'Barbie' vs 'Oppenheimer' – This Is the Movie That Did Politics Right (original) (raw)
Image by Annamaria Ward
Updated Jan 4, 2024, 5:15 PM EST
Ron Evangelista is a writer with a burning passion for movies. He became enamored with films at a very young age when his father tirelessly watched them with him in a small apartment in Makati City, Philippines. As a result, he has developed a lifelong love-affair with cinema, as well as an unhealthy obsession with the Sergio Leone close-up.
Presently, he is busy pondering if there is a film that waxes more poetic than Once Upon a Time in America.
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Summary
- The double bill of Barbie and Oppenheimer was a huge success, generating buzz in the film industry and online.
- While both films explore political and social aspects, Barbie provides a nuanced exploration of femininity and beauty standards, while Oppenheimer delves into the complexities of politics and free speech.
- Oppenheimer offers a more in-depth discussion on politics, but Barbie has its own value in sparking conversations about important issues.
Barbenheimer, the biggest double bill of 2023, was a massive success. The box office, film circles, and the wild world of the internet buzzed about the unlikely pairing of two vastly different films made by two of the most renowned filmmakers of our time. Greta Gerwig's Barbie is a vibrant exploration of its titular character experiencing an existential crisis, one of the last thoughts that could pop into one's head when talking about the beloved doll. On the other hand, Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer brings viewers right into the mind of the father of the atomic bomb. While both of them look to discuss certain political and social aspects of the world, only one of them succeeds in providing a nuanced exploration, and it's not even close.
Release Date
July 21, 2023
Runtime
114 minutes
Director
Writers
Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig
Producers
David Heyman, Robbie Brenner, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley
Franchise(s)
Barbie
A beloved doll, known for her perfect life in an idyllic, colorful world, finds herself on an unexpected journey when she starts to feel out of place. Seeking answers, she leaves her fantastical home and steps into the real world, where she experiences the highs and lows of human life. With the help of new friends, she navigates the challenges of identity and purpose, discovering the importance of authenticity and inner strength.
'Barbie' Takes a Look at Feminism
In Gerwig's world, "Stereotypical" Barbie (Margot Robbie), in the middle of one of her routine night parties, abruptly experiences thoughts of death. This leads her perfect plastic figure to undergo several physical changes, such as having cellulite or getting flat-footedness. She discovers that all of this is caused by the state of mind of her owner in the real world, which she must change before she becomes fully human. Barbie, together with Ken (Ryan Gosling), travels to Venice Beach in search of her owner while discovering the imperfections of the mundane human world. It is during this trip, and the events leading after, that the film provides a commentary on femininity and what being a woman in the real world means.
Their arrival opens up a plethora of discourse regarding being a woman in the real world. One of the main tenets in Barbie's women empowerment manifesto is a tale as old as the movement itself. It offers the notion that stereotypical beauty standards are not the end-all and be-all. The movie hammers home this point when Stereotypical Barbie herself calls an elderly woman on the bus stop beautiful. Another point is when Barbie is taken aback by the self-awareness of her owner Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), calling her a fascist, among other hurtful things. Barbie isn't the role model she thinks she is, and she learns that the existence of Barbies may have caused more harm than good. Yes, this concept might be a bit on the nose, but it still works. However, it is just one of the many things in relation to the bigger picture of female representation and equality. There's more to it than just beauty standards, which Barbie attempts to tackle throughout the film.
Gloria's 'Barbie' Monologue Gets at the Core of the Message
When Ken discovers that the patriarchy is the ruling system in the real world, he begins to carry that mentality. Acting as if he has just discovered the penultimate secret of the universe, Ken runs back to Barbieland alone and takes over with his new philosophy. When Barbie takes Sasha and her mother, Gloria (America Ferrera), back to Barbieland, they're shocked by the change and endeavor to save it. When Gloria inadvertently discovers that the key to saving everyone in Barbieland is an impassioned speech on what it takes to be a woman, the film's inner meaning becomes crystal clear.
Gloria espouses how it is so hard to be a woman because the system is rigged against their success, and that everyone blames them for what's wrong in the world. While inspirational in its own right, and embodies truthfulness to some degree, it is but a reductionist view on the problems that plague women. It is a futile attempt to encapsulate the bigger picture of the admirable movement of women's rights and boils down to an emotional but simplistic rant on how women are oppressed. Generally speaking, it bears little depth concerning the complexities of empowering women. It's like a person merely touching the surface of a lake, and immediately judging that it's safe to swim in. For some, it fell flat and was an underwhelming climax for a fairly enticing buildup.
