Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer are this year’s biggest summer blockbusters, and they both arrived on the same day. These two movies will be rivaling each other at the box office, despite their glaring differences. One is a joyful and comedic adventure, meanwhile, the other is a biopic about one of America’s greatest scientists inventing one of the world’s deadliest weapons.
This huge contrast in themes is exactly what led to the rise of the Barbenheimer meme.
For those who don’t know what this is, it’s where moviegoers watch both movies back to back on the same day. Due to my interest in both films, I decided to go all out and take part in this wild and crazy trend, and it was quite the experience.
The plan
When I mean I committed to it, I mean it. My Oppenheimer screening started the moment Barbie finished. If my timing was correct, I’d only have 15 minutes for a toilet break, to get my free popcorn refill, and head to my next seat.
So why did I want to watch these two films? Well, I grew up with the animated Barbie movies so we have history. Fun fact, these Barbie movies introduced me to Marvel Star, Brie Larson because she sang the end-credits song for one of the movies.
As for Oppenheimer, I was taught about Japan’s involvement in World War II numerous times when I was living in The Philippines. This history is what piqued my interest to check out Oppenheimer.
My double feature was a 5-hour screening in total, maybe adding an extra 10-30 minutes for the ads. The longest movie I’d watched prior was James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water in 2022 with a run time of 3 hours and 12 minutes. Hopefully, an extra two hours of screen time won’t be a problem, right?
The viewing order
One of the biggest debates when it comes to Barbenheimer is the order you should watch it in, to the point where experts got involved and shared their views on social media. The order I went with was Barbie first, Oppenheimer second. My reasoning was that earlier in the week, I watched A24’s Talk To Me, and I wanted to start with something bright and colorful after witnessing something dark and grueling.
Showtime
Thanks to the viral sensation of the Gentleminions meme, it seemed like dressing up to watch a movie became socially acceptable. Almost everyone in the theater wore pink or had that Barbie aesthetic. Also, leading up to Barbie‘s release date, almost every store had an official partnership with this movie. You could have a whole wardrobe filled with Barbie collabs if you wanted to.
Due to how close my screening between the two films was, I was the only one in my theater who dashed to catch Oppenheimer. This meant that I was the only one wearing pink in a film about the creation of the Atomic bomb. Luckily, this Barbie wore a trench coat, so I was somewhat on theme.
My experience with Barbenheimer
Since my local theater didn’t have any double screening sessions, I had to plan accordingly and relied on the ads being long enough for me to make a proper transition. The moment I was settled to watch Oppenheimer, I had 5 minutes left to spare. It was stressful, but also worth it.
I think what makes Barbenheimer a fun, yet wild experience is the differences in storytelling. While everyone claims that these two movies are total opposites of each other, both question the existence of something. They showcased the impact new creations have on society and how they changed the world.
Overall, my Barbenheimer experience was wild. I wished my local theater had a double screening, but that’s ok. It tested my skills as an avid moviegoer, and I succeeded. It was fun, yet interesting to see how two contrasting films ended up becoming an enjoyable experience. Would I recommend anyone to do this? Yes, but only if you have a strong bladder or could handle sitting down for long periods of time.
Next up, James Cameron’s 9-hour Avatar 3. See you in 2025!