All it took was for one quote retweet to make Barbenheimer take over the box office. Having Barbie and Oppenheimer premiere on the same day proves that opposites really do attract. But as both movies can’t and won’t stop making box office moolah, it’s a really bad time for anyone to be named Barbie Oppenheimer. And yes, there really is a woman with that name who has a story to tell about her difficult time right now.
It’s hard to imagine in the midst of Barbenheimer that the combinations of those two names exist in the form of a retired Boston University professor. Barbara Oppenheimer did an interview with Slate about how Barbenheimer made things pretty complicated for her. When the grandmother of five told people her name, she admitted that people thought she was joking.
“When I checked in at the hotel, I said, ‘Barbie Oppenheimer!’ The guy said, ‘Are you pulling my leg?’”
Oppenheimer revealed that she had college friends around the world texting her when the two movies came out. Despite dealing with confused people, it doesn’t mean her summer was a bummer. The Massachusetts native was actually able to laugh about it all. Not to mention, she loved that these two contrasting movies were bringing people back into theaters. She’s not wrong about that, as Barbenheimer gave AMC its best revenue week in 103 years.
This retired professor’s last name is not a coincidence. Barbie Oppenheimer’s husband is actually a distant relative of J. Robert Oppenheimer- the subject of the Christopher Nolan film. His father is a third cousin of his, to be exact.
What Movies Did Barbie Oppenheimer See During Barbenheimer?
Barbie Oppenheimer and her husband, of course, saw Oppenheimer on opening weekend to make sure her husband’s relative’s story was told right. Fortunately, the couple agreed that Christopher Nolan did “a good job” and honored the physicist well.
“Watching him deal with these questions, and the politicization of it…” said Oppenheimer. “I thought some of the most interesting scenes were about the patriotism at Los Alamos, as the staff felt at the time.”
On the other hand, the father of the atomic bomb is still considered a controversial topic for the Oppenheimers.
“He was a hero to many, but he was also the subject of a lot of anger,” said Oppenheimer. “I mean, I’ve always heard in my husband’s family, whether you claimed him as a relative or didn’t, really depended on how you felt about things.”
Two weeks later, the Oppenheimer couple gave Barbie a chance. Barbara Oppenheimer said her husband “laughed” throughout the whole movie. If you asked the retired Boston University professor which movie she liked the most, she admitted she couldn’t choose. At the same time, she was glad she saw both. In fact, Oppenheimer loved both films so much that she bought a Barbenheimer T-shirt!
Well, if the name fits, wear it proudly.
