'Do you guys ever think about dying?'
Two highly anticipated movies hit theaters this weekend, and each is apocalyptic in its own way. Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" portrays the mastermind behind the atomic bomb, exploring how someone could possibly create a weapon so deadly. A different kind of end-of-the-world story hits with Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" as the beloved blonde doll contemplates cellulite, death and flat feet for the first time.
👋 Nicole Fallert here, and welcome to Your Week, our newsletter exclusively for Paste BN subscribers (that's you!). This week, we talk with Paste BN reporter Patrick Ryan about all things "Barbenheimer" — that is, the "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" movie mania that has exploded across the internet like a pink mushroom cloud.
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Two very different, very existential movies
"Do you guys ever think about dying?"
In Gerwig's film, Barbie is at a dance party at her Dreamhouse having the time of her life when suddenly she asks this startling question. The moment is its own weapon of mass destruction: Are audiences about to see Barbie blow up her world? This kind of existential dread identifies with "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer"' − both films question how easily we can destroy life as we know it.
This weekend, Ryan will don a T-shirt bearing a mushroom cloud and the "dying question" as he attends back-to-back screenings of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" (with a dinner break). The "millennial holiday" started as tongue-in-cheek online banter, Ryan said, and now it's a double feature film experience thousands are seriously excited for.
"I've found it so fascinating how it's really been this very organic thing that's developed into a phenomena," Ryan said of the "Barbenheimer" concept.
Ryan suggested following "Barbie" star Margot Robbie's advice to see "Oppenheimer" before "Barbie."
"It's like having steak dinner, then an ice cream sundae for dessert," she told him in his exclusive interview with her and Gerwig for Paste BN.
"Barbie" isn't all puff, though. Robbie and Gerwig hinted at the "weightier" aspect of the plot.
Robbie "said how she knew going into this (film), it would be subversive," Ryan said of his conversation with the star (which occurred before the SAG-AFTRA strike). "But she was surprised how emotional the story was and how it sparked big questions."
Ryan said he cried more than once watching Barbie contemplate her worth, which was unexpected, and warned viewers not to assume they know the story based off the trailer.
"I think people will go to the Barbie movie expecting something bright and pink and witty but will be perhaps shocked by how moving it is," Ryan said. "As a queer person, I grew up loving Barbie. This (movie) is an entry point for so many different conversations."
Then we have "Oppenheimer," Nolan's drama about the origins of the atomic bomb. Similarly to "Barbie," audiences are invited to ask themselves chilling but masterful questions about our own demise. Our review says actor Cillian Murphy turns in a haunting career-best performance as theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in "an epic that turns a harrowing era of American history into equal parts terrifying horror show, paranoia thriller and political potboiler."
If you're seeing both movies, you may find they share "unexpected parallels" with what's happening today, Ryan said.
Audiences "are coming out of the pandemic, witnessing everything with Russia and Ukraine and hearing conflicting cultural debates," he said. "People are thinking about mortality and what matters. Both films are taking on these questions in extremely different ways ... but it's so fascinating how these two films are linked."
Everything you need to know about 'Barbenheimer':
- Christopher Nolan reveals his childhood fear in a conversations with the filmmaker.
- The 'Barbie' album is the kind of stellar original soundtrack we haven't heard in years.
- We've got a spoiler-free "Barbie" review for you.
- Here's a guide to plan "Barbie" tickets and save money.
- Margot Robbie is Barbie in 2023. Here's an illustrated look at the doll's evolution.
- Are you in a city with a 70mm screen for that atomic bomb explosion scene?
Thank you
I couldn't be more excited to read all the coverage we've prepared for this cinematic event and am so thankful our team gets to write stories like these. Thank you, as always, for your support.
Best wishes,
Nicole Fallert