Barbenheimer Syndrome : The Creation of Cultural Spectacle at the Box Office.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Jacobs, Carolyn Condon, editor.

Ritzenhoff, Karen A., editor.

Young, Anna, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Barbie (Motion picture).

Oppenheimer (Motion picture).

Popular culture.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (385 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

New York, NY : Bloomsbury Publishing (US), 2026.

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Academic, 2026.

System Details:

text file rdaft

Summary:

This edited volume engages with Barbie (Greta Gerwig, 2023) and Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan, 2023) through the lens of the "Barbenheimer" fad, a phenomenon that celebrated the counterprogramming of these two divergent films. Through a variety of approaches and perspectives, Barbenheimer Syndrome reveals why these movies struck such a cultural nerve.

Contents:

Foreword: From Barbie to the Bomb: What Barbenheimer Taught Us About Meme Culture Dahlia Schweitzer (Fashion Institute of Technology, USA) Acknowledgements Introduction Carolyn Condon Jacobs (Central Connecticut State University, USA), Anna Young (Central Connecticut State University, USA) and Karen A. Ritzenhoff (Central Connecticut State University, USA) SECTION I: Deconstructing Barbenheimer 1. A Viral Sensation: "Barbenheimer" and the Covid-19 Pandemic Carolyn Condon Jacobs 2. "A Chain Reaction That Would Destroy the Entire World": Blowing Up Patriarchal Capitalism in Barbie and Oppenheimer Kathleen McClancy (Texas State University, USA) 3. Asterbarbenheimer: Our Summer of Ironic Nostalgia Thomas Prasch (Washburn University, USA) 4. Empire-building and post-WWII collective trauma: Bodily abnormalities and male symbolism in Barbenheimer Micky Lee (Suffolk University, USA) 5. "What Was I Made For": Barbenheimer, Metamodernism, and Why Barbie Works Better Than Oppenheimer John Alberti (Northern Kentucky University, USA) 6. Objects as destroyers of worlds: gender, power/knowledge, and blackboxing in the Barbenheimer Convergence Holly Randell-Moon (Charles Sturt University, Australia) 7. Barbenheimer: the Nuclear Age, Civil Rights, and African American Women Walton Brown-Foster (Central Connecticut State University, USA) SECTION II: Gender Dynamics in Barbie's World 8. To Be or Not to Be Feminist: The Question of Stereotypes in Greta Gerwig's Barbie Dharshani Lakmali Jayasinghe (Central Connecticut State University, USA) 9. Playing House, Playing Cowboy: Sentimental Gender Scripts in Barbie Katharina Gerund (University of Zurich, Switzerland) & Stefanie Schäfer (University of Mannheim, Germany) 10. Horses and Patriarchy: The Chivalry of Kendom Kate McGrath (Central Connecticut State University, USA) 11. Patriarchy in the Boardroom and War Room Karen A. Ritzenhoff SECTION III: Unveiling Barbie's Influence 12. Barbie's Jewish Mother: Ruth's Reveal and the Return of the Ethno-Maternal Real Susan N. Gilmore (Central Connecticut State University, USA) 13. In Defense of Barbie: Determining the Worth of a Billion Dollar Success Judith Clemens-Smucker (Sam Houston State University, USA) 14. Barbie: A 21st Century Star Vehicle Amanda Konkle (Georgia Southern University, USA) 15. From Doll-Hood to Humanity: The Role of Music in the Narrative and Marketing of Barbie Rebekah Brammer (Independent Scholar, Australia) SECTION IV: Exploring Oppenheimer's Impact 16. "We might start a chain reaction;" Splitting The Great Man in Oppenheimer Vincent Gaine (Lancaster University, UK) 17. Principled Uncertainty: Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer and the Scientific Biopic A. Bowdoin Van Riper (Independent Scholar, USA) SECTION V: International Reception of Barbie and Oppenheimer 18. Barbie in a War Zone, Oppenheimer in a Nuclear Memory: Gender and Atomic Legacies in Ukraine's Cinematic Reception Anna Young 19. "Why Didn't the Film Barbie Succeed in South Korea? Exploring Gender and Cultural Dynamics through Online Reactions Yeojin "Julie" Kim (Central Connecticut State University, USA) 20. The Bombing of Barbie in Japan: Incendiary Memes, Feminist Ambivalence, and Licca-chan Suzanne Kamata (Naruto University of Education, Japan) and Yoko Kita (Kyoto Notre Dame Women's University, USA) 21. The Barbie world is only fantastic in the United States: Different marketing strategies for the movie and merchandise in Asian Markets Sung Eun (Stella) Park (Webster University, USA) 22. "I've Worked Really Hard for This and I Deserve It": How Barbie's White Feminist Perspectives Set Other Women up for Failure Hiba Aleem (Boston University, USA) About the Editors and Contributors Index

ISBN:

979-88-8189-751-2

979-82-16-25167-5

1-9787-6670-X

9781978766709

OCLC:

1568055356