Oppenheimer is the anti-Ken
Barbie's glib post-masculine world is haunted by the nuclear ghosts of Los Alamos
Three big budget Hollywood movies released over the past three weeks – Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part 1, Barbie and Oppenheimer – have already generated more than $1.2 billion in global box office while scoring near or over 90% at Rotten Tomatoes among both critics and viewers.
The trio of films is easily on its way to $2 billion in cumulative ticket sales plus the many other revenue streams that will follow theatrical release. It is an extraordinary, and historic, show of renewed strength by the post-pandemic US movie industry.
Whether intentionally or not, Hollywood’s biggest hit movies nearly always reflect important cultural-political undercurrents in the society that produces them. From this vantage point, Mission, Barbie and Oppenheimer offer a surfeit of riches.
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