America Ferrera’s Powerful ‘Barbie’ Monologue Garnered Strong Mixed Emotions From People Online

Aug 04, 2023

Greta Gerwig wears many hats — she is an actress, scriptwriter and director. Gerwig’s foray into the movie world started through acting, but after her directorial debut, “Lady Bird” and the subsequent success of “Little Women,” she went on to become one of today's most successful and celebrated women directors.

"Barbie" is a fantasy comedy film directed by Gerwig and written by her and her partner, filmmaker Noah Baumbach. The movie, which is based on Mattel's Barbie fashion dolls, is the first live-action Barbie film after several animated versions.

On July 21, 2023, “Barbie” premiered in cinemas worldwide and has become an instant phenomenon and has since been considered a pop culture treasure. What made the movie special, according to many, was how relatable and poignant the film was as opposed to those who mistook it to only be a fluff comedy about the famous doll. 

"Barbie" follows Barbie and Ken on their journey to self-discovery following Barbie's existential crisis. The film is nothing like any of the other CGI animated versions that were earlier released. It is progressive, portraying a matriarchal society where all women are self-confident, self-sufficient and successful. 

While Margot Robbie’s performance as “Stereotypical Barbie” was widely lauded, it was America Ferrera’s monologue about women that certainly took the cake. Read on to learn more about the said speech and how people reacted to it. 

Ferrera's character Gloria is crucial to the plot of the film. In fact, after Robbie and Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken, Ferrera was the next most important character. Ferrera's performance in "Barbie" was lauded by critics and fans, primarily because of her feminist monologue that got people wiping their tears in theaters. 

Speaking to Vanity Fair about the monologue, Ferrera said she knew how important her speech was before the movie even came out. 

“I read the monologue and it hit me as powerful and meaningful," she said about the speech that she rehearsed 30 to 50 times. "It also felt like, wow, what a gift as an actor to get to deliver something that feels so cathartic and truthful. But it also felt like this pivotal moment that I obviously didn’t want to mess up. There was a little bit of healthy pressure around it.”

Similarly, the crew and cast of the film also had “strong reactions” to her monologue, as revealed by Gerwig in an interview with The Atlantic. 

“When America was giving her beautiful speech, I was just sobbing, and then I looked around and I realized everybody’s crying on the set. The men are crying, too, because they have their own speech they feel they can’t ever give, you know? And they have their twin tightrope, which is also painful. There’s something about some of these structures that are just, you know, ‘Somebody make me stop!’ That’s sort of, I suppose, the feeling behind Ken.”

Many critics and fans have lauded Ferrera for her very poignant and moving delivery of the now-iconic monologue. Read the full text here.  

"It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful and so smart, and it kills me that you don't think you're good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we're always doing it wrong. You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin," her character said in the movie. 

People who watched the film have taken to social media to express their thoughts about Ferrera’s monologue. 

“Think I’m going to frame America Ferrera’s That Speech from #Barbie. Is it possible to be a woman from my generation and not sob when you hear it? Here’s hoping that when my 11yo is all grown up she has no idea why that speech is so moving,” a user shared. 

“Reading America Ferrera’s monologue in #Barbie before I go to bed every night like it’s my Bible,” another posted.

"A lot of these people forget that this is also Barbie’s first intro to feminism," a user reflected. "SHE needed that speech they’re criticizing for being too basic. She’s a stand-in for all the people in real life who have to start from somewhere, but they’re forgetting that."

Meanwhile, not everyone was pleased. Some people have branded the speech and the movie to be liberal propaganda. Notably, conservative internet personality Ben Shapiro uploaded a video blasting the film and everything he disliked about it. Podcaster Christian Toto called the film a “two-hour woke-a-thon brimming with feminist lectures and nuclear-level rage against men.”

Meanwhile, CBS journalist Aubrey Gelpieryn initially thought that the speech was quite repetitive until her mother made her realize otherwise. 

"..She called me after asking if I knew how she could get a text copy of the speech because that was the first time she'd heard someone talk like that about being a woman and she wanted to be able to read it back," she said on TikTok. "And then I realized that's why the speech exists. Because not everyone watching the movie grew up the same way I did and for some people, the speech in 'Barbie' will be the first time they feel seen by a movie they're seeing."

Have you watched the “Barbie” movie? What can you say about America Ferrera’s speech? Do you relate to it like many people? Let us know, and pass this on to your family and other female friends out there!