‘Barbienheimer’ : The double feature that will bring back Cinema as an experience
We are all well aware of the ongoing saga of Barbie and Oppenheimer and the double feature that we are about to receive. Before I get into the impacts of the film itself, we have to give credit where credit is due and appreciate the marketing team of Barbie. They have left no stone unturned and painted all the stones pink.
2 nostalgic films, rightfully in their nature but holding polar opposite feelings at their core, Barbie and Oppenheimer are fulfilling the theme of tales that have been told for so long and will be told for years to come. Both films are going to do wildly well in terms of numbers, that is for sure. What I want to talk about today is not the movies themselves, but more so what they are bringing to the table beyond the narrative.
Going to the theatre and watching movies on the big screen is an experience one has to voluntarily embark on. The advent of streaming services slightly changed the perspective of how a movie is watched. The convenience of sitting at home and not having to dress up, look for a parking spot, buying all the snacks felt mundane and almost started to act as an overhead to the average cinema experience. Easy access to content has its pros and cons, pros being it democratizes content thus giving every story an equal platform to stand on, and the cons being captivity. Captivated by the comfort of one’s own space, getting people back into the cinema hall is a might task.
This is where ‘Barbienheimer’ is a phenomenon to observe, and a big lesson to learn from. This double feature has taken the internet over. The polar opposite plots and aesthetics have garnered quite an audience, and is a phenomenon that needs to be studied. More people than ever have decided to dress up, look for a parking spot, buy all the snacks to watch these two movies and in the way they are meant to be seen.
To say that this is a summer that is quite memorable is an understatement. A Nolan film and a Gerwig film that will define the tone for the next upcoming years of Hollywood. This is the ‘shock to the chest’ Hollywood’s audience needed to get out of our houses and go watch ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ as a double feature from the 21st of July and onwards.
Eagerly waiting to see if both films meet the expectations of the audience. Will the performance of these films be the determining factor of how content is distributed in Hollywood? We will see.