MovieChat Forums > Barbie (2023) Discussion > Christopher Nolan and Greta Gerwig

Christopher Nolan and Greta Gerwig

posted 2 years ago by johnmiller (4011)
20 replies | jump to latest

It is very interesting that "Oppenheimer" and "Barbie" are being gushed over by their associated directors' truly fanatical fanbases.

Nolan's fanboys are just going crazy over "Oppenheimer" no matter what, just going on and on about how "perfect" it is. Exactly the same is going on with "Barbie," with Gerwig's equally rabid fanbase. It's a movie based on a plastic doll franchise, and women are just going nuts over how it's the most "amazing" thing ever.

These days, it seems that it isn't at all any more about the movie, the music, the whatever it is that was produced. It is about being a "stan" for whatever celebrity is behind it.

[–] maul (1666) 2 years ago

You're mostly correct about this type of mentality, but does Gerwig really have such a large, insane, fervent fanbase like Nolan does?

[–] fc31 (6112) 2 years ago

Fans or shills? Hard to tell these days.

[–] Narwhale37 (1290) 2 years ago

To be fair, Nolan has never made a bad movie.

[–] Kowalski (78914) 2 years ago

HE HAS MADE SOME DAMN BORING MOVIES.

[–] fc31 (6112) 2 years ago

So what do you think of Tenet?

[–] alexjohans0n (2094) 2 years ago

Terrible

[–] Narwhale37 (1290) 2 years ago

Greatest James Bond movie ever.

[–] Interlepos (1818) 2 years ago

Tenet was really weak.

[–] spurtle467 (1558) 2 years ago

I doubt the casual moviegoer even knows who directed the Barbie movie. Most will know who Nolan is though as he has built up a reputation with the Batman movies and other big successes. It's true his movies do get overrated due to his staunch fanbase but I agree with the poster above, I wouldn't say he's made a bad movie, just ones not as good as others, like Tenet, which is at least reflected on IMDB by having a much lower rating.

I see that Barbie's rating keeps falling each time I look so maybe Gerwig's fanatical fanbase need to do more?

[–] capuchin (3362) 2 years ago

Yeah. Casual filmgoers aren't flocking to Barbie because Greta Gerwig made it. The names 'Barbie', Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling -- probably in that order -- are the important ones. Casual filmgoers aren't usually 'director-led'. That's a film geek thing.

Only a handful of directors have the kind of name recognition to sell a movie to mainstream audiences. Nolan. Tarantino. Cameron. Spielberg... although not as much as he once did. Gerwig isn't in that company.

[–] spurtle467 (1558) 2 years ago

Yep. If you were to swap the two around; Nolan directing a Barbie movie and Gerwig directing an Oppenheimer movie, people would still flock to see Barbie because Nolan was directing, whereas Gerwig's Oppenheimer might find a small audience I guess? Not that either would direct movies on such subject matter.

I mean a 3 hour dialogue driven biopic about the man who created the atom bomb isn't exactly blockbuster material at the best of times but purely with Nolan's name attached it is.

[–] LoveCatsHateDogs (2001) 2 years ago

Nolan could make a 3 hour closeup of some dogshit on the pavement and the same idiots would give it 10s on IMDB.

Didn't like the 3 hour closeup of some dogshit on the pavement? You clearly just didn't get it.

[–] AnagramYYZ (621) 2 years ago

While you are probably right in a few cases, wouldn't it fair to say that those idiots are not really Nolan fans?! They may have an idea that they like his movies, but what they're really passionate about is their own misplaced enthusiasm for some trend.

A true Nolan fan would understand that the three hour dogshit-on-pavement movie isn't a substantial enough storyline for him, isn't subtle enough to be an effort to subvert expectations, and must be a prank or a hoax. If this truly happened, my first thought would be that he's having a existential crisis about his own success and talent, and he is trying to gauge the reality of his appeal.

In this case, Nolan fans would vote his dogshit a 1/10 to show our love of the authenticity of his actual contributions to cinema. He would appreciate the dedication and honesty.

[–] LoveCatsHateDogs (2001) 2 years ago

LOL, good post.

I wish that were the case.

[–] LeWildPlatypus (772) 2 years ago

Barbie has had the best marketing I've seen in years, no one is going to see this movie for its themes. The writers have had to sneek the socio-political themes in to this thing whilst carefully curating palatable promotional material. I remember seeing Gerwig in a movie called Greenberg some years ago, outside of Twitter I doubt she's well known at all.

[–] ElizabethJoestar (946) 2 years ago

Yeah, the crowds for BARBIE are largely due to the marketing and nostalgia, not Gerwig. All the people I know who saw BARBIE have no clue who Gerwig even is.

[–] MavKilledGoose (876) 2 years ago

Nothing new or unusual. An ounce of image is worth a pound of performance. Also, a significant slice of the population wants to worship others. I'm generally skeptical of enthusiasm and lean toward being more of a "hater." It takes all kinds of people to make the world work.

[–] Interlepos (1818) 2 years ago

"Gerwig's equally rabid fanbase."

Uuh, ok.