[imagesource:twitter]

15 years ago, on July 18, 2008, Christopher Nolan released The Dark Knight, while on that very same weekend, the songs of ABBA also dominated multiplexes when the movie adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Mamma Mia! hit the big screen.

If the ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon (two movies with epically opposing vibes) feels familiar to you, now you know why.

It’s a smart move to advertise counter-programming, as it has proven once again to skyrocket big box office results for both films in question.

As of four days after Barbie and Oppenheimer‘s theatre release, the Barbenheimer box office results are in.

Overall, it was revealed that the Barbie and Oppenheimer double feature resulted in the fourth-biggest box office weekend in cinematic history, making it the largest weekend for box office earnings since the pandemic era, per Variety.

But the winner is clear, and pink as hell, notes Forbes:

Barbie, a film that has been dubbed “man-hating feminist trash” by critics and “fierce” and “funny” by fans, broke box office records in nearly 20 markets across the world this weekend as its viral opening collided with the antithesis Christopher Nolan film Oppenheimer and drove movie-goers to double features in droves.

Directed by Greta Gerwig, Barbie was also able to set astonishing records as the highest-grossing film directed by a woman in cinematic history. Barbie was also lauded for garnering the biggest opening for a movie based on a toy, the biggest opening ever for stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, as well as the biggest opening weekend for a non-sequel, non-remake and non-superhero movie. Freakin’ fantastic.

Ok so Barbie is “anti-male” but Oppenheimer is fine??? Sorry but who killed more men?

— Ginny Hogan_ (@ginnyhogan_) July 20, 2023

Now for the numbers:

$337 million. That’s how much Barbie earned at the box office worldwide, Deadline reported, and Oppenheimer earned $174.2 million across the globe.

That’s R6 billion versus R3 million. Come on Barbie, let’s go party:

Its Always “Come on barbie, Lets go party ” and never “Come on barbie, tell me all about your day” pic.twitter.com/cJIGsCpJc4

— Lil Panks (@LilPanks) July 23, 2023

While everyone was making one loud fuss about watching both films on the same day, I don’t think anyone realised that would mean sitting through five hours of big screen time. Either way, more people decided to whip out their best in pink, strut over to the movies, and watch Barbie become existential about being Barbie.

It was a better choice, in my opinion. Having made the mistake of only watching Oppenheimer (thus far), I feel as though I have an ever so slight form of dark theatre PTSD. It was just far too long for an action movie about scientists talking. Non-stop. About deep politics and physics.

If we’re all honest, Nolan’s film – which is essentially a biopic about the ‘father of the atomic bomb’, “destroyer of all worlds” – is carried by the very danger and allure of explosive bombs. Besides the fire, it’s kind of boring. The reviews made it out to be weighty enough to leave you moved, depressed, and contemplative, but I fear it might leave you more confused and annoyed. When a movie is about one person so much is left out. (how ‘American individualist’ is it that one man received all the credit for the creation of this massive thing, while he in fact had a huge team doing all the work?). There’s simply never enough time to fit a whole life meaningfully into a few hours.

That much-talked-about sex scene, by the way, was also nothing to write home about. I have no idea what the hype was about seeing Florence Pugh ride Cillian Murphy while he read Hindu scripture to her. In fact, this very scene has received major backlash in India, sparking outrage on Twitter as “A direct assault on religious beliefs”.

Barbie, in contrast, seems to have been a complete joyride. The Mattel Inc. and Warner Bros. creation seemed wonderful on all accounts, carrying a wholly different kind of existential dread. Reviews for Barbie might not have been so hot pink, but following the money, in this case, speaks volumes. While I have admittedly not seen it yet, I can comment on the community it created by its mere existence. Seeing how it brought people together, with groups of friends pitching up to celebrate their inner Barbie and/or ‘Kenergy’ by wearing all pink and saying ‘Hi Barbie/ Hi Ken’ to every other pink-wearing moviegoer was a sight to behold.

For those saying Barbie is divisive. Good. Stay in your lane, we don’t need you.

“The hottest meme-ready movie couple of the summer gives you two different versions of the patriarchy run amok. Only one of them has a happy ending” writes Rolling Stone.

Look I don’t think Barbie was or needed to be subversive but I will say the first thing my daughter said after we got out of the theater was “what’s patriarchy” so it’s doing enough work, guys

— Amber Sparks (@ambernoelle) July 23, 2023

I saw a hot take somewhere that said Barbie is criticising the exact damaging patriarchal perspective that plays out in Oppenheimer.

Anyway, looks like Pantone hit the colour of the year right on the nose. On Barbenhiemer Day (July 21) we were pink.

[sources:forbes]