Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 07/24/23

Images from Warner Bros. & Universal

Crass appeal. As the seemingly perpetually offended continue to snipe at just about everything – even popular hits like the anti-child sex trafficking movie Sound of Freedom (projected to tally a nearly $125 million total cumulative box office total in its the third weekend of domestic release) and Jason Aldean‘s anti-violent crime song Try That in a Small Town (as of this writing still #1 on iTunes), I’m somewhat amazed the weekend’s Barbenheimer phenomenon is escaping the criticism it so deserves. 

Barbenheimer, in case you missed the buzz, is a social media meme encouraging theatergoers to view the big screen premieres of the uber-frothy comedy Barbie (based, of course, on the iconic Mattel doll) and Oppenheimer, director Christopher Nolan‘s historical drama about scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the events leading up to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended the Second World War at the estimated cost of between 110,000 and 210,000 Japanese lives. Now, whether you think the decision to drop the bombs was morally justifiable or not, there really can be no denying that the event represents an enormous human tragedy – one that should be beyond lah-di-dah memes about the supposed fun of pairing of such thematically opposite films. Yet, a New York Times columnist giddily gushes about how supposedly  “glorious”  it is.

Then there’s this paragraph from CNBC: “I don’t think anyone could have reasonably predicted this kind of confluence between ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie,’” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. “If you’re going to a theater right now, the communal experience is reminiscent of major Marvel and Star Wars films, but without those franchises remotely involved.”

Yeah, except we’re not talking about the coupling of Marvel and Star Wars movies. We’re talking about the supposedly delightful pairing of a plastic toy that has become the very symbol of frivolity and one of the most tragic events in human history.

If Christopher Nolan’s film was titled Tuskagee and chronicled the CDC syphilis study which ran for 40 years (from 1932 to 1972) and allowed over 100 black men to die after the federal government intentionally decided not to treat them even though a cure (penicillin) was widely available since 1947, would we we now be giggling about a Barkagee double-feature? If it was a dramatic telling of Upstairs Inferno, the gripping 2015 documentary that recounted the story  of a 1973 arson fire at a gay lounge considered to be one of largest mass murders against the LGBT community in U.S. history, would we be tittering about Barbferno? If it was about 9/11 would we consider BarbiEleven to be really amusing and just what’s needed to “reinvigorate the domestic box office”? I think not just social media but all of America would be quite rightfully aghast at such insane insensitivity. Yet, CNN quotes National Association of Theatre Owners President Michael O’Leary as calling Barbenheimer “an exciting cultural event.”

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not putting down either movie individually. Barbie may, in fact, be a breezy, fun summer movie and Oppenheimer looks like a worthy Oscar contender. I may end up seeing both of them – but not together as part of a concocted and, yes, crass social media craze.

BTW, while the hype helped propel Barbie and Oppenheimer to the top two slots on the weekend box office chart, Sound of Freedom is holding strong in the #3 spot – ahead of both the rapidly fading Mission: Impossible and Indiana Jones sequels which came in at #4 and #5 respectively.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.