Barbenheimer: Existentialism in 2 Acts

Existentialism, Absurdity, & a Whole Lotta Pink

I saw the Barbie movie and Oppenheimer back-to-back over opening weekend, in that order, and noticed they had more in common than their release weekends.

'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer' Everett; Universal

Also, I think this is where I should be fair and warn you that if you're currently attempting to save yourself from spoilers of either movie, now would be the time to click away, buy a ticket, then come back here once you're thoroughly prepared.

Many people have already written about and shared their thoughts about what the co-release of two incredibly different movies accomplished.

I wanted to throw my perspective into the internet void about their similarities, particularly that...

Barbie and Oppenheimer are both actually addressing the same basic questions of existence from two different angles.

Those two questions being, What kind of world do we live in? and How did we get here?

Barbie explores, quite explicitly, existentialism through an absurdist satire dealing with awakening to the realities of the troubles of a patriarchal world and realities of death - while also presenting a hopeful vision for how to move forward. I can't help but chuckle at those who are touting Barbie as a man-hating, "feminazi" presentation of the world because they've entirely missed the point.

Barbie presents the dualistic vision of a Barbie-run world where the "Kens" don't have a voice, or purpose for that matter, alongside the realities of "the real world" where the "Barbies" are the ones who don't get a voice. Obviously, given that the real world is where we - the people watching the movie - live, we have the ability to determine that the movie is critiquing reality and the various systems within it; namely, patriarchy.

Where Barbie brings in Mattel, in a rather brilliant stroke of marketing genius, to comment that representation simply isn't enough, Barbie herself travels to the real world and has a meltdown when she realizes that what she's been 'doing' hasn't been enough at all to impact the real world positively for any real change.

I think the film is well wrapped up in America Ferrera's monologue where she lays out the contradictions of being a woman. It's this speech - laying out the various intricacies, injustices, and contradictions of functioning as a woman in our Western, patriarchal society - that is used to 'wake up' the Barbies from their sleep when the Kenergy has begun to take over Barbieland. The shared experience and understanding of all of the double standards and absurd expectations is what every 'Barbie' can relate to.

Where Barbie leaves us is ultimately at the end of a fun, yet dark, existential, absurdist ride crying for a better society; one where no one sex stomps the other into submission; one where the injustices of women's voices being systematically silenced is undone; one that would clearly benefit from an all-female Supreme Court.

There's a lot more to be said and could be further unwrapped regarding the intersections of race, SES background, a brand that was circling the drain pulling a thoughtfully self-critiquing yet self-aggrandizing movie at the same time out of thin air, and our currently patriarchal society railing against the atrocities of Kens being so horribly portrayed. Sadly, I don't have the time or space to get into all of the intricacies of the movie, but suffice it to say, I think Barbie accomplished her mission.

Then, there's Oppenheimer...

A cinematically beautiful, well-directed film with a thoughtfully composed score and track, audio engineering, acting, costumes, lighting...technically, well put together....with a wildly hollow ending.

The Barbie movie explores the tragedies of the patriarchal world in which we currently live through an existential crisis and seeks to call for a better way forward within our mortal lives. Oppenheimer, on the other hand, simply leaves us with the feeling that a privileged White man of the past who acted as the proverbial Prometheus in both the movie and in history through introducing the deadly power of the atomic bomb to a global stage may have possibly lived his life feeling a smidge guilty about what he did.

The film rings hollow - even more so after the clearly pointed and presented satire of Barbie - following one Oppenheimer: a suffering genius who can barely stand the unbearable weight of his massive genius. Even though the film explicitly condemns him pursuing martyrdom (gotta love Emily Blunt), ironically, that is what Oppenheimer accomplishes.

Oppenheimer addresses existentialism from a different angle: by presenting the existential problem to the audience while also attempting to garner some form of sympathy for the troubled genius who saw things no normal man could.

Is it right for Oppenheimer to feel guilt? Did he do enough? Should he have even allowed the Manhattan Project to continue? What sort of world do we live in now because of his (in)action then?

The film clearly illuminates that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were functionally unnecessary in ending the war...it leaves the question dangling in the air of whether the bombings were the hard but necessary decision, or an atomic mistake.

While I have no trouble believing that Oppenheimer did indeed feel perhaps the weight of his actions after being the cause of a thenceforth unknown degree of loss of life, the film glosses over the way it started: Oppenheimer is the father - and mother, for that matter - of the atomic bomb. He was the one who conceived and birthed it into our world, which allowed it to be unleashed into the world of men. The world of wars and death and violence.

He is the proverbial and historical 'Prometheus' of the atomic bomb. The difference, however, is that in the Prometheus myth, fire wound up being not only a commodity for the human race but a necessity. Prometheus' personal sacrifice of going against the Greek pantheon of gods to bring humans what they so clearly needed to take the next step is worlds away from the moral ineptitude of the decision to create a bomb while somehow separating the creator from the responsibility of its use.

It's absurd.

I see where the movie was attempting to portray Oppenheimer as a troubled, complicated man...but it all rings hollow when the deepest we get is that Oppenheimer felt guilty, with his last line of the movie commenting on the idea that history will tell if we can all see 'how great of a man he really was.' As a friend of mine pointed out on her socials, guilt is not the same as repentance.

It is impossible to separate knowledge from responsibility. The rub is that Oppenheimer saw and knew what he was doing. He was clearly an intelligent man - the movie does well to portray that fact, at least. He was in the room when the decision to bomb not one, but two, unnecessary cities was being decided simply to 'prove a global point.'

Oppenheimer knew. And did nothing to curb what he saw coming, to the deep remorse (seemingly) of many he worked with.

Guilt is a fickle emotion at best, useless without action.

Thoughtless intelligence doesn't forever remove you from the responsibility of your actions.

And in Oppenheimer's case, in full existential admittance, it doesn't matter. Even if he did feel guilt - it was too little too late. By the time he died, his work had already been unleashed and served as the foundation for countless lives lost.

So where does that leave us?

What kind of world do we live in? and How did we get here?

While I was watching Oppenheimer, not even a full half hour after having seen the Barbie movie, I couldn't help but think that I was watching the story of what Barbie was critiquing play out on-screen. Oppenheimer presents the existential crisis to its audience firsthand; the world we live in now was incomparably affected and crafted by the work and actions (or lack thereof) of the 'father of the atomic bomb.'

Not only through a film of a bunch of self-righteous men each thinking they hold the singular key to success, but even in the conclusion of the movie that attempts to confuse a vague feeling of guilt with remorse or even repentance. I couldn't help but roll my eyes along with the credits at the film's thin conclusion.

Barbie, on the other hand, illuminates the depth and dangers of thoughtlessness and how it has led to our current state. It also names the injustices of our current world of undue patriarchy, where women are silenced, overlooked, or burdened by double standards in every sphere of life and calls for a better one. What next steps, exactly, Barbie is calling for would be an entirely different article unto itself.

However, the Barbenheimer Event last weekend does leave us, dear friend, with questions to ponder...

What kind of world do we live in?

How did we get here?

Oppenheimer presents the dangers of a thoughtless genius; Barbie critiques the result of a thoughtless world.

And perhaps most importantly...

How can we do our part, collectively and individually, to realistically move forward in a way that forges a better path ahead for new generations?

How can I help to unfold the Kingdom on earth, now, as it is in heaven bit by bit, supporting the orphan, the widow, the immigrant, the asylum seeker, the unconnected...rather than build a world that bombs first and feels guilt later?