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However, there is an argument to be made. Isn't that exactly the point? It is a Barbie movie after all, and it makes no bones about its nature. It is a movie about a plastic doll that discovers its sense of consciousness. Did we really expect it to delve deep into the roots of a deeply ingrained issue, and offer some form of emancipation? Absolutely not! If we want to be technical about it, Barbie belonged to a world where there were absolutely no problems. Her arrival in the real world was a culture shock, there's no way she could fully grasp everything about the complexities of gender politics in such a short amount of time. Yes, Barbie's critique of the patriarchy is surface-level at times, but as the movie's ending shows, she still has more to discover about herself, and that's alright.
The Hypocrisy of Free Thinking in 'Oppenheimer'
On the other hand, Nolan's Oppenheimer, by its very subject, offers a lot more leeway in terms of discussing politics. It is a film about one of the most controversial subjects the world has ever seen, so it is at a distinct advantage. As the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory for the Manhattan Project, J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) was at the receiving end of mudslinging efforts, among other things. The picture does a marvelous job of presenting Oppenheimer as both a pompous intellectual with no regard for boundaries and as a human being facing the immense consequences of his actions. Despite his polarizing personality, one of his most commendable traits is his penchant for standing up for what he believes in.
Oppenheimer, as depicted in the film, was a stand-up guy when it came to his science and an even prouder individual when it came to his own beliefs. The earliest form of conflict was his affinity with left-wing politics. While not strictly a communist per se, his loyalty was put into question, especially due to his fondness for socials hosted by members of the Communist Party USA. An affair with one of its most prominent members, Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) only made things worse. His sympathy for some of the party's ideas is where his troubles began, which eventually sealed his own fate. It is a common occurrence that still plagues the world today. Someone expressing approval for left-wing politics can easily be branded a communist. During the height of McCarthyism, and the immense fear brought by the Cold War, paranoia against communists and spies in America hit an all-time high. Movements like these are often hijacked by those in power and can be wielded like a weapon against those they see as a threat.
With the success of the Trinity test, and the war-ending bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oppenheimer vehemently denied support for its prospective use. He began to speak against the very thing he created, and while his philosophies were laudable, the US government's mentality went in the opposite direction. Seeing it as a race for global arms supremacy, President Harry S. Truman (Gary Oldman) insulted Oppenheimer for being resentful of his brainchild. For a man who contributed so much to ending the war, the president's dismissal of his concerns speaks volumes.
On the other hand, Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), who carried a personal grudge against Oppenheimer, used his alleged communist connections as fodder for his scheme to permanently revoke the physicist's security clearance. It is one of the most blatant displays of the hypocrisy of supposedly democratic governments. The proliferation of ideas and the flourishing of free thinking is only heralded when it plays into the government's interest. If your ideas are of no use to them anymore, or if you have already served your purpose, they will throw you out faster than a nuclear reaction. It is Oppenheimer's bread and butter: to expound on the dark inner workings of politics, and it succeeds in providing a more nuanced take compared to its fellow release-day movie.
Barbenheimer's Two Very Different Approaches to Politics
Margot Robbie as Barbie, wearing a cowboy hat and smiling at an older woman at the bus stop in Barbie
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
Rather than viewing Oppenheimer as a more politically conscious film, perhaps it would be best to discuss the different approaches of the two in terms of examining politics. Gerwig made a nostalgia piece, aiming for viewers to relive their childhoods. Politics is secondary when you are talking about dolls living in colorful and majestic houses. Nolan's character study was built for this argument, and he masterfully dissects the double-edged sword that is free speech, as well as questioning the ethics of nuclear warfare.
Yes, from an objective standpoint, Oppenheimer provides a better political cinematic undertaking, but it doesn't mean that Barbie had nothing to offer at all. Rather than favoring one or the other, it is best to critique the two blockbusters with the appropriate lens. At least the two blockbusters sparked discussions on two very important issues, and that's all we can ask for as moviegoers.
Barbie is available to stream on Max in the U.S.