Controversial Barbie Movie Scene: Director Reveals Helen Mirren's Unforgettable Line!

Summary

Despite its family-friendly marketing, the film's sophisticated humor and thought-provoking social messages struck a chord with viewers of various age groups, garnering immense praise from critics.

A second f-bomb that was intended to be spoken by Helen Mirren's unseen narrator at the start of the movie was planned but ultimately removed. Greta Gerwig, the director of Barbie, discloses that another f-bomb almost made it into the final version of the film but was ultimately edited out. Towards the end of the movie, President Barbie (Issa Rae) unexpectedly utters a censored curse word, with the Mattel logo concealing her mouth, representing the closest Barbie comes to pushing the boundaries of an R-rated moment. This line was quite astonishing, yet it encapsulated the PG-13 humor of the film.

During an interview with CinemaBlend, Gerwig mentioned that there was a deleted scene in Barbie where narrator Helen Mirren would have used the f-word. In this scene, there was a humorous exchange involving Marie Curie, but it didn't make it into the final version. The intended line was Helen Mirren's character telling Marie Curie to quiet down using explicit language. Although this was one of Gerwig's favorite lines, it was decided that they could only include one f-bomb and they wanted it to set the tone for the entire film. Ultimately, the line didn't make it into the final cut due to editing decisions, and everyone involved was cautious about its inclusion.

Greta Gerwig's Barbie Wasn't Afraid Of Pushing The Boundaries of A PG-13 Rating

The Barbie brand has always been associated with young children, and its previous animated films have always targeted kids. However, Gerwig's Barbie adaptation takes a bold approach by creating a version of the character that adults can enjoy more than children. The movie includes daring jokes, with the most surprising one being a curse uttered by Rae's President Barbie in the climax.

Despite censoring the swear, many critics boldly declared that Barbie was not intended for kids or even young teenagers. However, the movie's PG-13 humor is also one of the reasons why it received immense praise from both critics and audiences. They hailed Barbie as a daring adaptation of the well-known Mattel doll. The humor fearlessly embraced maturity, and its universal social themes may resonate more with older viewers than children.

It is particularly intriguing to note that there existed another, presumably uncensored, profanity that had been intended for inclusion in the movie right from the start. This choice would have undeniably established a tone that implied Barbie might not be suitable for children. Despite being marketed as a venture suitable for the whole family, the use of profanity in the film demonstrated a willingness to surpass the limits of a PG-13 rating and challenge the conventional notions of what constitutes a Barbie movie. Ultimately, Gerwig managed to ingeniously transform a property that was often perceived as lacking depth.