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snowynightLast Saturday was so hot that I decided to escape to the cinema for the 5-hour (with break in between the two films) experience of Barbenheimer. It was totally worth it. I'll put spoilers under a cut.
They are very entertaining. I love the songs and the jokes and the characters in Barbie. I also get sucked into the intense drama and the coming disaster in Oppenheimer, which kept my attention for 3 hours.
Both films surprisingly have a lot in common. They have very strong sense of places and locations and are visually striking. I love all the details of the pink Barbieland. I also really like the focus of Cambridge, University of California, Berkeley, Princeton, Los Alamos, New Mexico. I felt like I was thrown back to the past, which greatly influenced the characters. They both have a lot to say about the structural problems of the society.
They both used flashbacks to create suspense. The narrative of Oppenheimer is non-linear. Different parts were shot in colour and black-and-white. However, it's easier to follow than Memento and the final reveal. Barbie is more linear, but I still really like the surprise.
They both addressed the structural problem of the society. Oppenheimer is an awful person shown early in the film. He is arrogant and a cheater. His opponent has very strong disparaging opinion about him, and you may there's a lot of truth in that. But Oppenheimer also goes over his head as a cog in the war machine. He is useful as someone with grave weakness and talent, but also easy to dispose. Nuclear War is a disaster. McCarthyism is powerful in destroying many lives. Anti-Semitism as a quiet current is present throughout the film, including Oppenheimer's drive to develop nuclear weapon before Nazis. He's a Jew and has people in Germany.
Barbie is equally cutting. In fact, its social criticism of sexism is so down to earth that it's painful. Barbieland is a place of girl power (I really love that there're Barbies of different ethnicity, professions and body sizes), but Barbie is catcalled and insulted in real society. She can't find women as presidents or construction workers. It's cutting when Ken re-invents patriarchy in Barbieland. I'm also surprised by how Mattel's willing to present itself as a self deprecating joke of glass ceilings for career women. While it might not mean actual improvement, as least there was a seed of self awareness.
Oppenheimer is a real example of "Hell is the other people". No matter how everyone strives to make a name and stake of themselves, they eventually can't escape being stuck to others' interpretation. In Barbie, both stereotypical Barbie & Ken step on their journey of discovery, and their salvation comes from a supportive community (in the case of Ken, mainly other Ken. His song's iconic). It's a nice idealized vision of grassroot activism, but the world can have some more hope.
On a more shallow level, I'm glad that Barbie and Oppenheimer both choose to make their male actors into sex objects. Nolan clearly wants us to appreciate Murphy's sad blue eyes. The naked Murphy chair scenes may be a metaphor, but it's also eye candies. I also like how Ryan Gosling remains shirtless despite his mink coat. Other Ken, especially Simu Liu and Mizero Ncuti Gatwa also very hot. Barbie is really good for selfcest.
They are very entertaining. I love the songs and the jokes and the characters in Barbie. I also get sucked into the intense drama and the coming disaster in Oppenheimer, which kept my attention for 3 hours.
Both films surprisingly have a lot in common. They have very strong sense of places and locations and are visually striking. I love all the details of the pink Barbieland. I also really like the focus of Cambridge, University of California, Berkeley, Princeton, Los Alamos, New Mexico. I felt like I was thrown back to the past, which greatly influenced the characters. They both have a lot to say about the structural problems of the society.
They both used flashbacks to create suspense. The narrative of Oppenheimer is non-linear. Different parts were shot in colour and black-and-white. However, it's easier to follow than Memento and the final reveal. Barbie is more linear, but I still really like the surprise.
They both addressed the structural problem of the society. Oppenheimer is an awful person shown early in the film. He is arrogant and a cheater. His opponent has very strong disparaging opinion about him, and you may there's a lot of truth in that. But Oppenheimer also goes over his head as a cog in the war machine. He is useful as someone with grave weakness and talent, but also easy to dispose. Nuclear War is a disaster. McCarthyism is powerful in destroying many lives. Anti-Semitism as a quiet current is present throughout the film, including Oppenheimer's drive to develop nuclear weapon before Nazis. He's a Jew and has people in Germany.
Barbie is equally cutting. In fact, its social criticism of sexism is so down to earth that it's painful. Barbieland is a place of girl power (I really love that there're Barbies of different ethnicity, professions and body sizes), but Barbie is catcalled and insulted in real society. She can't find women as presidents or construction workers. It's cutting when Ken re-invents patriarchy in Barbieland. I'm also surprised by how Mattel's willing to present itself as a self deprecating joke of glass ceilings for career women. While it might not mean actual improvement, as least there was a seed of self awareness.
Oppenheimer is a real example of "Hell is the other people". No matter how everyone strives to make a name and stake of themselves, they eventually can't escape being stuck to others' interpretation. In Barbie, both stereotypical Barbie & Ken step on their journey of discovery, and their salvation comes from a supportive community (in the case of Ken, mainly other Ken. His song's iconic). It's a nice idealized vision of grassroot activism, but the world can have some more hope.
On a more shallow level, I'm glad that Barbie and Oppenheimer both choose to make their male actors into sex objects. Nolan clearly wants us to appreciate Murphy's sad blue eyes. The naked Murphy chair scenes may be a metaphor, but it's also eye candies. I also like how Ryan Gosling remains shirtless despite his mink coat. Other Ken, especially Simu Liu and Mizero Ncuti Gatwa also very hot. Barbie is really good for selfcest.
