Greta Gerwig: an intellect with the heart of a young maiden 

Greta Gerwig is the kind of film director loved by both the general crowd as well as intellectuals.

Gerwig, much like directors Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola and Francois Ozon, possesses a natural ability to take into consideration both business and art; she always finds an appropriate point of balance between basic commercial demands and self-expression in her films. of proportion. On top of that, she has one great advantage: her firm but non-extreme feminist stance.

Where she comes from complements the current times, a time where feminism is flourishing. This gives her films a natural advantage in the fields of public opinion. To a certain extent, Gerwig has become not just a director, but also an artistic superstar with strong political undertones, as well as a cultural symbol of the era.

Her films perennially focus on independent women. In "Little Women", the protagonist, Jo, is a writer who refuses to stick to the “established path” for women - that is, marriage. In "Lady Bird", its protagonist is a rebellious lady unwilling to follow the rules of a church school. In "Barbie", the female lead, Stereotypical Barbie, decides to break stereotypes; she rejected Ken Land, the patriarchal society of unjust dominance by men, as well as the dreamy, pinkish world of self-restriction and discipline.

Gerwig’s protagonists are sensitive but not weak, lonely but not withdrawn, strong but not violent. The characters in her films all sport an idealism with a realist undertone; they are also action oriented.

Gerwig’s works, furthermore, brim with a certain kind of girlish wonder, which essentially stems from an instinctive boredom towards grand narratives. In her films, grand narratives exist basically as a unique display of male authority. For example, in "Lady Bird", after coitus, Kyle started rambling about the wars in the world. Christine, however, stopped him in frustration; because at this moment, her pain of being lied to (Kyle is not a virgin as he has previously claimed, whilst she is) is much more real compared to any pain caused by abstract and distant wars. She hates Kyle’s hypocrisy, hates him for trying to cover his hypocrisy by talking about “grand” topics. In the eyes of Greta Gerwig, those seemingly minute pains in reality are more important than distant and grand events.

And precisely because of this, Gerwig flamboyantly showcases day-to-day trivial matters between young girls. Such acts of relish showcase the ultimate deconstruction of grand narratives beloved by men.

Additionally, Gerwig's greatest satirical instincts are aroused in the faces of inequality between men and women (in reality and within our cultural norms), as well as the weak self-esteem of men. At such moments, she becomes like a critical commentator on current affairs, whether it is the male publisher's insistence on a happy ending (for Jo’s book) for the protagonist in "Little Women", or in "Lady Bird", where Kyle (played by Timothee Chalamet) is always pretentious and acts aloof, or even the Kens in "Barbie" being easily deceived by Barbies’ little tricks that allow the former to show off their masculinity; one can clearly see and feel the sharpness and criticality of her narratives.

However, Gerwig’s criticisms do not turn her films serious or bitter. She has always been director with works that exude a kind of fun-ish middle-class feel, and she shows little interest in dramas depicting the bottom levels of society or too intense a topic. Her criticisms are more like the kind of sharp words spoken by the middle class and intellectual class in salons. Their cleverness have to a certain degree alleviated their seriousness; instead, they provided a lower viewing threshold for Gerwig’s movies compared to works by many other more serious directors.

There exists a faint sense of tragedy in her films. Such tragedies hail not only from the so-called patriarchal society, but also from essential dilemmas of life; they also hail from moments of confrontation between people's selfish weaknesses and their best selves, from a sudden sting via the awakening of their hearts’ ideals at a certain moment in their daily lives; then, this sting becomes quickly overwhelmed by the banalities of life.

For example, in "Little Women", eldest sister Meg is attracted to the ideals of a perfect romance but is at the same time unwilling to give up a life of luxury. When her moments of discomfort and regret at living a life of austerity surfaces, they are so real and relatable. She once dreamt of becoming an actress but ends up trapped living a long and bleak life. Although it must agreed that women essentially lack opportunities then, Meg’s own weakness is also to blame.

Criticality and tenderness go hand in hand in Greta Gerwig's films. Gerwig’s sharpness allows her to discover those little tragic moments of ordinary folks; furthermore, because of such a sharpness, her movies exude a kind of tolerance. She knows that all these tragedies are not caused by a singular factor. Rather, it is due to the combined forces of time, oneself and destiny; the world is never perfect, and so you have to bear the price of your choices.

Such an understanding bestows upon Gerwig joy to display the complexity of her characters. In "Little Women", Jo, filled with autonomy and a mind for independence, also had a moment where she wants to return to an orthodox married life, because living a life of self-respect and owning one’s freedom is by no means an easy task. In "Lady Bird", the protagonist’s independence is undeniably the natural result of her pursuit of freedom; however, her vanity plays an obvious part as well. She is desperate to appear differentiated, and her inferiority complex and unremarkable family background becomes her greatest armor to protect her heart.

With regard to the aforementioned complexity, Gerwig did not elucidate them through exasperation or any manner of exposure; rather, she do it in a level-headed and considerate way. She is nonjudgmental. You can't even say that she is compassionate, because compassion is too solemn and too upright. It is obvious that she finds such rigidity distasteful.

The crack in her monolith is more akin to the self-deprecation and cynicism of a sarcastic individual.

Greta Gerwig’s display of intelligence in her works are evident; this strength of hers also stops her from aligning completely to any one side of the argument; she loves to express the paradoxes in our lives.

This is precisely how the protagonist feels about her hometown in “Lady Bird”. She always wants to escape from it, but when she finally leaves, she realises that she is inseparable from it. Her criticism on everything about her hometown that appears to be hatred is actually just an inverted expression of her love.

The seemingly perfect world for women in “Barbie” is in actuality just another form of bondage: it is a luxurious and scintillating prison designed by men. Such an over-achieving “Utopia” is in fact a rejection of reality; for us, only through embracing reality could we truly give women recognition. In this film, Gerwig also criticized extreme feminism. When women becomes the absolute dominant gender, the domestication of men is actually no different from the domestication of women by men in the real world. Compared with finding your true self, the game of thrones between the sexes to conquer each other appears banal.

Gerwig’s works do not display grand ambitions. Her works display a kind of girlish playfulness and innocence, light and sweet as a dessert, but also sophisticated and thorough like a middle-aged intellectual lady. Her political commentator-like combativeness and eloquence on gender issues give her films a certain essayistic feel. On the other hand, her pursuit of fun obviously surpasses her desire for expression. So Gerwig seems to have a natural immunity to seriousness, which turns the acrimony in her films into a sharp needle: it stabs in for a moment and withdraws immediately.

Such a directorial style is both her charm and her weakness; she cares too much about the pleasure brought about by such instantaneous cleverness; such stylish displays make her movies feel like some kind of “exquisite, tasty fast food”. Such intricacies do not possess oppressive reflections and satire. This in turn satisfies general audiences who are not exactly patient and requires less mental stimulation; at the same time, they also lose the possibility for one to truly ruminate on profound issues.