By: MAJ (RET) Montgomery J. Granger @mjgranger1
I hadn’t watched the Oscars in years, as the pickings have been slim, but decided to take a look this year since I’d watched a few of the films, including Barbie, The Holdovers, and Oppenheimer.
It was fun to see Oppenheimer win an amazing seven awards! Even though the handling of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had painfully little to do with the film, it was a throwback to times of big studios and big movies of historical significance. Not since 2008’s The Hurt Locker have we seriously looked at ourselves in the mirror regarding the futility of war. And this was no documentary. This was a full-on insider’s look and sprint to the finish—of the end of the world—with smart, crisp editing, which did not feel like a three-hour-plus movie.
The nucleus of the film came fittingly near the end with visions of Armageddon and total destruction. The unnamed fear that lurked throughout the movie finally manifested, but not fittingly enough. In the end, the movie focused too much on personalities to allow for any true contemplation of one’s existence—or lack thereof, should the unspeakable happen. It was not a sentimental film unless perhaps you are an Oppenheimer descendant.
One problem, of course, is that someone did speak up about the end of the world, and that person was silenced and diminished for previous untoward associations rather than absolved on account of demonstrated patriotism. It’s somewhat reminiscent of today’s “guilty until proven innocent” paper tiger lawsuits against Donald Trump, waged by Joe Biden and the left-liberal cabal. J. Robert Oppenheimer was silenced through innuendo, Trump through lies and manipulations.
In the end, politics played a cameo role in the night’s festivities, and then only tangentially, until Jimmy Kimmel, the lackluster host, read from his smartphone part of a social media post Donald Trump wrote about him. It wasn’t good, and Kimmel struck back with a lazy, “Isn’t it past your jail time,” comment. Nobody jumped up and slapped Kimmel, but they could have.
After hearing and seeing songs and clips from other nominated films, I now have a to-watch list, beginning with Poor Things, featuring Best Actress winner Emma Stone.
As for the films I’d already seen, first, there’s Holdovers. Before watching this film, I imagined it would be more like the 1980’s Breakfast Club, with the focus on the kids and their personal struggles. Instead, it focused on the adults, and their issues. I ended up being underwhelmed by the movie and the Oscar-winning performance in it as it proved to be a depressing story with a less than fulfilling ending.
My heart goes to Barbie, however. Ryan Gosling (and Slash) absolutely stole the show with a cabaret performance of “Ken,” almost outshining Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For,” also from Barbie. Eilish’s Oscar-winning song and lyrics grab you right to the soul, asking the essential question about self-worth and being. Eilish’s performance was hypnotic, putting one in an altered state with her wispy, melodic, intoxicating voice.
Throughout the night, viewers saw snippets of this film or that one, coupled with glamour shots of the star-infused audience. There were big smiles from the Barbie entourage, including star Margot Robbie and director Greta Gerwig. But for all the film’s effervescence and verve, there were no nominations for best actress or director. And with Oppenheimer clearly collecting all of the woke points (after all, Barbie is about, dare I say it, heterosexuality) and the timely war theme given Israel’s current invasion of Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (best documentary film, by the way, went to a Ukrainian anti-war film), well, indeed, what was Barbie made for?
America Ferrara, a best supporting actress nominee (though not winner), gave perhaps the most profound and engaging speech in any film this year (or in recent memory) as Gloria, single mother of a teen daughter with a clerical job at Mattel, maker of Barbie dolls. She says:
“It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow, we’re always doing it wrong.
“You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean. You have to lead, but you can’t squash other people’s ideas. You’re supposed to love being a mother but don’t talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman but also always be looking out for other people.
“You have to answer for men’s bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you’re accused of complaining. You’re supposed to stay pretty for men but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood.
“But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. So, find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful.
“You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It’s too hard! It’s too contradictory, and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault.
“I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us. And if all of that is also true for a doll just representing women, then I don’t even know.”
In contrast to this thought-provoking monologue, Oppenheimer was infused merely with one-liners and philosophical teasers, never fully fleshed out like the points made in the plastic toy movie.
Barbie transcended generations and politics and was what it said it was: silly, poignant, sweet, quirky, beautiful, sexy, fun, sad, and somewhat predictable. But when you know the truth, there’s no hiding it. It hurts to look in the mirror and then see what you were afraid you were going to see all along. But sometimes, seeing and hearing the truth is the best medicine there is.
We can’t do anything about nuclear bombs and missiles. They exist and will always exist and may someday be the vehicle through which we are all blown clean off the face of the planet.
But while we are here, lessons from the Barbie movie will continue to challenge our reality, day in and day out, until we face them eye to eye.
MAJ Granger was the ranking US Army Medical Department officer with the Joint Detainee Operations Group, Joint Task Force 160, from February to June 2002 at Gitmo. He is the author of the memoir, “Saving Grace at Guantanamo Bay,” and narrator of the short documentary YouTube film, “Heroes of GITMO,” based on his book.