According to the profile, Baumbach and Gerwig really just went for it when it came to the Barbie movie, considering that Mattel and Robbie’s production company Lucky Chap gave them full creative freedom. Gerwig even penned a poem, apparently; as Robbie relayed to Vogue, “Greta wrote an abstract poem about Barbie. And when I say ‘abstract,’ I mean it was super abstract.” Interviewer Abby Aguire noted that Gerwig chose not to read the poem but said that it “shares some similarities with the Apostles’ Creed.”

Gerwig also said that the overall idea was somewhat inspired by a book she read as a kid called “Reviving Ophelia,” a popular book in the 1990s. The book focuses on why young girls in America become more reserved and cautious as they grow up, which caught Gerwig’s attention. “They’re funny and brash and confident, and then they just—stop,” Gerwig said, going on to say that remembering this ended up giving her a jolt of creative inspiration for Barbie’s modern story. “How is this journey the same thing that a teenage girl feels? All of a sudden, she thinks, Oh, I’m not good enough,” Gerwig continued.