The Barbenheimer Cometh
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"Come on Oppy, let's go party."
When it was first announced that Greta Gerwig's Barbie would be released on the same day as Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, it felt like a useful piece of counter-programming: a candy-colored confection of a movie for those who weren't necessarily drawn to the Interstellar auteur's lengthy, melodramatic take on the creation of the atom bomb. But as press kicked off for these two seemingly polar opposite pop culture experiences, they converged, and evolved into something greater than the sum of their disparate parts.
Thus, like Frankenstein's creature, Barbenheimer was born.
It began simply enough, with a question: not which movie you would choose to see on opening weekend, but which one you would see first. The initial assumptions that audiences for these two movies would be split along gender lines proved flawed: the "Oppenheimer boyfriend, Barbie girlfriend" dichotomy is overly simplistic and fails to understand the complexity of human nature. Just as the iconic Mattel doll has had hundreds of jobs in her decades of existence, so too do we contain multitudes.
Sure, we find the idea of a Nolan period piece led by Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr. and Florence Pugh hugely compelling, who wouldn't? But how better to refresh the palate after an emotionally draining three hour run-time than with Gerwig's effervescent ode to all things pink?
Then again, as the second trailer for Barbie revealed, that movie would explore Margot Robbie's existential crisis as she grappled with what it means to be alive in the world, and how to wrench meaning from the cold, hard grasp of the universe.
Oppenheimer and Barbie, it transpired, were two sides of the same coin: it doesn't matter whether you wear grey or pink, we all think about dying. Who knew, though, that it could be so much fun?
Part of the thrill of the Barbenheimer phenomenon is due to the fact that it's been a while since we, in our increasingly fractured media landscape, were all participating in the same monocultural moment. Not since the accursed day that the Cats trailer dropped had the internet been so united.
And as Kyle Buchanan notes in the New York Times, it may be some time before we get anything like this again. While both Barbie and Oppenheimer may have reignited an excitement for the movie theater that has lain dormant since Covid, the SAG-AFTRA strike means that any momentum Barbenheimer has helped to stoke may soon stall again.
So before we all succumb to the inevitable heat death of the universe, here are some of the best memes and musings from Barbenheimer's opening weekend.
The only correct way to do Barbenheimer:
1. Watch Barbie until the moment she says 'Do you guys ever think about dying?'
2. Pause, watch all of Oppenheimer
3. Full of the foreboding of nuclear holocaust, watch the rest of Barbie pic.twitter.com/KnGp5Q8Oez— Alex Christofi (@alex_christofi) July 21, 2023
For those planning on doing a Barbenheimer double feature, a word of caution:
Barbie before Oppy, your tears will be sloppy
Oppy before Barbie, you’ll still want to party pic.twitter.com/ixFtyIg963— Meech (@MediumSizeMeech) July 21, 2023
I am become Barbenheimer pic.twitter.com/pXBpAlxYKd
— Lucas Masch (@LucasTheDrummer) July 21, 2023
if you went back in time and told j. robert oppenheimer about the whole Barbenheimer thing he would kill himself
— zach silberberg supports the WGA (@zachsilberberg) July 22, 2023
Can’t wait for studios to learn all the wrong lessons and try to plan the next Barbenheimer and it ends up being two of the worst movies you’ve ever seen
— The Film Drunk (@thefilmdrunk) July 22, 2023
a big part of why #Barbenheimer still works is that there was no SNL sketch last week to kill the joke
— Nando (@NandovMovies) July 22, 2023
These two things are true and are not reflective (necessarily) of MY #Barbenheimer feelings but when the lights came up on Barbie the girl next to me said “I fucking loved that” and when the lights came up on Oppenheimer the girl next to me *shouted* “THANK FUCKING GOD.”
— Joanna Robinson (@jowrotethis) July 23, 2023
My sister just saw Oppenheimer and something went wrong and half the screen was pink for the last 20 minutes of the movie so she got the true Barbenheimmer experience pic.twitter.com/tpX7hZe2ND
— Britt Rivera (@kindamoviesnob) July 22, 2023
the original Barbenheimer guy https://t.co/VILYoSzl7t pic.twitter.com/w2A2h1FAZw
— 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕒𝕟 (@mogangonemad) July 23, 2023
It’d be wild if Barbenheimer goes down in history as the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that kills off the Superhero Era, which has been in its hair metal phase for a while now.
— Aaron Hammond (@AaronH_88) July 22, 2023
LEGO Barbenheimer by ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ animator @FG_Artist pic.twitter.com/hiVpbSJF1l
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 22, 2023
so funny how the barbenheimer thing spun out of thin air carried out by regular people not even a real marketing strategy or anything and it really affected both movies' opening day sales. passionate word of mouth is so beautiful and powerful to me https://t.co/1HyLqaX9Ua
— tului ^-^ @ comms OPEN (@geneslovee) July 21, 2023
Let’s make Barbenheimer-type weekends a regular thing. More double-headers by established auteurs, more dense, talky dramas, more movies that challenge and inform and leave you with your jaw on the floor. More films for adults! 🧵
— Owl! at the Library 😴🧙♀️ (@SketchesbyBoze) July 22, 2023
What I love about #Barbenheimer is that there aren’t Barbie fans hating on Oppenheimer, and there aren’t Oppenheimer fans hating on Barbie.
It’s just people enjoying two REALLY good films. pic.twitter.com/GaVOCD2Qsq— TheConnorWebber (@TheConnorWeb) July 23, 2023
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