As previously noted, I saw Oppenheimer last night at the Somerville Theater and for all of its accolades, Oppenheimer will inexorably be linked to Barbie.
Indeed, when I went to see a screening of Midnight Cowboy at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline earlier this month, the trailers for Oppenheimer and Barbie were played back-to-back. To me, it was a classic case of going from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Of course, we are stuck with the Barbenheimer portmanteau for the foreseeable future. I have little doubt that when the next Oscars ceremony is broadcast in March 2024 that we will have some sort of Barbie and Oppenheimer mash-up for laughs.
As for me, I have no plans to see Barbie. For this there is a very simple reason - I am not interested in seeing it. Just as I have no interest in seeing the blockbusters for the Marvel or D.C. Universe.
Until seeing Oppenheimer last night, I had never seen any film directed by Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan although I did see Man of Steel which he produced a decade ago. And the only reason I saw Man of Steel owes to Superman being the first movie I remember seeing in a movie theatre as a child. Otherwise, the superhero genre generally leaves me cold.
Now I must the admit the fact that Ben Shapiro felt the need to devote "pages and pages of notes" as to why he hated Barbie and the fact that Ted Cruz sees the film as Chinese propaganda without having seen the movie does pique my interest a little bit. But their disdain isn't quite enough.
The only scenario by which I plan to see Barbie is if someone were to invite me to go along with them. Alas I do not envision such a scenario coming to pass and I would hate to go to Barbie alone surrounded by teenaged girls feeling like a dirty old man.
Barbie might very well be a good film, perhaps even a great film. However, I will leave that determination up to others - for now.
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