Barbenheimer Syndrome
The Creation of Cultural Spectacle at the Box Office
Barbenheimer Syndrome
The Creation of Cultural Spectacle at the Box Office
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Pre-order. Available Feb 05 2026
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Description
In this edited volume, contributors engage with Barbie (Greta Gerwig, 2023) and Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan, 2023) through the lens of the "Barbenheimer" fad, an online and in-person phenomenon - coined by critics and co-opted by fans - that celebrated the counterprogramming of these two divergent films.
By framing "Barbenheimer" as a syndrome, the book revisits this moment in time to consider the elements that constituted the phenomenon on a global scale and to interrogate the logics through which this cultural spectacle may be symptomatic of larger cultural forces and social changes occurring at the time of release. Through the convergence of an interdisciplinary and global range of perspectives, Barbenheimer Syndrome interprets Barbie, Oppenheimer, and "Barbenheimer" within different cultural contexts to demonstrate both the universal and specific iterations of the phenomenon that struck such a cultural nerve in the summer of 2023.
Table of 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
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
Product details
| Published | Feb 05 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 400 |
| ISBN | 9781978766709 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 25 bw illus |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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