2023’s Summer cinema hits are being cited as an omen of a renaissance in the film industry. The release of both Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer on the same day, July 21st, was spoken about for months prior to the actual event as the juxtaposition of both films’ aesthetics captured the attention of users online. The film titles were combined to create the cultural phenomenon known as “Barbenheimer”. Though it started as a rivalry of audience creation, it quickly developed into one of the strangest double bills you could sign yourself up for and the hype surrounding it was explosive as bootleg merch, fake posters and arguments over the correct viewing order spread like wildfire across the internet. To what I’m certain was the absolute delight of all production companies involved, there was little need for marketing as the heavy lifting was done by potential viewers long before any campaign began. The eventual arrival of said campaigns saw Barbie’s budget allowing for an abundance of pink, frills, and expensive PR stunts and teasers. Oppenheimer kept on the down-low with the standard round of press tours yet still was always being mentioned in the same sentence as its designated significant other, ensuring the retention of audience anticipation and setting the stage for success.
Long before the films were released, it was clear that the crux of it came down to the marketability of Barbie. The colour pink became synonymous with the film, new dolls hit the market, and Barbie came with a bountiful backlog of fun outfits in her wardrobe, just waiting to be adapted for the red carpet and press tour. Without needing to lift a finger, Oppenheimer could happily ride the tailwinds of the PR victory that is Barbie and then managed to remain at the top by simply being an incredibly well-made film that snowballed into its own individual success.
I joined the “Barbenheimer” hype for myself and, clad in pink (as per the new tradition), I took two friends and went to see the films that were the cause for one of the biggest shifts in pop culture in recent cinema history. We decided to top the night off with Barbie and so an afternoon screening of Oppenheimer was where we began. Despite the large conversation surrounding which is better to see first, I did not realise until seeing them both that there is probably no correct answer to this. This is inarguably an odd pairing and the way you feel walking out of each screening will be a testament to that. There is no way to truly describe the debilitating heaviness that myself and my friends felt sitting round a table in the break between Oppenheimer and Barbie in silence. In hindsight it’s a hilarious image, three women who are clearly dressed to see Barbie, sipping on margaritas but cheerlessly discussing the awestruck state that Oppenheimer had left us in.
Oppenheimer is a visually powerful and mournful look at the politics behind the development of mankind’s most atrocious weapon. Though many of the facts have been lost to time and closed doors, Nolan combats this via black-and-white visuals and his screenplay that is written in the first person from Openheimer’s perspective. Both of these unique tactics of storytelling serve as reminders to both the filmmakers and the audience that the narrative contains bias and unknowns, shielding Oppenheimer from any hefty critique of historical inaccuracy.
The performances of the members of this all-star cast, starring Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., and Cillian Murphy, leave no room for weakness in the execution of this story and manage to keep the viewer in anticipation despite the fact that this is a three-hour-long film consisting almost entirely of lengthy dialogue. The location of the film does not leave the shores of America despite building up to the destruction caused in Japan, instead Nolan focuses on what historian and philosopher Hannah Arendt would describe as ‘(t)he banality of evil’. Though these words were used first for the Nazis, they are also applicable to what is the horror of US political and military bureaucracy which Nolan shows at length, from military base to the White House. Oppenheimer is an atonement for the crime of a complicit nation and weighs heavy beyond the roll of the credits. It is a perfect political statement against militaristic indifference and the use of nuclear weapons, something that remains so incredibly, worryingly relevant in our time with the ways that both war and technology are adapting.
With the heavily critical tone of Oppenheimer, it speaks volumes on the level of general media literacy when Barbie was the film that took the political heat. A light but beautiful feminist piece, Barbie manages to be as fun as it looks while still holding a heavier message that shines through in a blatant way. The visibility and simplicity of Barbie’s feminist angle does not take away from the film, if anything it blends well with the childlike wonder and innocence purposefully captured by Gerwig. Similarly to Oppenheimer, Barbie is star-studded and filled with recognisable stars like Ryan Gosling as the well-meaning but misled Ken, America Ferrera as the uneasy mother, Gloria, who wants to reconnect with girlhood, and Margot Robbie as the titular Barbie.
The world of Barbie is exciting and incredibly detailed in a way that is a clear indication of the creative freedom that filmmakers were given on this set. Every part of the Barbies’ lifestyle is well thought out and meticulous in execution in order to mimic actual Barbie toys and the way that young girls play with dolls. Decadent from set to soundtrack, Barbie will be a clear winner for the upcoming Halloween costume party season where Margot Robbie hasn’t dominated with such strength since Suicide Squad came out in 2016.
Needless to say, it is a clear tonal 180 to go from one film to the other but I would find it hard to regret it. The shift was a large part of what made “Barbenheimer” so appealing and is something that other marketing campaigns are attempting to recreate to little success. Though the period between both films made us feel like we were going slightly stir-crazy it was ultimately a really enjoyable experience. At the end of the day, these are two skilled directors with large financial backing making something that is heartfelt and passionately carried out. The resounding feel at the end of the screenings was excitement at how great the films were and how huge they had become without being another sequel or “cinematic universe” copout. If anything “Barbenheimer” is an indication of the positive direction that cinema is going both in filmmaking and in widening the cinema-going audiences. The development of these releases into an actual event to take part in was a big draw for many, whether it was because they wanted to see the film or because they wanted to do it for fun.
The enjoyable and exciting atmosphere that Barbie created was unfortunately but predictably an easy target for hateful, conservative-leaning pundits based on the simple fact that it was the cause of women having fun. This easily captured the attention of professional losers like Ben Shapiro, who started a personal campaign against the film, boycotting it by seeing it in cinema and then spending large amounts of money on Mattel products just so he could destroy them, a devastating blow to the multimillion-dollar corporations involved in Barbie’s creation I’m sure.
The important takeaway here is that, distracted by vibrant pink, the exact type of people who would be in arms at Nolan’s political message were too busy melting kids toys like they’re Sid from Toy Story to notice anything about his film. Barbie not only assisted in carrying Oppenheimer through its marketing stage, but the film also acted as a shield from the not-so-analytic eyes of media loudmouths. While the marrying of Oppenheimer and Barbie was odd, it has unintentionally become the perfect combination of two excellent films that, though contrast greatly in tone, complement each other well in politics. The hope now for the future of cinema is that production companies realise that the real successes on screen are not in cinema franchises or celebrity cameo, but instead are down to good marketing to bring the crowds in, and then giving them a quality film to keep them there.
Barbie and Oppenheimer are still playing in cinemas right now.
