The Pics
Barbenheimer
- In my (cinephilic) opinion, Barbenheimer was the best thing to happen to the movie industry in years - and also the most misunderstood. It was such a joyful throwback to the days when summer blockbusters were a unifying cultural experience in a tangible, corporeal way. This wasn't just an internet phenomenon - Barbenheimer plans came up in pretty much every July and August conversations that my wife and I had when we went out with friends. On the day we watched the movies, we spent the day in downtown Austin, and everywhere we went out to eat, we overheard Barbenheimer conversations at most of the other tables. And of course, that's to say nothing of the actual experience of seeing the sea of pink in the theaters. It was the kind of communal experience that a been a casualty of the technological advances in the entertainment industry.
- When it was first announced that Barbie and Oppenheimer would be released on the same day, I made plans with my wife to go to the movies that Friday and flip a coin to see which movie we got to see. Later, I thought I was streets ahead when I thought to just plan a whole day out of seeing both movies. My bubble burst when I went to an Oscars party last year, and one of the other guests mentioned his double-feature plan unprompted. That's when I knew this was going to be a touchstone moment in pop culture.
- So, how exactly did Barbie + Oppenheimer become Barbenheimer? A lot of the focus was on the juxtaposition between the visual style and tone of the two films. I saw suggestions should schedule more "his and hers" paired releases. This would be a mistake - the best part about Barbenheimer was the fact that it was organic, and any attempt to try to reverse engineer that energy is destined to end in disappointment.. Some people attributed it to Barbie's unprecedented marketing campaign, but to me that felt more reactive than proactive; it seemed like the studio started pouring money into marketing only after they realized what they had brewing. Here's the real lesson that the industry should (but won't) take away from Barbenheimer: audiences don't want a parade of IP Zombies and labyrinthine franchises. We want challenging, thought-provoking films from visionary directors who are given carte blanche to bring their passion projects to life. The fact that we were getting not one, but two such films in the same
yearday felt unthinkable a year ago; hopefully it's not a blip. - The reason why I have always admired and cherished Christopher Nolan is that he manages to produce movies that are equal parts entertaining and intellectual, and he makes them from within the major studio system. He hoodwinks executives into greenlighting smart movies, like a sort of Trojan horse. It felt like Greta Gerwig was doing the same thing when she snagged the job of directing Barbie, and she pretty much confirmed as much in her Rolling Stone interview. Barbenheimer weekend felt like a passing of the torch.
