The Barbie-Oppenheimer double bill opening has been keenly observed across the globe, with many wondering which of the two films is going to do better at the box office. The verdict, it would seem, is that Greta Gerwig’s Barbie has outshone Christopher Nolan’s take on Robert J Oppenheimer — ‘The Father of the Atomic Bomb’ — by many miles world over, at least in terms of the box office. After both films released together worldwide on Friday, July 21, Barbie is projected to rake in over 280 million USD worldwide. In comparison, Oppenheimer is estimated to make 165 million USD by the end of the opening weekend.
At a theatre in Chennai, the rush of audiences entering Barbie is in many shades of pink. These are not just audiences looking for a weekend watch. The global trend of wearing the Barbie hot pink to the theatre has caught on here too. During the interval, a group of women students from a private college gush excitedly about Greta Gerwig’s version of the controversial doll. “She’s not just a doll! That’s what the film is trying to say,” one of the students tells TNM.
“I know the Barbie doll is seen as anti-feminist, but this film is trying to change that. The criticism of Barbie is regarding the standards of beauty it holds up, whether it’s body type, height, or skin colour. In the Barbie movie, the character is shocked at what she’s come to mean when she steps into the real world. The movie shows that Barbie is Barbie, regardless of race. It’s not white Barbie or Black Barbie. They’re all just Barbie,” she adds.
The students also say that Barbie far exceeded their expectations and that Gerwig’s feminism appeals to them. Notably, it is the same feminist stance of the film that put off a group of young men waiting for their Oppenheimer screening to begin. “We double-booked today. We already watched Barbie in the morning. Now we’re waiting for Nolan’s film. We are not in support of the patriarchy. But we are also not in support of feminism. We hoped the film would end on a note about equality. But it ended with feminism,” one of them says.
When asked why they chose to watch Barbie first, another young man in the group quips, “We just wanted to watch the bad film first. We mainly came to watch Barbie to make memes.”
Another woman TNM spoke to openly baulks at the idea that feminism is an attractive reason to watch a film. “No, no there’s a lot of hype about the film. That’s the only reason I wanted to watch,” she says quickly, when asked if Barbie’s gender politics had brought her to the theatre.
Yet, this politics is exactly what has drawn a differe,nt section of audience to the film. Dressed in a delicate shade of pink, a journalism student says, “The feminism in the film was important to me. You don’t see many movies like this. It shows a world that is the opposite of real-life when it comes to gender. In the real world, men are dominating everything. Barbie gives you a world where women are doing better than the men.”
Just as the intermission wraps up for Barbie, those who booked tickets for Oppenheimer begin walking in. Nearly every one of them TNM spoke to professes to be a fan of Nolan. “The history of the atom bomb and the fact that Christopher Nolan has made this film made me want to watch it. My friends and I couldn’t make it to the FDFS [First Day, First Show], but we’re here today finally.”
A theatre official who wished to remain anonymous tells TNM that both films have led to a marked increase in footfall, with many double-booking for Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day. They also say Nolan’s film is doing marginally better than Barbie, which seems to be in keeping with the national trend. Unlike in most other parts of the world, it is Oppenheimer that has made more over the opening weekend in India. According to a report in The Hindustan Times, Nolan’s popularity in the country has so far raked in Rs 31 crore, compared to Barbie’s Rs 11.5 crore.
Beyond the box office, however, Barbie has made itself to be more than just a film about a much loved/hated doll. The sea of pink is as dizzying as it is intriguing. Despite the criticism it has faced for the erasure of atomic bomb victims, Nolan’s Oppenheimer will go down in history as a gripping character study of a man burdened by the weight of his own creation. Barbie, in the meantime, has spurred a cultural shift in terms of how women-led, women directed films are not only viewed, but are actively participated in.
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