Hidden Affinities: Surprising Links Between “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” 2023
“Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” both officially opened in theaters on July 21, and at first appearance, they appear to be diametrically opposed. The contrast between them — one pink, feminine, and funny, the other militant, macho, and hyper-serious — has spawned many a viral tweet, and the internet has been flooded for months with fans posting images and videos of their rival “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” clothes.
This visual contradiction is obviously reflected in the films. “Oppenheimer” is all desert browns and clinical whites, whereas “Barbie” is a color wonderland with a lot of pink. However, both films share an unexpected thematic similarity. Both focus on unanswerable issues about human nature, as well as the fragility of reality and how rapidly ideas may upset all we think we know. Both work well on their own, but I believe they work best together because they can illuminate each other’s essential concepts in unexpected ways.
The most obvious parallel between “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” is that both are about products that transformed the world: Barbie dolls and the atomic bomb. While the impact of both items is obviously extremely different, both are infamous cultural touchstones, which is undoubtedly part of the films’ theatrical draw.
Both are unmistakably American objects, symbolizing a larger-than-life capitalist final objective. Barbie’s beauty and, later, her job triumphs (she’s the president, she’s a doctor, she’s everything) might be considered as embodiments of an idealized sort of femininity; Barbie is the ideal blank slate of a woman, capable of becoming anything and everything that people want her to be. Meanwhile, the bomb was and continues to be the pinnacle of American exceptionalism, an assertion of power so full and totalizing that it is nearly godlike.Both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” manage to criticize the items and systems they are based on.
“Barbie” does a wonderful job of examining exactly how difficult it can be to be a woman in the world, including a line directly labelling Barbie a fascist inside the first quarter of the film. It’s also a look at the perils of gendered society, demonstrating that patriarchy harms Kens just as much as it harms Barbies, and it even makes a subtle case for breaking free from established gender norms.
Meanwhile, “Oppenheimer” is about the process of creating the atomic bomb, but it also exposes how much carelessness and cruelty led up to the bomb’s detonation on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A government official pleads against dropping a bomb on Kyoto since he and his wife honeymooned there, in one of the film’s most moving scenes. The patriarchal groupthink at the heart of “Oppenheimer” becomes all the more ugly after watching “Barbie,” with its depiction of the Kens’ desperation and frailty.
Nonetheless, it’s difficult to say that either film successfully challenges these systems. Despite its nuance and self-awareness, “Barbie” is still a complex Mattel ad centered on Margot Robbie’s conventional Barbie and her brand of beauty. (That is also part of its fun, and it is entirely conceivable to leave the film with the impression that it is a lighthearted celebration of historically devalued femininity, which is also extremely valid and necessary.
“Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have both been heralded as definitive marks of post-pandemic audiences’ return to theaters, but it is not the same world as before. The pandemic affected everyone’s lives in dramatically varied ways, demonstrating the fragility of systems that many of us took for granted.Both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” appear to represent this insecurity: in “Barbie,” Robbie’s Barbie finds that the ideal world she knew is not set at all. “Oppenheimer,” too, is about how an invention may completely alter the fabric of reality. The atomic bomb’s impact on human mind, in addition to its physical destruction, cannot be overstated. It signaled the end of the road, and its menace lingers over us still, warning us that the click of a button can destroy everything we know. And it’s difficult to overlook the fact that Barbenheimer arrives as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes shut down Hollywood, demonstrating that yet another well-oiled machine can be quickly dismantled, this time by collective action.
To summarize, you should see both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” ideally in cinemas. There is certainly just one correct order in which to see them. Begin the night with “Oppenheimer” to fill you with existential dread, and end with “Barbie” to remind yourself that you’re not alone in being terrified — and that no one really knows how to be a woman, or how to live. Fortunately, stories have always helped people connect and persevere, and Barbenheimer is without a doubt the best of the summer.
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also: https://dollarsbag.com/stateside-passports-us-travel-docs-unraveled/