Greta Gerwig is one of the most inspirational directors of our time with movies like France Ha, Lady Bird, Little Women, and of course this year's movie of the summer Barbie. 

What sets her apart from other directors is her ability to give women a voice which is what she has done for me. I first found out who Greta Gerwig was when I was fourteen sitting in a movie theater eating Chinese food with my friend. When the revamped Little Women came out I was amazed by what I saw come on the screen. Especially when the scene of Joe and Laurie on Hill came on or Joe's monologue about being women. Gerwig made every woman in that movie powerful in their way. In Little Women, Gerwig implements many wide shots, but not just for the sake of a pretty scene. After that, I tried to learn how much I could find out about her, which is when I came across the film Lady Bird. Gerwig became “the first woman in eight years to be nominated for a Best Director Oscar''. The National Society of Film Critics named Lady Bird Best Picture, and the New York Times’ A.O. Scott called it “perfect.” Steven Spielberg specifically requested a seat next to Gerwig at the Oscar nominees’ luncheon.  It's one of the most beautifully put-together movies I've ever seen. There's one part that brings me to tears every time I see it. Lady Bird is speaking to the nun and the nun talks about how she read her essay and that “she talks about the town she lives in with such care and attention and then the nun asks her if aren't the same thing love and attention.” Or when Lady Bird asks her mother if she felt “emotional the first time that [she] drove in Sacramento'', thus solidifying the importance of hometowns and a sense of place within the film. Much like in Lady Bird, place plays its role in the sense that the locations interact with the characters and there are distinct relationships between someone and where they are geographically. Greta Gerwig comes at filmmaking from all angles. She’s written, directed, and acted, but at the core, she is a lover of movies stating, “if theater was [her] first love, the cinema was [her] grown-up love” (Toronto Star).  She knows the power of seeing someone like yourself out there doing the thing you yearn to do. But she’s hopeful for a time when we won’t need to count every woman’s accomplishment as evidence.  And that's why she inspires me and many many women as well. Her 2023 movie Barbie came out this summer and it broke records for the largest opening by a female director and became the highest-grossing movie of the year worldwide. With themes of feminism, female empowerment, and the journey to self-discovery, Barbie has become extremely relatable to women everywhere.