This summer, two of the most highly anticipated blockbusters of the year open on the same day in an event dubbed “Barbenheimer”.
On the one hand, there is Oppenheimer, a historical drama by Christopher Nolan, the last director capable of gathering crowds with his cinéma d’auteur throughout the globe. This epic tale promises to explore the life and efforts of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Manhattan Project’s clandestine weapons laboratory, Los Alamos, to create the world’s first atomic bomb during World War two and his subsequent questioning on the nuclear age he ushered. On the second hand comes Barbie, a colourful introspection of womanhood and society through the title character Barbie from toymaker Mattel. Behind the camera is Greta Gerwig, lesser-known and younger than Christopher Nolan. She is nonetheless just as respected by insiders for her work as a director and writer. Although, at first, those two movies share little in common, one appearing hyper-serious and the other a whimsical comedy, they are much more similar than one might think. Both explore one of the most important figures of the 20th century. Both are passion projects by creative couples (Christopher Nolan and his wife, Emma Thomas, Greta Gerwig and her husband, Noah Baumbach). Both directors have been nominated and snubbed by the Oscars. Both have some of the greatest talents in filmmaking, working on sets. Both have a five-star cast (Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr. and Florence Pugh for the best-known actors of Oppenheimer and the internet’s favourite superstars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling for Barbie). Nonetheless, they significantly differ thematically, so which one should you see? (Both obviously), but for the sake of argument, this opinionated article explores which side to take in the cinema event of a generation.
Barbie – feel the Kenergy
There is only one movie that you need to see this summer, and that is Barbie. The pandemic is over; you don’t need another gloomy and dark picture remixing the myth of Prometheus with some pseudo-contemporary message about the dangers of AI (Terminator did it better) that your cinephile friends will deem as “too mainstream” anyways.
No, what you need is Dua Lipa blasting on your speakers while Margot Robbie (Barbie) and Ryan Gosling (Barbie’s Ken) dance the night away in an explosion of pink (the movie’s demand for pink paint contributed to a global shortfall of it). Barbie is a ball of joy and creativity that will make your summer glow. As an object of fascination since 1959, it was time for the Barbie doll to have its first live-action movie. However, the IP is much more complicated than a simple story about the father of the atomic bomb. Barbie is female empowerment (as Margot Robbie correctly pointed out in interviews, Barbie had a car, a house and an accessory-like boyfriend while real-life women were not allowed to own credit cards), but it is also accused of promoting unattainable body standards. The objectification of women for girls while boys play with LEGO. However, progress has been made, and Barbie has since then appeared as a semaphore for little girls everywhere, something for them.
Ultimately, tell me who Barbie is, and I will tell you who you are. Those conversations are more projections society makes over ongoing debates than truly about a toy. This is what makes the decision of Greta Gerwig to pursue a movie about Barbie so admirable, as is the choice of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling to participate in it. Robbie has sometimes been perceived as a Barbie, although I would argue that it is for the wrong reasons. An actress who played complex roles, such as Tonya Harding, has been a businesswoman for almost a decade with her production company LuckyChap Entertainment does not fit the stereotype (or maybe she does; Barbie has had lots of jobs). Gosling has been accused of being too old to play Ken and is now more known for broody lonely masculine roles (Drive, Blade Runner 2049) than playing comedies (or at least memorable ones in recent years). All of that makes Barbie the most exciting project of the year (and here, nothing has been said about the role of Will Ferrell, the fantastic movie’s marketing, and the awesome original music composed for the film). If you love Barbie, this movie is for you. If you hate Barbie, this movie is for you.
Oppenheimer – Promethean figure tortured by its Frankenstein creation
Barbie is everything. Ken is just Ken. But J. Robert Oppenheimer is Death, destroyer of worlds.
Barbie may have had seemingly every conceivable job on the planet (though I fail to find “theoretical physicist” on that list). However, real-life stories will almost always top scripted plots run through seventeen layers of corporate, with the sheer vibrancy, personality, and drama that our own world contains. And boy, does Dr. Oppenheimer deliver on the drama.
After just a single meeting with him, U.S. President Truman once proclaimed, “I don’t want to see that son of a bitch in this office ever again”, and famously described Oppenheimer as a “cry-baby scientist” (though that might speak more to Truman’s character than it does to Oppenheimer’s).
It turns out women appreciate sensitive men, and the physicist was a bona fide womanizer during his lifetime, even sleeping with one of his co-workers’ wives while working on the Manhattan Project. As a result, Oppenheimer offers one thing Barbie cannot: The film reportedly features a prolonged full-nudity sex scene with two members of its star-studded cast. I hope the movie somehow makes its way into the Barbieverse, and it can teach the characters a thing or two about what it means to be boyfriend and girlfriend.
With Barbie, Mattel presents a consumerist’s shiny-pink plastic utopia. A blissful, hedonistic fever dream crafted en masse out of crude oil and false promises destined to pollute society for generations to come. Oppenheimer is a breath of fresh air in a world where every new release is a sequel, a remake, or some form of an add-on slapped on top of an existing IP designed to pull every last cent out of the general public’s pockets. With Oppenheimer, you can show the world that this does not work for you. You appreciate artistry and innovation, not direct-to-streaming releases. Oppenheimer alternates between colourful and black-and-white shots. Only a true film connaisseur like you would understand. As is typical for Nolan, no CGI whatsoever was used in the making of the movie, not even for the explosion of the atomic bomb. The film truly promises to be something the likes of which we rarely get the chance to experience in the movie theatre. But don’t take it from me; take it from Robert Downey Jr., who said this is the best film he’s ever been a part of. That’s right; the MCU can go cry in a corner. So leave that life in plastic behind because Oppenheimer is what’s fantastic.
Finally, I will leave you with this last thought: Let’s face it, with the amount of hype Barbie has received, it is in no way possible to live up to it. Save yourself the disappointment and watch a future classic instead. I promise you, Oppenheimer is going to blow your mind.