Barbie and Oppenheimer are finally here. The cinematic duo have dominated popular culture for months with their dual release dates and divergent subject matter. One is a film about the devastation of nuclear power, and the other is Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Both movies are already hits too, with critical reviews and word of mouth incredibly positive ahead of release and as audiences rush into screens for the first time. With two tickets booked for this weekend, I can’t wait to lose myself watching them back-to-back.
Actors and creators behind both films are in on the joke too, noting how all the surrounding discussion is not only a sign of a positive box office, but celebrates the art of filmmaking and, depending on who's behind and in front of camera, how wildly different the results can be. I’m not sure how much Kenergy we’d need to match the wrath of Oppenheimer, but I’m more than willing to find out. Before Barbenheimer however, there was a video game pair who more than matched their unorthodox chemistry.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal shared a release date of March 20, 2020. One of the most brutally violent games ever made shared the podium with the most relaxing, a reality which quickly gave birth to viral memes and an unexpected bond between each of its protagonists. Well, you don’t play as Isabelle, but she’s certainly more charming than the default villager. So she and the Doom Slayer became besties who hung out together all the time. They could be fishing by the sea or murdering demons in hell, it didn’t matter because their opposing tones made whatever they ended up doing strangely entertaining to witness.
Its appeal occupies a similar cultural space to Barbenheimer. On the surface, both films are so wildly different that it should be impossible to pair them but it’s this willingness to pair them together that makes the results so entertaining. Isabelle is a soft little doggy who wouldn’t hurt a fly, but as a secretary who has to put up with Tom Nook’s capitalist bullshit every day of the week there is bound to be a breaking point where all she wants is to quit her job and set stuff on fire. To go apeshit, if you will.
The Doom Slayer’s entire existence is defined by demonic slaughter, so he must be in need of a break every once in a while, perhaps on a lovely tropical vacation island filled with friendly residents and a home to call his own. He might have a bit of trouble fitting into some of the doorways at first, but I’m sure Timmy and Tommy can accommodate a few changes. I want to see them hang out and have fun, but never be afraid to take up arms and kick some ass when the situation calls for it. I bet the Doom Slayer could stop the loan shark racket that Nook is running.
Each game was also marketed to entirely seperate audiences, but gamers embraced both of them, and if anything celebrated the diversity of video games and how two of the year’s biggest titles could be so different but still launch on the same day. I was privileged to play them both ahead of release, and remember gleefully jumping between the two each evening as I prepared to file my reviews in time. Online discourse supported the medium’s varied taste, and now that very same philosophy is bleeding into the cinematic world with Barbenheimer.
Opposites attract, and we shouldn’t decry their association, but embrace it however we can. I had to explain the Barbenheimer meme to a friend I’m seeing the films with because it took a bit of persuasion to make them see Barbie. Once I explained the film’s premise and how it had taken on a life of its own alongside Oppeneheimer it was easy for them to see the fun in it all. Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal walked so Barbie and Oppenheimer could run, and I love how audiences are now mature enough to respect and enjoy pieces of media that couldn’t be more different.