Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, which released on the same day (July 21), have polar-opposite themes. While one is a biographical drama film based on real-life instances of the ‘Father of the Atomic Bomb’, the other is an American fantasy comedy based on the popular Barbie dolls by Mattel
As both the films were released simultaneously, netizens coined the term – Barbenheimer, based on the names of both films and shared memes combining scenes and pairing characters from Barbie and Oppenheimer
However, #Barbenheimer received backlash in Japan as several memes were deemed insensitive. For instance, fan-made artwork of the beloved childhood icon Barbie paired with mushroom clouds of a nuclear bomb as shown in Oppenheimer didn't sit well with social media users in Japan, where the US dropped two atomic bombs
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Oppenheimer is based on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Father of Atomic Bomb, who is credited with creating the destructive weapon later used by the US to bomb two Japanese cities – Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945. Both the cities were completely destroyed in the nuclear attack during World War II. It led to the death of around 226,000 people, as per reports
"#NoBarbenheimer" trended in Japan after several people opposed this distasteful mix of the two films where Oppenheimer dealt with a grave human tragedy. This was after the Barbie movie’s official US account on X (fka Twitter) responded to some Barbenheimer memes
Warner Brothers apologised for the same as it released a statement saying, "Warner Brothers regrets its recent insensitive social media engagement… The studio offers a sincere apology."
"We consider the reaction to the fan-based movement posted on the official 'Barbie' website run by the U.S. headquarters to be extremely regrettable. We take this situation very seriously and have asked that the U.S. headquarters take appropriate action. We apologize to those offended by this series of inconsiderate actions," Warner Bros. Japan said in a statement
Some of the memes featured actors Margot Robbie, who played Barbie, and Cillian Murphy, who portrayed Oppenheimer, posing in front of a nuclear blast
Barbie performed well on its first 13 days at the box office and earned Rs 37.70 crore India net, as per Sacnilk. However, Oppenheimer has emerged as the clear winner as it earned Rs 100.30 crore in India