradicated for a while. In subsequent years, an Amy Schumer Barbie movie was scrapped, as was one that had Anne Hathaway attached. Those last two weren’t that long ago, so you could probably blame the script idea or timing on those, but as for Stone’s 90s pitch, I don’t think women’s stories, scripts, and ideas were highly regarded at that time. We’ve come a long way, but in light of the Academy Award nominations this week, we still have a long way to go.
