The ultimate summer cinematic rivalry: Barbenheimer. On Friday, July 21st, the movies Barbie and Oppenheimer were released in theaters, two highly anticipated big-budget blockbuster films. Christopher Nolan’s biopic Oppenheimer follows Robert Oppenheimer’s work on the Manhattan Project, which led to the creation of the atomic bomb. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Greta Gerwig’s fictional Barbie takes the concept of a perfect “Barbie Land” and flips it on its head. Some older audiences may be getting déjà vu from a similar 2008 scenario when Mamma Mia! and The Dark Knight, similarly directed by Christopher Nolan, were pitted against each other in theaters. With huge marketing campaigns, theaters were brimming with anticipation to see which film would take the crown.

At first glance, Barbie and Oppenheimer seem like polar opposites, and that’s certainly how they were marketed. The Barbie trailer takes you straight into the magical world of Barbie Land, where everything is pink and sparkly. Oppenheimer crashes into the brutal reality of war, death, and political intrigue. Both movies had high marketing budgets, with Barbie’s budget of $150 million exceeding even its triple-A production budget. Oppenheimer’s budget for marketing was estimated to be around $100 million. Barbie’s team focused on continuing the notoriety of a brand. Mattel, the company that owns Barbie, worked with director Greta Gerwig to make the movie. Emma Lindsey (‘26) comments on the marketing of Barbie, saying, “They didn’t really talk about a lot of the deeper aspects of Barbie when they were doing the marketing, and then you go in and you’re just completely blown away.” 

The buzz surrounding these two movies is even more impressive considering that much of the lead up to the premiere date was after the WGA and SAG-AFTRA writing and acting strikes began. In fact, the SAG-AFTRA strike was called during the Oppenheimer premiere, causing actors to leave before the screening of the movie. Union actors, which most of the casts are, are not allowed to promote any projects on social media or press. Nonetheless, both movies have star-studded casts, with Cillian Murphy playing the titular character in Oppenheimer, joined by Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, and Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr., and Margot Robbie starring in Barbie alongside Ryan Gosling. Emphasizing the films' differences, Oppenheimer released suspenseful trailers, while Barbie leaned into pop culture, with the soundtrack including many original songs from huge stars, such as “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish and “Dance The Night” by Dua Lipa, both of which dominated the charts following Barbie’s release. The marketing strategies of these two movies were clearly meant for different audiences, especially since Oppenheimer is rated R while Barbie was rated a more family-friendly PG-13.

Before walking into the movie theater to watch Oppenheimer, audiences knew what they were getting into. Oppenheimer was based off of the biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. The movie had healthy support on opening weekend, with $82.4 million worth of earnings at the box office. The movie goes back to the fearful and anxiety-driven American society during World War II. Seeing potential in Oppenheimer as a known scientist, General Leslie Groves, played by Matt Damon, hires Oppenheimer to lead the Manhattan Project: the program that creates the world’s first atomic weapon. Maddie Bridges (‘26) comments on the general flow of the plot: “I found the story really interesting and it went in a really cool direction. Like, it was so focused just on [Oppenheimer] and his perspective.” The biopic goes back and forth between the present and future of the story all the while focusing on Oppenheimer’s perspective and emotions. Many agree that the overall music in the movie was of high quality and some of composer Ludwig Göransson's best work. He accurately conveys the horrors and fears during the war through the musical pieces without the audience having to view the brutality. Furthermore, Oppenheimer serves as an interesting take on a famous historical situation bringing in all aspects of the mission to give perspective on Oppenheimer’s experience. 

Barbie grossed over $155 million on its opening weekend alone, and it’s not hard to understand why. Audiences walking into the theater expecting a light-hearted movie were sorely mistaken; beneath the bubblegum pink aesthetic was an intriguing discussion of feminism and existentialism. The opening sequence of Barbie, set to Lizzo’s song “Pink,” delivered the perfect, plastic Barbie Land come to life; however, it was not long before things went south in the reprise of the song titled “Pink (Bad Day).” From there, Barbie and Ken embark on an adventure to the real world where Ken inadvertently stumbles upon a foreign concept known as the patriarchy, and tries to recreate it in Barbie Land. Some critics of the movie claim that it spat out a vitriolic hatred for men; others say that those who have that take-away simply missed the whole point of the story. Barbie is not about whether Barbies or Kens are better, but rather an idea of identity and inclusion. 

Another aspect of Barbie that many were surprised by was the discussion of discontinued Barbies that were deemed too “inappropriate” at the time. Amongst them was Midge, a pregnant Barbie who was discontinued just four years after her release in 1963. Less scandalous, Ken’s best friend, Allan, and Barbie’s younger sister, Skipper, made appearances in the movie. Moreover, Barbie served as a tribute to its history, especially to Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie.

All in all, despite their opposite aesthetics and methods, Barbie and Oppenheimer are unexpectedly profound statements about human nature and society. Both films are valuable in their own right, and ultimately the only thing binding them together is their release date. However, in their comparison, both of them reached new heights and a whole other level of exposure. So, whether you enjoyed the feminist fun of Barbie or the atomic bombs of Oppenheimer, you were certainly in for a great watch.

Information retrieved from PopDust, Entrepreneur, Collider, People, and The Guardian.