Barbieheimer - I saw them both

Ok, I went to see Barbie after all. Compromises are made for friends. Despite all the “controversy” stirred up by the movie – everything from it’s a feminist rant, to male-bashing to even “fascist,” I hardly saw an overt political message. I enjoyed the picture and thought it was rather brilliantly made on director Greta Gerwig’s part. I thought the movie was “true to script” for what the iconic Barbie doll (trademarked 1959) always has been. That’s a symbol of independently minded womanhood (she can be anything, excel to the greatest heights, and take on any career) that a little girl would want. So, in that sense, she represented liberation and feminism, though people didn’t use the terms back then. But Barbie always was double-edged – a “feminist” icon yet having a totally unrealistic physical body, and hence the equal condemnation by, ironically, feminists. As for male-bashing, yes, Ken and company often get the cold shoulder. But we always knew that, as dolls (and, no, I didn’t play with them) Barbie kept Ken at a distance…….

Now on to Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s biopic of the alleged father (played by a brooding Cillian Murphy)  of the atomic bomb (I say alleged because there were other scientific collaborators). Disappointment. Not over the quality of the film though it was a tad too long at three hours. Not because of the acting, which was pretty good. But because 80 per cent of it dealt with the McCarthy Era and persecution of alleged Communists working for the US government. How many times does Hollywood have to drag out this trope? Yes, Hollywood was targeted in the 1940s and 50s and yes there was a Hollywood “blacklist.” But this is 70 years later – get over it. 

I like Imagine Lakeshore Cinemas for many things. It's a successful homegrown independent theatre chain  that also supports locally-made films and non-mainstream movies like currently-playing Sound of Freedom (Alejandro Monteverde). But I don't understand why there are the solid barriers between rolls of seats. Unfortunately they cut off about an eight of the movie screen from view.