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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer, on WNYC, and we went a little long with that segment because there was so much there, there was so much more there that we could even have continued to talk about, but that's the end of that segment. We're going to end today's show, because we have very little time, with what we'll call your 32nd reviews of Barbie or Oppenheimer. Did you see one this weekend? Which one did you see?
Did you see both this weekend? I could throw in the Wes Anderson film, but I won't. Give us your reviews of these two films, which are apparently actually bringing people back to movie theaters more than a lot of other attempts to do that. 212-433-WNYC. 212-433-9692. Each caller will get 30 seconds to say something about the Barbie movie or the Oppenheimer movie. It can be how many stars you want to give it.
It can be one meaningful quote from the film. It can be just how it left you feeling. 212-433-WNYC. A quick call in on this weekend's blockbuster successes. 212-433-9692. For example, according to the popular movie review site, Rotten Tomatoes, both Barbie and Oppenheimer satisfied their audiences. Barbie viewers tended to praise its feminist themes while the anti-woke brigade described it as a man-hating woke propaganda fest.
This might not be how you expected a Barbie movie to come out. Did Barbie succeed, for you, as a viewer, in deconstructing gender stereotypes in the way that you had hoped? Is Barbie now a feminist icon in your eyes? 212-433-WNYC. Oppenheimer, which, by the way, we're going to do a separate segment on the history that went into this film tomorrow. Fred Kaplan, who's written two books about the nuclear weapon, The Bomb, is going to be here and give us context in a movie tomorrow.
Oppenheimer, of course, centers around the true story of the physicist, Jay Robert Oppenheimer, who led a team of scientists in the creation of the atomic bomb. While many reviews have praised that movie as a whole, critics have mentioned the thin portrayal of female characters and lack of Japanese characters. Of course, it was Japanese people who were the victims of Oppenheimer's creation. Listeners, did you learn something new about the development of the atomic bomb?
You could use your 30 seconds for that. One thing that you learned that you didn't know about The Bomb. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, your 30-second reviews or morsels of things that were interesting about either Barbie or Oppenheimer. 212-433-WNYC, we'll take your calls right after this.
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Brian Lehrer, on WNYC, all right, here we go. 30 seconds for anything you want to say about either Barbie or Oppenheimer. Heather, in Sunnyside, gets to lead off. Hi, Heather, you're on WNYC. Go.
Heather: Hi, Brian. I saw Barbie, it was the first movie I've seen in the movie theater since probably Black Panther, actually. That was a long time ago.
Brian Lehrer: Meaning before the pandemic?
Heather: Before the pandemic, yes. It's the first movie I've been to, so that was very interesting. I'm a tomboy, but I did the whole pink thing anyway. I actually wore pink and then my Birkenstocks, because it really represented the movie perfectly. It just was so lovely. It was so fiercely feminist. It was so funny. It was just way more than I expected it to be, and I can't wait to see it again. I highly recommend. [crosstalk]
Brian Lehrer: You'll see it again. There you go. All right. There's the blurb from Heather. Funny, fiercely feminist. Heather, in Sunnyside, Queens. Rick, in Trenton, you're on WNYC. Hi, Rick.
Rick: Yes. Hi, how are you? Thank you for taking my call. I saw Oppenheimer and I thought it was well done. Oppenheimer, today, would probably be thought of as a true leftist. The way they painted him was that he was this marxist/stalinist terrible person, but no. I can't imagine anybody wanting to go see Barbie, when-- The line around the corner to see Barbie, but the line to see Oppenheimer was a quarter of the line for what Barbie was, there.
With the state of the condition of the world now, and the situation that we're in right now, I think more people have to be concerned with the political makeup and things that you guys talk about on-- [crosstalk]
Brian Lehrer: I'm going to leave it there. We got to the 30 seconds, and I'm going to try to enforce it. Interesting. Rick was judgmental of the people who went to see the movie that he didn't go to see, although the first caller talked about that movie being feminist, so maybe it does relate to issues in the world today. Here's the text that came in. This is the one line that jumped out at this viewer.
"In Barbie, the line about the Kens playing guitar at you really resonated and made me laugh heartily." Will, in Scotch Plains. You're on WNYC. Hi, Will.
Will: Hey, Brian. I want to say, I watched Barbie with my Brazilian friend, and he enjoyed it, even though I don't think he fully understood it. To me, I think Barbie really-- There was some great monologue by some of the women, which I think was great, but I think, also, more of the subtle things or more of the things you just see, like the CEO room of Barbie, all men, and that really stood out to me.
It's like, wow, do men really talk about women like this, as if women can't speak for themselves? I don't know, it was just something that made me think so. I think Barbie was thought-provoking, very silly at times, like you said, with the Kens. I definitely left thinking about a lot, how I interact with women, especially as a white man.
Brian Lehrer: Will, thank you very much. Maryanne, Point Pleasant. You're on WNYC. Hi, Mary.
Maryanne: Hi, good morning. I saw Oppenheimer last night, with three other people. The two men got it. The other woman, no knowledge of World War II or any bombing of any kind, fell asleep during the first 45 minutes, which-- The first 45 minutes were the hardest, because you had to figure out what character was playing what part in the movie, and figure out who was going to be the general, who was going to be assigned to it.
It was a great movie. I'm sure Robert Downey Jr. will probably be up for an Academy Award. He was wonderful. Everybody in the movie was wonderful, but if you have no knowledge of World War II, which most of the young people now don't, or anything having to do with any of the nuclear bombs, you shouldn't go see it. It would be boring and you'd be falling asleep. Like the gentleman before you said, Barbie was packed, the movie theater was nearly empty to see Oppenheimer last night. [laughs]
Brian Lehrer: Interesting. Mary, thank you very much. Listener tweets. "My 16-year-old daughter said that the Barbie movie was life-changing and she wants to go up to every woman she passes and tell them that they're beautiful." Steven, in Red Bank, who saw Oppenheimer, Steven, you're on WNYC. Hello.
Steven: Hello. I did see Oppenheimer and I was really amazed at how the antisemitism reared its ugly head and forced Oppenheimer's clearance for security to be removed from him, thereby making him impotent as far as any further work with it, and how it really, I learned later, his daughter was also affected by it, and she ultimately committed suicide, which I learned on Wikipedia. That's it.
Brian Lehrer: Steven, thank you very much. Judy, in Sussex County, you're on WNYC. Hi, Judy. You've got 30 seconds. Go.
Judy: Oh, I went with my 53-year-old daughter yesterday. I haven't been to the movies for years, because you can't press pause and go to the bathroom, but my daughter was an owner of a Barbie dream house. I went with my Barbie doll in my purse, and we laughed. It's so funny that you laugh in the beginning, the first half, you're laughing at least once a minute, and laughing so hard you can't stop. I've found it a riot and totally Barbie, I wish I'd worn pink.
Brian Lehrer: [laughs] Judy, thank you very much. Well, that's two callers who commented on how hilarious the Barbie movie was, if comedy wasn't the first thing you thought you were going for, and at least two, at least in this tiny sample, for whom that's the film that drew them, finally, back to a movie theater, for the first time since the pandemic. Listeners, thanks for your snap calls.
The Brian Lehrer Show is produced by Lisa Allison, Mary Croke, Amina Srna, Carl Boisrond, and Esperanza Rosenbaum. Zach Gottehrer-Cohen handles our daily politics podcast, our summer interns are Brandon St. Luce and Katerina Engst, with Juliana Fonda at the audio controls. Stay tuned for All Of It.
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