Barbenheimer Syndrome

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: âBarbenheimerâ and the Covid-19 Pandemic
Carolyn Condon Jacobs
2. âA Chain Reaction That Would Destroy the Entire Worldâ: 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 Forâ: 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 Gerwigâs 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 Sch¤fer (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 Barbieâs Influence
12. Barbieâs Jewish Mother: Ruthâs 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. âWe might start a chain reaction;â Splitting The Great Man in Oppenheimer
Vincent Gaine (Lancaster University, UK)
17. Principled Uncertainty: Christopher Nolanâs 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 Ukraineâs Cinematic Reception
Anna Young
19. "Why Didnât 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. âIâve Worked Really Hard for This and I Deserve Itâ: How Barbieâs White Feminist Perspectives Set Other Women up for Failure
Hiba Aleem (Boston University, USA)

About the Editors and Contributors
Index