American Mythologies, Barbenheimer, and Satirizing Superheroes

After a brief hiatus (and a looming name change???), the pod returns to discuss the most dominant cultural phenomenon of the summer: "Barbenheimer." "Barbenheimer" fondly refers to the two diametrically opposed films released on the same day, Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" and Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer". However, in this episode I am going to argue that these films actually address the same subject matter: American exceptionalism and the influence of 1950s material culture on the American psyche.

Ultimately, these two films address what I call "American mythology": the stories that form the backbone of our society and the figures that Gerwig and Nolan hold up as mirrors to our modern culture. Digressions include the US's deeply disturbing realization that yes, women also experience sexual pleasure; the proliferation of pink on the streets of New York and whether Wikipedia's ideas of "American myths" are really valid...

Sources:

Barbie is Brilliant, Beautiful, and Fun as Hell - The New Yorker

What Barbie Dolls Have to Say about Postwar American Culture

Christopher Nolan on Exploding Myths & Exposing Humanity in "Oppenheimer" - The Credits

The Rabbit Room | The Myths of Oppenheimer

‘Oppenheimer’ Review: A Man for Our Time

(and of course, my brain)