Summer movie season is here, and fans are bracing for a showdown on July 21 — the fateful day when Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer both hit movie theaters. And the absolute ideological whiplash between these two films has, so far, dominated the conversation around them.
Barbie and Oppenheimer are extreme opposites, both aesthetically and in subject matter. One is a colorful comedy about a favorite childhood doll; it’s over-the-top, saturated with bright pink, and unabashedly girly. The other is a gritty war drama about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his work developing the atomic bomb through the Manhattan Project.
These films do have a few things in common: Both are helmed by critically acclaimed directors who have established a strong following, and each of these films play to their strengths. Gerwig’s Lady Bird and Little Women established her as a premier filmmaker for capturing coming-of-age stories and iconic girlhood cultural touchstones. And Nolan has elevated the classic thriller blockbuster into everything from high-concept science fiction to moving war stories in the likes of Dunkirk, Interstellar, and Inception. Both Barbie and Oppenheimer look engrossing, smart, and visually distinct. Both also have an absolutely star-studded cast.
Anyone craving a summer blockbuster has two stellar choices in July — it’s just really hard to choose between the two on opening day. Many fans have shared memes illustrating the difficult choice, or have committed to watching both, making jokes about the wild contrast and attempting to figure out which order to see them in.
Me fr #tomcruise #ryangosling #cillianmurphy #oppenheimer #barbiemovie #me #sigma
BARBENHEIMER!!! #barbie #oppenheimer
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