The “Barbenheimer ” phenomenon brings a new concept to blockbuster hits

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CINEMATIC CROSSOVER: Barbie and Ken embark on their journey to the human world with the atomic bomb from Oppenheimer exploding in the background. Fans of the films made memes showing the collaboration which offended Japanese people. Photo courtesy of FamilyMinded.

By: Aleksi Holder

From the lively bright colors in Barbie to the blacks and whites in Oppenheimer, these two movies have received global attention both on social media and in theaters because of their contrasting themes and the irony of them sharing a release date. The worldwide phenomenon of Barbenheimer has caused these movies to become the films of the year.

After months of promotion and merchandise sales, Barbie and Oppenheimer were released in theaters on July 21 to eager viewers. In just days, praise for the movies spread through social media, urging others to see the highly anticipated films. Not only did the dual release date spark excitement, but the movies’ vast plot and set design differences distinguished one film from the other.

The Barbie movie centers around a childhood doll, and Oppenheimer focuses on an atomic bomb. Although Barbie was more successful, considering its household name and reputation, Oppenheimer earned higher ratings. They both earned millions in box office sales, with Barbie earning a gross of $1.38 billion and Oppenheimer earning a gross of $700 million.

“Oppenheimer wasn’t as much of a widely consumed movie. It’s not for such a vast amount of people like Barbie is. Barbie is for more people, kids and families, and Oppenheimer has a specific group, but I think the fact that they came out on the same day and they were both huge budget movies made them really popular,” said junior Sydney Becerra

The Barbie storyline follows a land of life-sized Barbies and Kens, where women hold all positions of power. All who lived in Barbieland believed the human world was just as perfect as their own, but it is not until Stereotypical Barbie and Ken need to make a long and tedious trip to the human world that they realize it is the complete opposite of what they expected. Observing a world with mostly male leaders, Stereotypical Barbie is distraught, but Ken dramatically embraces the concept of patriarchy and brings it back to Barbieland to share with the other Kens.

By the time Stereotypical Barbie returns to Barbieland, the other Barbies have been brainwashed by the idea of patriarchy, and the Kens have turned Barbieland into Kendom. With the help of Weird Barbie and the mother-daughter duo who helped bring Stereotypical Barbie back to Barbieland, they pit the Kens against each other and reclaim Barbieland.

“ I actually did not expect to like Barbie,” said senior Sophia Leon. “I did grow up on Barbie, so that is also a reason why I wanted to watch it, but I did not really expect it to be so much about feminism and about the modern world, so when I did watch it, it was really impactful.”

Contrary to Barbie, the historical bio-drama based on American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer begins with J. Robert Oppenheimer looking to expand his knowledge of physics at Cambridge University in 1925. He later goes to teach theoretical physics at Princeton University, where he is bombarded with the news that an atom can be split. This idea catalyzed the making of the atomic bomb in a town called Los Alamos in New Mexico, which was constructed solely for the building of the bomb.

Through the Manhattan Project, scientists and the military focused on the production of nuclear weapons in the United States which included the atomic bomb. Although Oppenheimer was qualified to lead the project, having family relations to communism made the government question his loyalty. Oppenheimer’s success with the atomic bomb had earned him the title of “Father of the Atomic Bomb.” Despite creating a weapon of mass destruction, he felt it was unnecessary for the existence of more devastating bombs, such as Edward Teller’s hydrogen bomb. Because of his opposition, he was betrayed and framed by former employer, Lewis Strauss.

“I think that communism played a bigger part of the movie than I thought it was going to,” said Becerra. “I just feel like it was more a part of the plot. It definitely added another layer of drama like, ‘Oh, is he gonna get his security clearance taken away for being a communist?’”

Although Barbie and Oppenheimer were made for different demographics, these films both increased their box office revenue because of social media. Not only were the advertisements for both movies extremely popular, but the good reviews from those that watched them encouraged others to join in the excitement.

While the promotion for both was massive, some felt that the movies, Barbie more so than Oppenheimer, were overhyped and found themselves disappointed by the lack of depth in the plot. The achievements of both movies cannot be understated with both having a top 10 ranking for the most popular movies in 2023 according to USA Today, Oppenheimer having the highest grossing World War II-related film and Barbie being the highest grossing film directed solely by a woman. , and the Japanese public was upset by the inconsiderate memes made following the premiere of the movies.

“Barbie was made for the little girls of all generations and had a modern feminist twist, so it was an obvious success,” said junior Shelby Dammann. “Oppenheimer was made for World War ll fanatics who have been waiting to see the process of the creation of the atomic bomb. The attitude and history of this movie made people flock to the movies which made it a success.”

While most people loved the Barbenheimer phenomenon, Japan was displeased by the insensitivity of the memes spread by social media users following the release of the two movies. With the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima during WWII mentioned in Oppenheimer, Japanese people have felt that Americans are mocking the deaths of 129,000 to 226,000 innocent people. After Warner Bros. positively responded to the inconsiderate memes, the company issued an apology following ridicule from the Japanese public, and deleted their comments. In retaliation, the Japanese compared the memes of the atomic bomb to 9/11 and the holocaust, emphasizing their disappointment in the mockery.

“Warner Brothers regrets its recent insensitive social media engagement. The studio offers a sincere apology,” said Warner Bros.