How’s Your Summer Been, Retired Grandmother of Five Barbara Oppenheimer?

It’s been an unusual few weeks for retired professor and grandmother of five Barbara Oppenheimer of Newton, Massachusetts. I called her up to ask whether she’s seen any good movies lately. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Slate: Barbara Oppenheimer, how has the summer of Barbenheimer been for you?

Barbara Oppenheimer: Well! I had college friends around the world texting me that weekend when they came out, with the whole schmear, you know … “the bomb and the bombshell.” It’s pretty funny! It was a brilliant thing that they launched them together. It really brought people back into movie theaters.

For sure. When we saw Barbie opening weekend, the theater was packed and everyone was saying “Hi Barbie!” to each other.

Oh yeah, oh yeah. We went to opening weekend of Oppenheimer. My husband’s father is third cousins to J. Robert, so we really wanted to see how they treated his story. And then maybe two weeks later we went to see Barbie. We loved both of them in different ways. I wasn’t sure my husband would like Barbie, but he laughed out loud through the whole thing.

Did you both wear pink?

We didn’t. It was just the two of us. But I’m going next week with a group of women and we’ll all wear pink. I’ll wear my Barbenheimer T-shirt.

Did you have a Barbie doll growing up?

Oh yes. I got her for my sixth birthday. Barbie wasn’t as open-minded about doing other things besides being fashionable in those days. That’s really changed. You know, I only had sons, but my friends with daughters their age wouldn’t get them Barbies because they thought it sent the wrong message. But now my granddaughter plays with Barbies, and Barbie is an astronaut and all that now. In fact, she plays with my Barbie! And my Ken and my Skipper.

You still have your Barbie? And Skipper?!

I have Ken, whose arm is falling off—that’s the only male I have. I have Midge, too. I’ve had people over to play cards and stuff and I’ve dressed them up and put them out.

When you saw Oppenheimer, what did you think of how the movie treated your husband’s father’s third cousin?

Yes, a distant relation, to be sure. Well, the first thing I heard before I even saw it was that it’s three hours long, and you’re like, Oh boy. But I didn’t find that a barrier at all. I thought they did a good job. It really gets into the moral dilemmas that Oppenheimer faced. Did he face them head-on at the time? That’s a good question.

But the movie really focuses on those issues.

Yes, in a way that was very compelling. I come out of the science fields. I was a professor in the health sciences. And so watching him deal with these questions, and the politicization of it … I thought some of the most interesting scenes were about the patriotism at Los Alamos, as the staff felt at the time.

Yes! We think of the bomb as just this terrible weapon that haunted us through our childhoods. But to them it was the highlight of their careers, and they were doing it for their country.

Exactly. My parents grew up in that period of time, and they were real patriots about the war, and the U.S. winning the war. That was so important to their upbringing. People at Los Alamos thought that was their contribution to the war! They were saving lives! I’ve read things worrying that people will walk out of the movie thinking that nuclear bombs are necessary, and maybe some will, but I think others know better, or I hope that they do. I’m not a nuclear physicist by any means, but that bomb was much smaller than what’s in the American arsenal.

Oh yes, by a factor of dozens.

That we need more than that blows my mind! But I was pleased with the movie, because it gets people thinking about these questions, and what role he played in history. He was a hero to many, but he was also the subject of a lot of anger. I mean, I’ve always heard in my husband’s family, whether you claimed him as a relative or didn’t really depended on how you felt about things.

So I consider you the world’s foremost expert on Barbaras and Oppenheimers. Which movie did you like better?

That would be really hard! They’re so different. I think of myself—though I’m sure I’ve fallen behind the times—as a feminist, because of the generation I came out of. So I was tickled pink, I might say, that they put Barbie in the Barbie world and then Barbie in the real world. I laughed out loud practically through the whole thing. Oppenheimer is more serious—not that feminism isn’t. I do think there were some serious notes … women today stand on the shoulders of their mothers, who lived the Barbie life.

I can’t choose. I’m glad I saw both.

You’re right that women today stand on their mothers’ shoulders, but you didn’t live the old-fashioned Barbie life. You had a career.

Well, it’s what time in history you go through. My mother was a high school teacher for several years, until she got pregnant with me and was forced to leave her job because she looked too pregnant. At four months! So she didn’t work, but she raised me to be a smart, thinking person who valued work, and I get to pass that on to my granddaughters.

You taught in the health sciences. What was your specialty?

I taught at Boston University, and I was in speech and language pathology.

So Ken’s job is beach, and your job is speech.

There you go! I took my job a little more seriously than Ken took beach. But it was hard to be Ken in that movie! Really, Ken always was kind of an accessory. And Allan! We all kind of forgot Allan. I didn’t have an Allan.

Have you ever gone by Barbie?

You know, I started as a Barbie, spelled just like Barbie. Because in those days, everyone wanted to be like Barbie. Then when I got to be 12, I changed it to Barby, with a Y, and then I became Barb. I grew up in Milwaukee, it was the Midwest—of course I was Barb. But then when I graduated and got my fellowship at Mass General, I went by Barbara. I was so professional and serious.

I’m glad you’ve had one glorious summer of being Barbie again.

I’m on vacation right now, and when I checked in at the hotel, I said, “Barbie Oppenheimer!” The guy said, “Are you pulling my leg?”

Enjoy your summer of fame!

It’ll be quick, I’m sure.