BARBENHEIMER

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It’s the movie event of the year and I don’t want to talk about it.

Maybe it’s because everyone already has an opinion and there’s nothing new or clever to say.

Maybe because I liked both movies but wasn’t particularly moved by either.

Maybe I’m lazy.

Probably all of the above.

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When looking at the films as a double feature though, they offer an interesting complement to each other. Oppenheimer: a character study of a man who must deal with the weight of his consequences that cause a ripple effect on man and modern warfare. Barbie: a story of a doll/woman/IP who sees beyond the confines of her own world and goes beyond the weight and meaning of her own identity.

Both films have a central character grappling with their interior life that is on display for the world to see. Barbie spends the majority of the film developing a new understanding of feminism and what it takes to be a woman. She goes from the literal stereotypical girls-girl to a multifaceted being with hopes, dreams, and desires. Or was she always multifaceted? Are we all Barbies in our own ways? Gerta Gerwig isn’t subtle in her exploration of these themes, but in the end, she almost pulls off the impossible: an on-the-nose, sentimental take on womanhood that makes you care about Barbie as an idea and as a product. Mattel must circlejerking so hard to the greatest product placement of all time.

Oppenheimer takes a different approach in its exploration of the man behind the atom bomb. With Nolan’s signature style of time jumping and not being able to write women, we see the rise and fall of a man driven so much by the theoretical limits of possibility, he never saw the practical consequences of them. Is this movie a shocker? Absolutely not. Spoiler alert: the atom bomb was invented and it fucked things up real bad :(. I know it sounds like I’m shitting on Oppenheimer, but I had a great time watching it. Every performance is at an all time high (side note: did you know Josh Harnett was 6’3”? He looks like a giant next to Cillian Murphy), and Nolan delivers on the visual effects as he always has.

Barbenheimer is a great double feature not only because of its parallel themes, but also because of the culture zeitgeist that surrounds it. Part of the fun of seeing both is being part of the discourse and the memes.

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Anyways…. I guess I did want to talk about these a little bit, and I would love to hear your thoughts as well. Enjoy some HQ memes below!

Also - I needed to start with this picture because Paul Schrader posted on FACEBOOK that Oppenheimer is the "best, most important film of this century." I don't know why that cracks me up so much, but probably that any breaking news on what's important to culture and media is announced on Facebook: