‘’Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life; but poetry, beauty, romance, Love; these are what we stay alive for’’- John Keating-

Nowadays, the hype is all about two of the most recent masterpieces to ever grace the cinematic industry; Barbie, and Oppenheimer. While drastically different in terms of context, each in their own right left viewers with separate yet strangely poignant take home messages. Here we don’t necessarily plan to weigh the pros and cons or start up a Barbie Vs Oppenheimer battle; rather we hope to enlighten readers as to why they have become such a sensation immediately upon release.

To every little girl who grew up diligently following Barbie through the decades, Barbie provided that escape into a land of ballgowns and dashing young princes. And while we like to tell ourselves upon growing up, that we are staunch feminists, there is always that little girl inside us somewhere waiting for her own prince and life in a dream house. As the world grew with time, so did our thinking, and in fact, so did Barbie. From being a princess in a castle waiting for her knight in shining armor, she became the trailblazer fighting to live life on her own terms. Be it as a runway model (Fashion Fairytale anyone?) or as a musketeer (where in a comedic reversal of roles, she becomes the savior), Barbie has always represented the fact that a woman has choices. In a world where male-dominated shows are innumerable and females are being delegated to the sidelines, Barbie is not only a celebration of women but a recognition of what we can be beyond the expected possibilities. 

On the contrary, while it was all nice and dandy to watch Barbie as a child, I’m sure we all grew up being exposed to the idea that being ultra pretty or hyper-feminine was for the mean girls while the ‘good’ girls epitomized the idea of a tomboy, leaning towards anything that was traditionally catered to men. At the end of every story, the latter succeeded and ended up with the hero, all because she ‘wasn’t like the other girls’ whatever that meant. This sentiment succeeded in damping the ‘barbie-world’ of countless girls the world over. In 2023, the Barbie movie embraced two themes commonly not seen together; Feminism and feminity, and succeeded in being that long-overdue love letter to all women. Barbie is thus a celebration of all women be it the doctors, lawyers, astronauts, or even homebuilders, and shows that women can be all this and more while retaining their femineity along with it, which in itself is an act of feminism. This movie is a celebration of women’s individuality, and the ultimate take home message would be that while society may have its own standards, at the end of it all, the most beautiful thing that you can be is yourself. 

At the other end of the stick, we have Oppenheimer, essentially a biography. Another masterpiece by Christopher Nolan, this movie depicts the life of scientist Oppenheimer who as Nolan himself said was ‘’…the most important person who ever lived. He made the world we live in, for better or for worse’’. While a distinguished and highly reputed scientist in his own right, Oppenheimer rose to prominence with the ‘success’ of the Manhattan Project and the atomic bombs, ironically because of the extent of destruction it caused. While he was hailed as a hero by many, Oppenheimer was never the same after this tragic event. He went as far as to invite contempt from his peers by opposing the production of a far superior hydrogen ‘super’ bomb. As his close friend and physicist Isaac Rabi once mentioned, ‘’Oppenheimer was a man of peace and they destroyed him. He was a man of science and they destroyed him. A small, mean group…’’.  The movie highlights the external coolness and contrasting internal turmoil of one of America’s finest sons, whose greatest contribution to civilization was a weapon that could destroy it. The movie is basically a series of bomb explosions, from the key atomic bomb to all the relatively minor yet equally impactful detonations within his private life. While the screentime for the attacks themselves and their impacts was relatively less than what you would expect (which might antagonize a fair amount of viewers) this movie focuses on the anguish and torment in the creator’s eyes when his work, while successful has devastating impacts on humanity. The movie focuses not just on the titular character but on those around him and each of their contributions toward the creation of this wondrous yet monstrous weapon. 

While Oppenheimer was hailed as a prodigy, the movie focuses on his disillusionment with life mostly. It shows us how a man’s biggest discovery and bravery marked his biggest doom. Oppenheimer may have been a genius, but he wasn’t acquainted with the ways of the world. He spoke his mind, trusted everyone, and paid a price for it. While there are many who would lay the blame of the bomb at his door Nolan focuses on a man who was a sensation in his time, who took great pride in his discoveries but at the end of his life, couldn’t even bring himself to look them in the eye. The atom bomb was born out of Oppenheimer’s ambition and relentless love for physics and yet at the end of the story, left him in tatters in the grip of guilt and turmoil; hailing himself as ‘’…death, the destroyer of the worlds.’’ As he was known to have said about the blast, ‘’We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed; a few people cried. Most people were silent.’’ And despite all this, at the end of the story above all else, we are left in tatters by the breakage of a spirit that if all had gone right could have been a beacon of hope to humanity but ended up being dragged down from his pedestal to the brinks of despair. Out of everything that was silenced with the release of the bombs, the spirit of its maker took the brunt. You will not forget this for a very long time. 

Written by: Rtr. Aaysha Sufran

Graphic design by: Rtr. Nuwani Gamage