The Final Line In Barbie Is So Much More Than Just A Joke

Every Barbie screening is guaranteed to end with the theater erupting in laughter, because the movie’s final line is one of its best jokes. The moment is a huge payoff that the film had been quietly building to all along, but although it’s hilarious, it actually carries a much deeper and more emotional meaning for director Greta Gerwig. Now that the last line is no longer a secret, Gerwig opened up about why it was so important for her to end the movie with that statement.

Spoiler alert: Don’t read on if you haven’t seen Barbie yet. Gerwig described that last exchange as a “mic drop” moment that perfectly balances “the levity and the heart” of Barbie. After she becomes human, Barbie’s first order of business is to book a specific medical appointment. She walks up to a receptionist, and with an elated smile on her face, she declares, “I’m here to see my gynecologist.”

Not only is it a laugh-out-loud payoff to the movie’s various references to the complete lack of sexuality among the Barbies and Kens, it’s also an unabashed dismantling of the shame surrounding women’s bodies. Gerwig said the line was meant to destigmatize female sexuality for girls who look up to Barbie.

“With this film, it was important for me that everything operated on at least two levels,” Gerwig said in a July 22 USA Today interview. “I knew I wanted to end on a mic drop kind of joke, but I also find it very emotional. When I was a teenage girl, I remember growing up and being embarrassed about my body, and just feeling ashamed in a way that I couldn't even describe. It felt like everything had to be hidden.”

“And then to see Margot as Barbie, with this big old smile on her face, saying what she says at the end with such happiness and joy,” Gerwig continued. “I was like — if I can give girls that feeling of, ‘Barbie does it, too’ — that’s both funny and emotional. There are so many things like that throughout the movie. It was always about looking for the levity and the heart.”