Barbie Fart Opera Cut Actually Exists
There is a Barbie Fart Opera cut of the popular movie that was scrapped at the last minute
Barbie is the sort of film you’d never expect to get made — an absurdist but strangely deep big-budget film surrounding a well-known brand that mixes slapstick humor and biting cultural satire. Not only did it get made, but it has also already raked in $550 million globally after just over one week in theaters. However, IndieWire reveals one part of the movie that was too much to make it into Barbie — a literal “fart opera.”
According to Barbie director Greta Gerwig, she had written a so-called fart opera into the middle of the screenplay. It managed to stay there throughout about two-thirds of the editing process before she and her collaborator Nick Houy finally decided to scrap it. According to Gerwig, most people reading the script didn’t think it was as funny as she did.
Greta Gerwig wrote a Barbie fart opera into the middle of the screenplay
Sadly, Gerwig never made it clear what exactly Barbie‘s fart opera would entail. It clearly implies that multiple characters would be musically trumpeting away. What’s not clear is who, or why, the characters would break out into a chorus of melodic emissions.
We do know the reason that Barbie‘s script had a fart opera to begin with, however. Apparently, Gerwig and Houy have always been trying to insert a fart joke into their films — including the 2017 comedy-drama Lady Bird and (I’m not kidding) the 2019 adaptation of the 1868 coming-of-age novel Little Women.
For better or for worse, audiences never got to see Jo, Meg, Amy or Beth rip a big one as they learn about the responsibilities and complexities of adulthood in mid-1800s New York.
It was probably obvious from the start that a fart joke in Little Women or Lady Bird would be a non-starter. However, the manic, chaotic tone of Barbie meant that a well-placed fart joke (or opera, as the case may be) might actually work. But as Gerwig explained, they eventually realized keeping the gaseous scene in the film might turn away more members of the audience than they’d be willing to lose.
“There’s always some person that has an issue with these structures,” said Houy. “Getting it down to that one person instead of half the audience was a big challenge.”
Both Gerwig and Houy realized that Barbie’s fart opera went against a piece of screenwriting wisdom that has led them to such success over the course of their careers. No matter what unexpected directions they send their stories careening into, they need to make sure that the audience is along for the ride. If the audience can’t stay engaged with the story you’re telling, then there’s not much point in telling the story to begin with.
You have to keep your reader in the sidecar with you. As you’re writing and editing, you keep checking on them,” said Gerwig. “Is the reader still in the sidecar or did I lose the reader on a turn?”
“[…]you have to keep your reader in the sidecar with you. As you’re writing and editing, you keep checking on them,” said Gerwig. “Is the reader still in the sidecar or did I lose the reader on a turn?”
Barbie already has an almost whiplash-inducing pace that just manages to keep dangling along as it careens in unexpected directions — having the characters farting along in an operatic overture apparently felt like a little too much. Gerwig also admitted that her fart opera wasn’t in the right place in the script — if Barbie and Ken were going to blast some music, it would have to have narrative significance, dang it!
Ultimately, that’s advice that any aspiring screenwriter should follow: if a character is going to fart, make sure it means something. Farts are important and should not be wasted.
