> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Darkest Memes of the Barbie-Oppenheimer Double Feature - URL: https://hyperallergic.com/the-darkest-memes-of-the-barbie-oppenheimer-double-feature/ - Published: 2023-06-28T21:15:49.000Z - Updated: 2025-11-24T16:04:23.000Z - Description: The internet is at its best and its worst after it was announced that a film about the making of the atomic bomb would debut on the same day as Barbie. - Author: Maya Pontone - Tags: Art, News, Barbie, Memes, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 09:29 (2023, 2024, part 1) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/06/fznbmopxwaao13c.jpg) Adam Perocchi's *Oppenheimer*\-inspired reimagining of the Barbie Dreamhouse (image courtesy Adam Perocchi) She's Everything. He's Death, the destroyer of worlds. She's Mattel. He's the Manhattan Project. Directors Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach's summer blockbuster *Barbie* (2023) is set to open in theaters on July 21, the same day as Christopher Nolan's long-anticipated film *Oppenheimer* (2023), a movie about the development of the atomic bomb. Many theaters across the country are screening these polar opposite movies back-to-back, and the notion of a double feature has the internet in absolute shambles. So what better way to cope than with a deluge of absurdly dark memes? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/06/do-you-think.jpg) An unedited still from the actual *Barbie* (2023) trailer that feels like it should be in *Oppenheimer* (2023) (screenshot Maya Pontone/*Hyperallergic* via [Twitter](https://twitter.com/CharlesPulliam/status/1661768774448476160?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1661768774448476160%7Ctwgr%5E03cf9da7a605220262b06ef5ca8622d697cd512a%7Ctwcon%5Es1%5F&ref%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2Fnoradominick%2Fbarbie-think-about-dying-tweet-roundup&ref=hyperallergic.com)) In the weeks leading up to the dual blockbuster opening, people are preparing for the emotional wreckage that will undoubtedly besiege them from the confluence of these films. Notably, Christopher Nolan told [*Wired*](https://www.wired.com/story/christopher-nolan-oppenheimer-ai-apocalypse/?ref=hyperallergic.com) reporters that some early viewers of *Oppenheimer* (2023) "left the movie absolutely devastated," which is, you know, *super uplifting* to hear. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/06/opp-v-barbie.jpg) Real-life photographs of me after watching both films. (screenshot Maya Pontone/*Hyperallergic* via [Twitter](https://twitter.com/WatchMojo/status/1672270286551678976?ref=hyperallergic.com)) Those who are seeing *Oppenheimer* (2023) before *Barbie* (2023) are calling the mash-up "Oppenbarbie," and those who are wrong and seeing the films in the reverse order are calling it "Barbieheimer." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/06/make-your-own-music.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/06/make-your-own-music-2.jpg) This meme from The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022) has yet to get old for me. (screenshot Maya Pontone/Hyperallergic via Twitter) Like many others on the internet, I have strong opinions about how theatergoers should spend the day. The following meme is [giving](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCTKjAJKqGs&ref=hyperallergic.com) "No sleep. Bus. Club. Another club. Another club. Plane. Next place. No sleep": ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/06/wild.jpg) The internet has opinions about how to spend the day. (screenshot Maya Pontone/*Hyperallergic* via [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ULTRAGLOSS/status/1673139352669495296?ref=hyperallergic.com)) The pairing of the two films has led some to make interesting observations of real-world phenomena that could fit the Barbie-Oppenheimer theme — such as this pair of surreal houses: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/06/entire-lives.jpg) As they say, art imitates life. Or in this case, life imitates art? I don't know anymore. (screenshot Maya Pontone/*Hyperallergic* via [Twitter](https://twitter.com/yannhatchuel/status/1673459916630274051?s=20&ref=hyperallergic.com)) ... Or this strange pink cloud that's either another [hazardous "gender reveal"](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/21/couple-gender-reveal-party-wildfire-charged?ref=hyperallergic.com) or (hopefully) an incredible PR stunt by the *Barbie* (2023) marketing team: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/06/indonesion-mold-cloud.png) Another forest fire-causing gender reveal? Who knows! (screenshot Maya Pontone/*Hyperallergic* via [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AbbyHiggs/status/1673860285440901123?s=20&ref=hyperallergic.com)) Speaking of the *Barbie* (2023) marketing team, can we just take a moment to appreciate this bubble gum pink Xbox console? I, myself, was a Wii stan growing up, but even this video game set-up would have me begging my mom to drive me to the nearest Toys-R-Us. (RIP!) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/06/xbox.jpg) Please, Mom? I *need* the Xbox Barbie Dream Edition. Everyone at school has one! (screenshot Maya Pontone/*Hyperallergic* via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/Ct9WV23MqBZ/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==&ref=hyperallergic.com)) Of course, this wouldn't be a proper meme round-up if I didn't include this spot-on *Sopranos* reference: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/06/sopranos.jpg) The real question is: Why *isn't* Adriana in *Barbie* (2023)? (screenshot Maya Pontone/*Hyperallergic* via [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SopranosWorld/status/1673060901946105856?s=20&ref=hyperallergic.com)) If New Jersey Italian mafia jokes aren't your thing, perhaps this Avril Lavigne meme is. Can I make it any more obvious? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/06/sk8.jpg) He was a skater boy. She said, "See ya later, boy." (screenshot Maya Pontone/*Hyperallergic* via [Twitter](https://twitter.com/adamgreattweet/status/1665417169117560834?s=20&ref=hyperallergic.com)) But whether you decide to see *Barbie* (2023) then *Oppenheimer* (2023), or *Oppenheimer* (2023) then *Barbie* (2023), just remember that David Lynch did it first. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/06/glinda.jpg) An important observation about *Wild At Heart* (1990) and the Twin Peaks film *Fire Walk With Me* (1992). (screenshot Maya Pontone/*Hyperallergic* via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/Ct%5FVrLIMta2/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D&ref=hyperallergic.com)) Happy watching, and good luck! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/06/farewell.jpg) Come on, Barbie! Let's go party! With weapons of mass destruction! (screenshot Maya Pontone/*Hyperallergic* via [Twitter](https://twitter.com/QuintonMurdock/status/1665731547058806784?s=20&ref=hyperallergic.com))