Greta Gerwig on Adding Proust ‘Easter Egg’ to ‘Barbie’, Linking to ‘Oppenheimer’

The playful rivalry between Greta Gerwig Barbie and Christopher Nolan Oppenheimer continues.

Not only have the films’ same-day release dates, July 21, kicked off a “Barbieheimer” phenomenon on social media, but the two films, with completely contrasting themes, also bear other similarities.

During a recent interview with the Associated pressPosted online Thursday, Gerwig explained why he chose to reference infamous author Marcel Proust in the film.

“In ‘Remembrance of Things Past,’ in ‘Swann’s Way,’ he is literally catapulted back to his childhood through the taste of the madeleine,” he explained. “I thought, well, that would make a nice Easter egg for one person.”

The specific scene the director refers to is when Margot Robbie’s Barbie enters its plastic packaging and points out that the familiar smell is a Proustian memory. Will Ferrell’s CEO Mattell character then goes on to say, “Remember Proust Barbie? She didn’t sell well.

But what Gerwig didn’t know is that this weekend’s competition film also has a connection to Proust. Nolan’s film is based on American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb, and Oppenheimer, the man himself, is said to have had a appreciation for the author Also.

When Gerwig learned of the connection, she replied, “So he would have loved Proust Barbie!”

The highly anticipated film follows Robbie’s Barbie and Ryan Gosling’s Ken, who seem to live this perfect, colorful life in Barbie Land. But when Barbie gets a chance to enter the real human world, she embarks on a journey to understand herself and discover her true purpose.

At the beginning of the interview, Gerwig also shared whether she likes reading movie reviews once they’re out and what her thoughts were after seeing some of those for Barbie.

“Obviously. I’m not Emily Dickinson. I’m not above anything,” she said, noting that she waited until the following day to read them because she was too nervous to watch Wednesday. liked them. Film criticism is important to me as a person and having a conversation with people who think about cinema is also important. But it can feel very scary the moment you are in the emotional tone of releasing a film to absorb it.

Gerwig added that she also likes to look back at the reviews a few weeks later so “she can take in more.”

“It’s too overwhelming right now,” said the director. “But I checked the email and I’m happy. (Barbie) seems to have been received in the spirit in which it was intended, which is exciting.”

Barbie opens in theaters Friday.