How BarbenHeimer Defied Hollywood's Formulaic Trap
Money talks, but Passion roars! See how these passion-fueled films triumph over big budgets and franchises, proving that creativity is the ultimate crowd-pleaser.
Oppenheimer is a 3 hour biopic historical drama based on the life of Robert J Oppenheimer, father of the atom bomb. Barbie is a 2 hour feature film on the most famous doll complete with fashion set pieces and alarming amount of pink.
These two films couldn’t be more different than each other. The only reason why Barbie is being released on the same day as Oppenheimer was because of a petty feud between Warner Brothers and Nolan.
But despite all this, Barbie and Oppenheimer didn’t oppose each others box office, they instead strengthened it. How did this happen? And what can we learn?
Why BarbenHeimer matters?
BarbenHeimer is like one of the many memes which start on tiktok and Instagram, we look at them and laugh at them, and then forget them. But how did this become so big? Because both these films are more similar than you think.
Barbie isn't just another quick money-making toy-based movie. It may have started that way, but when they brought on the three-time Oscar-nominated Greta Gerwig as the writer and director, it transformed into something more.
Now, let's talk about Greta Gerwig for a moment. She's a powerhouse in the film industry, with nominations for her outstanding work on "Little Women" and "Lady Bird." Seriously, she's the best female writer-director out there, no question! By the way, can you believe "Little Women" didn't win the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay? Ridiculous! But I won't go on a rant about that now.
Back to Barbie. Instead of relying solely on CGI, they went all out with actual costumes, a beautiful dollhouse set, and a fantastic cast that captured the charm perfectly. If they don't win the Oscar for Best Costume this year, I don't know who will!
Gerwig's films always revolve around young women finding their place in society and chasing their dreams. And guess what? Barbie has always been a toy that empowers girls to believe they can do anything they set their minds to. It's a match made in movie heaven!
Now let's talk about Nolan. In his films, he delves into humanity's destructive tendencies, whether at a personal level like in "Memento" and "The Dark Knight," or on a grand scale like in "Interstellar" and "Tenet." Oppenheimer is about the creation of the atomic bomb, possibly the pinnacle of this theme. Like Gerwig, Nolan has earned multiple Oscar nominations without a win - a sore point for me.
While Barbie and Oppenheimer tackle different subjects, they both feel like they were destined to be made by their respective directors. It's like these films are the culmination of their entire careers, and it shows!
But even more notably these films are their attempt to grapple with a kind of existential dread. Barbie faces the harsh reality that her perfect world(the toy world) doesn't align with the real world, while Oppenheimer grapples with the horror of creating a weapon capable of destroying the planet. Deep stuff, right? And believe it or not, this existentialism reflects our current cultural moment.
One needs only a passing familiarity with the news to recognize how each of these films capture our present moment. Although the threat of nuclear war has been ever present since August 9, 1945; the day Fatboy was dropped on Hiroshima. But the threat is getting more real in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Taliban control of Afghanistan. Likewise the fear that humanity may be helpless to save itself from itself feels incredibly linked to the ensuing climate catastrophe. A fear only worsened by the covid 19 pandemic which showed just how unwilling most people are to do what is necessary to overcome an existential threat. Oppenheimer feels like Nolan's attempt to articulate this bleak prospect by drawing from the past. As Issac Asimov had said, “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”
Gerwig on the other hand seems to have tapped into the current moral panic over gender roles and Womanhood. Barbie appears to be a perfect encapsulation of this tension challenging the character and the audience to consider how Barbie fits into this conversation. In a way it's a perfect distillation of Barbie's position in our real world, a doll that is at once a symbol of traditional feminine beauty standards. Fairly toxic standards and used as a tool for the patriarchy to compartmentalize women put them in boxes. But Barbie has slowly evolved into a transgressor of traditional gender roles having been depicted in roles long before women were even allowed to pursue those kinds of careers and inspiring a generation to imagine more for themselves than society allowed at the time.
In the future, when someone asks about the early 2020s, I'll point them to these two films. They capture the essence of our world in 2023, and that's something worth celebrating!
It’s no secret that this summer has been a real letdown at the box office. It's like audiences just couldn't muster up the excitement for some of Hollywood's big hitters, including Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, and Transformers. Sure, the summer was crowded with releases, but even so, it felt like the spark was missing, especially when compared to the grassroots hype around "Barbenheimer."
Now, don't get me wrong; I actually enjoyed some of the films that came out this year, especially "Across the Spider-Verse." But it's clear that audiences are getting tired of the same old superhero flicks, franchise films, and legacy sequels. They're yearning for something fresh and new.
In a world full of franchise sequels, these two deeply personal films from visionary directors are rising to the top. Take Nolan, for instance; he got people pumped for a three-hour R-rated historical biopic about the man who created the atomic bomb! That's just wild, man! Who would've thought school kids would be psyched about Oppenheimer's story? Yet, thanks to Nolan's name, it's tracking to make almost as much as "Mission Impossible" and "Indiana Jones" did, and possibly even more.
Hollywood has been trying to shift away from big name directors, but Nolan has built a reputation as a filmmaker people trust and will show up for, even for a drama they wouldn't usually watch.
"Barberheimer" is like the embodiment of art triumphing over cynical studio machinations and the commodification of creativity. It's like a rebellion(or should I say strike) against a multi-billion dollar media conglomerate that has shown contempt for artists and their craft. WB tried to divide audiences to hurt Nolan, but that didn’t happen and rallied behind both films, turning it into an unexpected double feature celebrating art and the artists behind it.
Sure, this will put money back in WB's pocket, but it's incredibly satisfying given Hollywood's systemic problems. "Barberheimer" might not save the entire movie industry, but it does show us a glimpse of the way forward. These two movies, though different on paper, have tapped into a cultural moment thanks to their creative voices and have captured the imagination of a wide and diverse audience hungry for stories with real substance.
