Greta Gerwig’s Says, Her Catholic School Upbringing Greatly Inspired Filming ‘Barbie’

Greta Gerwig‘s Catholic background had a substantial influence on how she directs the “Barbie” film, as indicated by a couple of scenes.

In an interview with AP News, the filmmaker disclosed that there are many prominent parallels between Biblical stories and the setting of the movie.

“In the movie, like when it starts, she’s in a world where there’s no aging or death or pain or shame or self-consciousness, and then she suddenly becomes self-conscious — that’s a really old story,” Gerwig told AP News. “And we know that story.”

Gerwig states that her Catholic background has caused her to depend on these “older story forms.”

“I think I always go back to those older story forms because I went to Catholic school and I resonate with them,” she added.

The 39-year-old attended St. Francis Catholic High School in Sacramento, California, an all-girls school. The school’s website has her name listed as an alumna.

This isn’t the first time Gerwig or the “Barbie” cast have discussed the film’s connections to religious art and stories.

There’s a scene in the film where Barbie meets her inventor, Ruth Handler, that was shot in a way that resonates with a well-known piece of religious art, Gerwig told USA Today on Thursday.

“There’s this shot where Ruth hands Barbie a cup of tea, and the way we lined it up is the exact way that God is touching Adam on the Sistine Chapel,” Gerwig stated.

In a May interview with Vogue, Gerwig compared the creation of the Barbie doll to the accounts of creation in the Bible.

“Barbie was invented first,” Gerwig told Vogue. “Ken was invented after Barbie, to burnish Barbie’s position in our eyes and in the world. That kind of creation myth is the opposite of the creation myth in Genesis.”

In the same interview, Margot Robbie, who plays the eponymous character, told Vogue that Gerwig even composed “an abstract poem about Barbie” similar to the Apostles Creed to help set the tone of the movie.

Check out this short Youtube clip in which Greta Gerwig shares how Barbie was influenced by her Catholic upbringing:

Barbie released worldwide in theaters July 19th. Have you watched it yet? Please share  your reviews in the comment section.