Warner Bros. Japan recently released a statement expressing their discontent with the official Barbie Twitter account in the United States. The Japanese branch criticized what they considered to be “extremely regrettable” tweets from the account. The statement, posted on Japan’s own Barbie Twitter account, quickly gained attention with over 75,000 likes. Warner Bros. Japan stated that they find it disheartening that the American headquarters for the movie ‘Barbie’ responded positively to social media postings from ‘Barbenheimer’ fans. They emphasized that they take this situation seriously and have requested appropriate action from the U.S. headquarters. Furthermore, they apologized to anyone who was offended by the series of inconsiderate reactions. Warner Bros. Japan made sure their disappointment was made clear.
Twitter Outrage Over Trivialization of Nuclear Weapons
The phrase “#NoBarbenheimer” has been trending in Japan recently due to the unease caused by online memes and images shared by the Barbie account. These visuals include mushroom clouds and explosions juxtaposed with lighthearted Barbie pictures. Many Twitter users argue that this trivializes nuclear weapons and disregards the devastating fallout of the bomb on Japan’s citizens. The insensitivity displayed through these posts has sparked outrage among the Japanese Twitter community.
Warner Japan’s Frustration with Positive Responses to Barbenheimer Images
Warner Bros. Japan’s frustration primarily stems from the Barbie account’s positive responses to the Barbenheimer images. Specifically, they highlighted their dissatisfaction with a response to a fan-made poster shared by the film account @DiscussingFilm. The fictional poster features actor Cillian Murphy, who played Oppenheimer, carrying Barbie star Margot Robbie on his shoulder, while nuclear flames engulf the background. The official Barbie movie account replied to the post with the comment, “It’s going to be a summer to remember.” This interaction only fueled Warner Bros. Japan’s disappointment and led to their request for action.
Twitter Community Note Adds Historical Context
Twitter, recently rebranded as X, added a community note to the controversial post, intending to shed light on the historical context of the image. The note provided historical information about the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. It mentioned the instantaneous and indiscriminate mass destruction and mass murder caused by the bombs. Despite this addition, the initial post and its response continued to draw criticism from Japanese Twitter users.
Japanese Twitter users expressed their disapproval through the use of the hashtag #nobarbenheimer. One post using this hashtag garnered seven million views and received 34,000 likes. The post concluded that the official Barbie movie account is in support of atomic bomb and mushroom cloud memes, leading to a widespread rejection of Barbie as a whole.
Potential Challenges for the Release of Oppenheimer in Japan
While Oppenheimer, a movie featuring Cillian Murphy as its lead, has not yet been given a release date in Japan, its subject matter raises concerns. Universal’s local distributor, Toho, could face challenges with the film due to the sensitivity and complexity surrounding the atomic bomb. The controversy surrounding the Barbie movie account has only amplified these concerns.
Warner Bros. declined to provide any additional comments regarding the situation.