The Importance of Character
Sometimes It's Genuine, Other Times it Feels Cheap, Hollow and Synthetic
Every so often there is a cultural phenomenon that takes over the media and this summer it appears to be the twin movie Goliaths of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” collectively called “Barbenheimer.” Both movies came out on the same day,1 and the makers of both films worked hard to market them both jointly, often appearing in pictures showing their tickets for the others’ film.
The marketing worked great; it was the fourth largest weekend at the box office ever, and easily the largest moneymaking weekend since the pandemic all but shuttered theaters. It injected a strong boost that was sorely needed to the industry, particularly as productions get shut down due to labor disputes.
The two films could not be more unalike. One is a serious R rated drama about the creator of the atomic bomb and is full of dense science, moral ambiguity and historical ramifications; the other is a sugary, bubblegum confection full of pink that is a 2 hour commercial for a toy company. Nonetheless, the two films, for better or worse, are now tied together in some weird synergistic bond. The two films are not in the same ballpark. They’re not even in the same league or sport. To compare the two in any meaningful sense is akin to comparing a steak at the highest end five star restaurant with a packet of pop rocks; you may enjoy both but they appeal to two very separate parts of your brain. Yet they are now bonded as like an electron orbiting a nucleus at the speed of light.
There is one area where the two films align; demonstrating the role of character in propelling the story. There are basically two ways this can be done: 1) either you have a strong character who adheres to their principles, flaws and all, and they rise and then fall as the events play out because of them (stories like this are often referred to as “character studies”); or 2) you have a character that usually starts as a one-dimensional sketch, who then changes over time and grows into a fully formed complex entity. Oppenheimer belongs in the former, Barbie very much the latter.
“Oppenheimer” is based on the book “American Prometheus” and charts Oppenheimer’s rise from uber-liberal quantum theorist to the leader to the Manhattan Project and his eventual fall from grace. He has misgivings about using science for military use in this way but completely understands the horrors that would develop should the Nazis create an atomic bomb first. When Germany loses the war, it doesn’t stop him from pushing the program to its ultimate conclusion (we are still at war with Japan after all), a meticulously and amazingly filmed sequence demonstrating the power of the atomic weapon. When discussions turn to actually using it, only then does he show some serious misgivings. When he sees the results of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki he can’t get the images out of his head. As the poltical grounds shift under his feet, he’s alleged to be a communist sympathizer, loses his security clearance and ostracized from public life. Oppenheimer is truly a complex character, but Cillian Murphy’s performance breathes life into him, and viewers can understand throughout the movie where his views are, why he does what he does and why it comes back to bite him. There’s a real sense of flaw and humanity that makes it all too honest and real. There’s nothing in the film that feels disingenuine or fake for the sake of the story.
On the flip side of that is Barbie, where EVERYTHING feels fake and disingenuine. It’s Barbie’s whole motif and raison d’etre. Margot Robbie plays “Stereotypical Barbie” and I have to say, does a fantastic job of it. Its the story that does her no service. The various versions of Barbies run Barbieland, she lives in her Dream House, everything is sunny and pink. All the Kens are afterthoughts and relegated to the sidelines of just looking good and being there for Barbie when she needs them.2 From the get-go, it’s a singular celebration of “girl power”; Barbie as feminist icon does not quite meld with actuality, as Barbie’s whole persona is based on what she wears and blatant consumerism. You want Barbie to be a scientist? Put a lab coat on her. You want her to be President? She wears a business suit. These are the kind of dimensionless characters you get when you make a movie out of a toy.
As with all movies like this, she’s given a quest. In this case, it’s to go to the real world and find the kid who is playing with her so she can solve the problem of why she has flat feet. Barbie learns about how people project their own personalities onto the toy versions of Barbie like herself. It makes sense— Barbie is a shell of a character and her only personality is what gets projected onto her. Ken tags along and learns about patriarchy and subjugation and indoctrinates the other himbo Kens to take over Barbieland. No, I am not making this up.
It’s a pretty dumb, innocuous story, one tht breaks its own rules often for the purpose of the convoluted plot. But Barbie is not geared toward me, a middle aged man; it’s geared toward women and young girls. In that sense, it’s true to how girls play with and look at Barbie. It’s not meant to be an objective look at a toy, it’s meant to make one feel good about the product and reassure young girls that Barbie is cool. It’s even a little propagandistic and preachy to young women in how to view the world to its detriment, blurring the line between pro-girl and anti-boy noticeably. In the end, Barbie grows from a hollow character to maybe a 2-dimensional one, but growth is still growth I guess, no matter how false it feels. In fact, it feels more like an attempt by a toy company to rebrand what has long been perceived as an antiquated and traditional toy for a new modern generation to play with. Judging by the success of the movie, it seems to be working.
But you know what? It’s funny. At times it’s REALLY funny. Ryan Gosling steals most the scenes he’s in as Ken.3 It would be even funnier if they didn’t focus so much on the seriousness of sociological views and just focus on the superfluousness of a kid’s toy doll.
And with so much seriousness in the world, we can all use more humor. One of the things that depresses me a little is how everything at theaters these days are horror films, comic book films, action sequels, serious dramas and animation. Though Oppenheimer truly is a masterpiece, destined to win a dozen Oscars, it’s not for the lighthearted, and coming out of the theater three hours later usually results in a stony kind of silence. Gone are the days when comedies appealed across generations, genders and demographics and people had a great time laughing at the movieplexes. If Barbie does anything, bringing back more comedies, even mindless ones like this, would be a huge positive legacy. There was definitely a lot more happiness and fun conversation coming out of it, to be sure.
PurpleAmerica’s Recommended Stories
The recommended book is the Pulitzer winning “American Prometheus” from which the movie “Oppenheimer” was based. I’m going to be honest, its long and dense. I never finished reading it but of the half I did read, it was incredibly thoughtful and enlightening, particularly about the Manhattan Project and the various personalities involved. Its just VERY dense and VERY long.
PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day
Barbie was first created by Mattel and marketed in 1959.
A major portion of the movie Oppenheimer is Lewis Strauss’s (Robert Downey Jr.) Cabinet Nomination hearings that take place in….1959.
The movie Oppenheimer is not told chronologically. However, if it were, just as Oppenheimer were ending, Barbie would begin.
PurpleAmerica’s Cultural Corner
Rather than go to watch Barbie, if you want to see a better depiction of the impact of Barbie on girls and the world, watch The Simpson’s episode, “Lisa v. Malibu Stacy.” You can see a small snippet of it here, but the whole episode is on Disney Plus.
Here is also a Vanity Fair article about the famous episode and how it relates to the current Barbie film.
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/07/simpsons-barbie-malibu-stacy
PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject
We’re going to give it to the Simpson’s character who both works with Nuclear Power and has the largest Malibu Stacy (Barbie) collection in the world, Waylon Smithers. From his Malibu Stacy musical…
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Footnotes and Fun Stuff
Christopher Nolan’s biggest hit, “The Dark Knight” came out on the same day as “Mamma Mia.” As a result, there was a lot of “spillover” to the latter as theaters became sold out for the Batman flick. The result was that Mamma Mia had a huge opening as well.
A movie that demonstrated the Ken Dynamic much better was Toy Story 3, with everyone always referring to Ken as a “girls toy” and with Ken’s whole personality geared toward making Barbie happy.
Michael Keaton still did it better.