The #Barbenheimer dilemma and a serious case of the'shoulds'
It's the era of Barbenheimer and you simply must see both movies. Hold on a sec ...
Last Saturday, on a blue true winter’s day in eastern Australia. I saw one of the #Barbenheimer movies - Barbie or Oppenheimer. After seeing one movie I thought, now I must schedule the other movie. Friends across the globe were doing the same, seeing both Barbie and Oppenheimer, swearing each other to silence - no spoilers.
I marked Sunday afternoon as the best time to accomplish phase 2 of #Barbenheimer.
‘We can go at 3.30 pm,’ I said.
We both grimaced. It was another glorious day. If only it was raining. It would almost be dark when we re-emerged. The dreamy timeless drift of Sunday afternoon would have been overtaken by sensible Sunday evening mode - putting all in place for the week, getting to bed early. I mean it’s almost Monday.
‘We don’t have to decide now’ I said.'I’ll look at other times.’
It was a problem in need of solving, suddenly more important than other matters. We ‘should’ see the movie. Everyone was seeing both movies.
The voices of hype shriek at me: The movie is a must-see. Everyone says so, you’ve read the reviews.
Don’t wait to watch it on TV. It’s best viewed on the big screen.
It’s a must-see movie.
Ok, I thought, I need to make this work. I am sure I can make it work. When I really want something I almost always make it work. Somehow. Even impossible things that others snort at when I mention. So why am I not making this work?
Then it hit me. I don’t want to. Neither of us cares that much.
But you should care! This is art. It will be good for you to see it. This is the best yet by the filmmaker and actors. Unmissable.
Hang on. What other movies by them have I seen? Maybe one.
It’s important to see movies, read books - try the food - that you wouldn’t normally try.
Yes, I know. Like last month’s book club book. Without that, I’d never have read Karl Geary’s Juno Loves Legs, a heartbreaking, Irish story of love amid deprivation.
You still should go. You’ll regret it later.
Can I name even one movie I've regretted missing? No.
The world is watching this movie.
No. That’s not true. What about that friend who told me they are not going to see the #Barbenheimer movie I saw on Saturday after their friend told them it was ‘too leftist.’
You have to go.
Do I? Who’s making me? Oh wow, there is no ‘should’ about it, no law demanding I see both movies, no one I need to report to, and no obligation to make a comparison.
So I have seen one of the movies - Barbie or Oppenheimer - and the other I won’t see on a big screen and probably not even on TV, and that’s OK.
I need to do what serves me, what will be best for me in my life.
The only ‘should’ is the one that makes you happy. For me, right now that’s watching the Women’s Football World Cup, in the stadium and on TV.
Did I hesitate to get an Amazon Fire thingamy for my TV so I could watch any Women’s World Cup match I wanted, instead of only 15 on the terrestrial channel? Did I hesitate to buy tickets for two matches necessitating two overnight stays and long walks between my accommodation and the stadium? Not for a second. It’s my kind of ‘should’. What’s yours?
17 minutes later, and I'm still trying to remember a single movie that I regretted not seeing in the kinema.
I too only saw one of the #Barbieheimer movies and had such a blast by myself with ice-cream laughing my head off that I decided not to see “the other one”. I am pondering what my non-negotiable “shoulds” are - getting into bed early is one!