Greta Gerwig Cut A "Fart Opera" Scene From Barbie

Greta Gerwig almost had to cut some of Barbie’s most memorable scenes, but one of the things she actually did remove may have turned out to be one of the film’s most bizarre moments. In a July 27 interview with IndieWire, the writer-director revealed that she omitted what could have been one of the most elaborate fart jokes in the history of cinema, calling it a “fart opera.”

Gerwig and her longtime editing partner Nick Houy explained that she incorporated an extravagant fart joke in the initial cut of Barbie, fulfilling a longtime goal of theirs. “We’ve always tried to get in a proper fart joke and we’ve never done it,” Gerwig said. “We had like a fart opera in the middle [of Barbie]. I thought it was really funny. And that was not the consensus.” She did not provide any context of what the “fart opera” looked like, but it’s safe to assume that the Kens were involved somehow.

Gerwig has not spoken about other moments that were cut from the Barbie script, but the movie did undergo reshoots with stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in April, after test screenings but before the film’s July 21 premiere, meaning there are potentially more deleted scenes in the vault. Naturally, some Twitter users immediately demanded to see the fart cut of Barbie.

The consensus came from audiences at test screenings, which Gerwig and Houy decided to hold for Barbie because it was more of a “comedy” than any of their previous films, including Oscar-nominated fare Lady Bird and Little Women. “So we were just, like, ‘Let’s put it in front of people and see how they react,’” Gerwig explained. “Everyone’s different and every screening’s different and we’ve definitely learned, over the years, that you really have to let things have their fair chance and then act accordingly. Once you know it’s dead, you have got to get it out of there.”

Houy went on to admit that the scene “was in the wrong place, too,” explaining why it may not have translated onscreen to lucky viewers. However misguided this idea was, the duo is still determined to incorporate a “fart opera” in a future film. “We need to work it into a more significant narrative moment next time,” he said. If early talks of future Barbie sequels come to fruition, then they may have another chance to get it right.