What can we learn?
“It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection” -Krishna to Arjun, 3.35 Shrimad Bhagvad Gita
Humans are very good at seeing through formulas. Some people do it at a conscious level, most at a subconscious level. Rian Johnson’s Knives Out and Glass Onion were extremely successful as they took the mystery genre and flipped it on its head.
Mystery genre films normally have the same three acts, a pre crime first act. Break into the second act when the crime is discovered. The detective investigates throughout the second act, gets an euphony at the end of it and then does the whole explaining who did the crime and why thing at the end. If anything, the genre is less than mysterious.
By taking this formula and then changing it just so subtly, Knives Out stood out. The reason why Marvel became such a big thing in the first place was originality, Iron Man was a type of superhero film no one had seen before. Every movie was different from others. However, in the recent years, Marvel is becoming more and more formulistic, and hence is losing its audience. To be fair, Marvel TV shows still have unique concepts and hence draw a lot of fans who don’t go to the movies.
Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code was a historic bestseller. The Lost Symbol also had its own legion of fans. But his last Robert Langdon book Origin, hardly seems to meet the sales or critical acclaim of the first two. Reason: Everyone understood that every Dan Brown novel follows the exact same formula just with different places, different secret society and a different female partner for Robert Langdon for every book. And people don’t like formulas.
This will ring true for every product, in every niche. A new idea, a new product while has higher chance of failure, it also has a higher chance of success. Copies can only be mediocre.
In a summer filled with formulistic mediocre, Barbie and Oppenheimer were the breath of freshness the audience was looking for.
“If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life.” - Marc Anthony
Kip Thorne, 2017 Physics Noble Prize awardee and the scientific consultant for many films and shows had in an interview said that his work had been made so much easier in Nolan films as Nolan had taught himself Quantum Physics better than most PhD students.
That’s a huge thing. Christopher Nolan, someone who doesn’t have a scientific education, is better read on Quantum Physics than most PhD students. All because he enjoys studying this dense subject and making films about it.
Greta Gerwig and Nolan enjoyed the films they made. The process was fun, for them and for their crew and hence the films were fun for the audience.
“There are no guarantees in life, but it is a sure thing that you will get back what you give. If you give 100 percent of your attention, energy, and time to a thing, you will get exactly that back.” - Iyanala Vanzant
In Hindi we have an old saying, “Money attracts money.” I disagree big time. Mission Impossible was 300 Million dollar film. So was Indian Jones. Flash was 220 Million. They all collectively made 1 billion.
Barbie and Oppenheimer on the other hand costed 220 million combined. They have already together made 1.1 Billion and are still in cinema unlike the former.
Paid promotions, interviews, talk shows and ads can only get a movie interest. The only reason non movie buffs attend films is because everyone around them is talking about it. And that will only happen if the film is worth watching. And if the film is worth watching, it will happen one day or the next. Take for example Encanto. The film failed during its initial theatrical run. And then took of on Disney+, and when released for the second time post pandemic, it was a roaring success. Noting beats quality, not even big budgets and industry names like Tom Cruise.
So in conclusion, "BarbenHeimer" showed us the power of embracing creativity and breaking away from tired formulas. By letting visionary directors like Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan do what they love and tell their unique stories, the films captivated audiences and defied industry norms. They reminded us that originality and passion are the keys to success, and that you don't need a big budget or famous names to make a lasting impact.
So let's remember, in a world filled with copycats and franchises, it's the fresh ideas that shine bright. Be it in movies or any other endeavor, when you follow your heart and put in your all, success will follow. Remember, Money may attract money, but creativity and authenticity attract hearts.
If you got value from this post, click on the heart button on the top, it helps the post get discovered and read by more people. If you haven’t please go and watch Barbie as well as Oppenheimer in your nearest cinema.
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If you can solve the quantum mechanics equation behind Barbie's perfect hair flip, leave a comment, and I'll respond faster than Oppenheimer can say "I am become hair, the stylist of dolls!
Interesting article, but I don't know if I buy the notion that creativity and passion will always beat money. I wish it were true, but there are way too many counter-examples. Yes, it does happen--another famous example is "Ghost," a low-budget 1990 film that took everyone by surprise when it became the highest-grossing film of the year AND the third of all time.
And yet, and yet... For every case like this there are countless others that go totally unnoticed.
Here's one example: have you ever heard of "Predestination"? It's a 2014 Australian film starring Ethan Hawke, based on a short story by Robert A. Heinlein. Likely one of the best Science-Fiction films I've ever seen. And while it won a bunch of awards, not many folks seem to have heard of it, let alone seen it.
Another example: "MirrorMask." A strange, extremely creative and original film from 2005. Directed by Dave McKean, with a script by Neil Gaiman. It went totally unnoticed, and yet it's amazing!
One more: Tarsem's "The fall" (2006) starring Lee Pace (who currently plays the Emperor in the "Foundation" TV show). A visually and narratively stunning movie that would deserve much more love than it has received.
I could go on and on.
Sadly, I believe what matters more than creativity or passion is not so much money as opportunity... or perhaps I should say luck? I mean, it's clear "Ghost" didn't enjoy a bigger marketing campaign than, say, "MirrorMask," and yet it was a thousandfold more successful... But why? Who knows. Possibly the other movies out that week had even smaller budgets.
That's why it's so difficult for industry folks to guess what is going to be a hit and what will flop. There are just too many variables that come into play.
Note that this is true in other media as well. The music industry, in particular, comes to mind.
However, I'll say this. If a film gets lucky and it has that creativity and passion, it's much more likely to become a cult classic than, say, the latest Marvel blockbuster.
Silver lining and all that...