The Barbenheimer Hype Machine Just Stirred Up Some Major Controversy In Japan
It's all fun and games until you inappropriately make light of a historical atrocity once too many times. The nation and the world alike have been swept up in the #Barbenheimer event, boosting both "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" to unparalleled heights at the box office as fans have made a spectacle out of attending double features for both films. Obviously, much of the meme organically sprung from the fact that two movies releasing on the same day couldn't possibly feel more diametrically opposed to one another — the former taking a bedazzled and satirical approach to deconstructing the beloved children's toy, and the latter treating its controversial subject to a three-hour drama exploring his profound guilt and shame over creating the most horrific weapon of mass destruction humanity has ever unleashed upon the planet.
But as much as individual moviegoers (hopefully) displayed the self-awareness to avoid crossing any lines into outright bad taste regarding a movie that deals with such sobering subject matter, well, one can always count on brand accounts to disappoint.
In a controversy first reported by Twitter user Luiz Fernando (via Newsweek), it would seem that the official U.S. "Barbie" Twitter account unfortunately put its (digital) foot in its mouth when responding to a mashup Barbenheimer poster, lightheartedly proclaiming this to be "...a summer to remember" complete with kiss and heart emojis. In the days and weeks since, however, this post drew an enormous amount of backlash from users who rightfully pointed out how insensitive this was, building steam until the original post ended up with a brutally straightforward community note reminding users of the seriousness of the material and, incredibly enough, the official Japanese "Barbie" account stepping in with a prepared statement condemning the meme. You can check out the full translation in English below.
#Barbenheimer goes a bit too far
At the rate things were going, something like this was probably inevitable. The theatrical release of "Oppenheimer" in Japan was already a touchy subject, as addressed in this Variety report a month ago. (The film still hasn't been granted a release date in the country just yet.) But could "Barbie" now become collateral damage? In a now-viral tweet addressing its U.S. counterpart, the official Japan "Barbie" account took direct aim at what it described as "inconsiderate" and "regrettable" actions. A rough translation of the social media post from Japanese to English follows:
About the SNS [Social Networking Service] posting of the movie "Barbie"
Currently, the movie "Barbie" (Distributor: Warner Bros.) and the movie "Oppenheimer" (Distributor: Universal Pictures) were both released in the United States on July 21. #Barbenheimer is happening, but this movement and activity is not official. On the other hand, we believe that the inconsiderate action of the official account of the US headquarters of the movie "Barbie" to the social media posts by fans caused by this movement is extremely regrettable, and we take this situation seriously. We are asking the US headquarters to take appropriate action. We apologize to those who were offended by this series of inconsiderate reactions.
Warner Bros. Japan G.K.
And just like that, a bucket of cold water was dumped on the #Barbenheimer movement. Admittedly, this was probably necessary for the many who may have lost sight of the fact that Barbenheimer memes likely wouldn't translate well to the rest of the world, especially those in Japan. As complicated as this situation is, let this be a reminder to all — to fans and corporate brand accounts alike — to always, always think twice before hitting "tweet."