Is It Greta Gerwig’s Barbie Movie Or A Pepto Bismol Commercial?
The “pink stuff” appears to be coating everything.

- A main character is embarrassed by a surprising new bodily function.
- Several people look like they might throw up.
- There’s quite a bit of singing and choreographed dancing.
- Several male characters are willing to open up about a sensitive subject.
- There is a crucial scene featuring construction workers.
- The construction workers are dressed head to toe in pink.
- Someone insists on speaking with a doctor.
- Someone offers the main character a hard-to-swallow remedy for their condition.
- Death is disclosed as a possible side effect of the remedy.
- A narrator excitedly declares that “pink does more than you think”.
- The “pink stuff” appears to be coating everything.
- The “pink stuff” works by glossing over some larger issues to create a smooth finish.
- A main character learns to make peace with the full complexities of the human body.
- The audience decides they would like to have some more “pink stuff” on hand.
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie Movie: 7, 9
A Pepto Bismol Commercial: 6, 10
Both: 1–5, 8, 11–14
Amy Greenlee occasionally writes to the sound of her kids screaming. She has written for McSweeney’s, Jane Austen’s Wastebasket, Frazzled, and The Weekly Humorist. You can find her on Twitter @greenleeish.
Read more from Amy on The Belladonna:
