“You Can Be Anything”: How Greta Gerwig’s Films Have Transformed Feminist Tales

Greta Gerwig. She’s probably known best through Barbie, the blockbuster film that shattered world records and created a summer of pink. You may know her as the first female director to achieve a $1 billion box office record. Either way, her countless accomplishments and revolutionary filmmaking are probably best known for her feminist outlook on her stories. From Lady Bird to Little Women to Barbie, Gerwig is proficient in writing characters—a majority being women who are nuanced, well-developed, and portrayed realistically. What makes her work so fantastically feminist? And how does it truly capture womanhood?

Lady Bird (2017)

Greta Gerwig made her solo directorial debut with Lady Bird, a coming-of-age film that follows Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan). The movie explores her senior year of high school as she struggles with her identity and longs for a more exciting life. Through the movie, Lady Bird seeks independence from her overbearing mother, while dealing with the complexities of teenagehood — friendships and first loves. She dreams of attending college on the East Coast and grapples with the challenges of growing up. The film would later be chosen as one of the top ten films of 2017 and go on to earn five nominations at the 90th Academy Awards.

 In many ways, Lady Bird is a feminist take on teenagehood. At the core of this film was the turbulent relationship she held with her mother, Marion, and with her best friend, Julie. In the world of Lady Bird, boys are selfish and momentary. Such a story was, at the time, unusual for Hollywood. What was a coming-of-age without a love interest, without a boy to define your teenage years? Lady Bird instead shows a young woman learning to become her own person apart from relationships. How she values herself is almost entirely independent from her romantic relationships, and, instead, a reflection of her character. Therefore, It makes sense then that her most significant relationship is with the women in her life. 

It’s also worth noting Gerwig’s take on what the Chicago Tribune describes as “quiet feminism.” They write: “No heroes, no demons, no slogans, no speeches, just Gerwig’s keen vision of a smart young woman with big ideas, a woman like she was at that age like a lot of young women are” (Page and Schmich). That’s what makes the movie so real. Lady Bird takes real life and authentically portrays her journey through self-discovery, highlighting the complexities of female identity and challenging the limitations she faces in everyday life. 

Little Women (2019)

“We Regret to Inform You That Little Women Is Not a Feminist Novel” is the title of a Vulture article published in 2018. In 2019, Gerwig’s movie adaptation was released and The New York Times released an article titled: “This is ‘Little Women’ for a New Era.” So, how did she manage to take an inherently ‘non-feminist’ tale, full of the obsession with wifely duties and the patriarchy, and transform it into one of “ambitious, angry [characters who] have agency” (Bennett)?

Greta Gerwig’s Little Women is an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel of the same name, following the lives of the March sisters — Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy — during and after the Civil War. The movie cleverly weaves the sisters’ childhood and adulthood into moving parts as it explores themes of family, ambition, and the struggle for independence. Jo, the aspiring writer, grapples with societal expectations for women and her desire for freedom. Meg yearns for stability. Beth is selfless and compassionate. Finally, Amy navigates her artistic ambitions. As the sisters face love, loss, and growth, the movie highlights their journeys. Specifically, Gerwig’s emphasis on female empowerment showcases the complex narrative of each of these character’s lives. 

The film is often known for its empowering monologues, such as:

"Well. I'm not a poet, I'm a woman. And as a woman, I have no way to make money, not enough to earn a living and support my family. And even if I had my own money, which I don't, it would belong to my husband the minute we were married. If we had children they would belong to him, not me. They would be his property. So don't sit there and tell me that marriage isn't an economic proposition because it is. It may not be for you, but it most certainly is for me."

— Amy March, when discussing the idea of marriage with Theodore Laurence

So, it is no surprise that Gerwig’s adaptation retells these stories through a feminist lens. While Gerwig maintains the historical aspects of the novel, she brings a modern outlook on such histories. Specifically, she brings out the feminist undertones of the story, portraying each sister as ambitious, talented, burdened, and determined. They aren’t perfect heroines waiting for their knight in shining armour to save them. Instead, they are human. They fight. They are flawed. They make mistakes. They are women. 

At the end of the day, the March sisters are representations of realistic women who yearn to be represented on screen, making Gerwig’s Little Women spectacularly feminist. It’s described best by Queens Journal, who writes: “Gerwig’s Little Women isn’t a romance, or a coming-of-age tale, or a didactic lecture on what women should aspire to be. Instead, it’s a sharp, unapologetic portrayal of the highs and lows of womanhood, and the barriers that women faced in the past—and still face—in their careers and personal lives” (Talbot). 

So, above all else, it’s why such stories, about women by women, are ever so important. 

Barbie (2023)

The Barbie movie took the world by storm when it first released in the summer of 2023. Not only was it a movie of the beloved toy that many of us had grown up playing with, but, Gerwig’s directorial genius shined through in her feminist storytelling. For Barbie, the doll that is, the sky was the limit. She could be anything. She broke the rules and, essentially, the social limitations for how little girls and young women could behave. It was, perhaps, even more powerful, then, that the movie managed to get the idea of feminism through to audiences of all ages. 

The act, though, unfortunately, complex, the idea of feminism isn’t. It’s the idea of equality. And, so, while some argued that Barbie was too simplistic or dumbed-down, it made it a good introduction to feminist principles. Specifically, the film challenges the traditional notion of what it means to be a woman and celebrates their agency and potential. Gerwig managed to lay a foundation down that hopefully carries us towards a brighter future. 

Through the exploration of all three films, Gerwig’s ability to storytell through a feminist perspective is evident. Her movies stand as a testament to how feminist stories continue to be portrayed, proving that narratives centred on real women can be deeply personal and resonate with many worldwide. Such storytelling not only invites audiences to explore the complexity of womanhood but also works to empower viewers and remind them of their talent, ambition, and drive. As the film industry continues to evolve with the challenges of gender equality and gendered portrayal, Gerwig’s films remind us that these stories can inspire generations to believe in the boundless possibilities of who they can be. Like Barbie said, “You Can Be Anything.”