Inside a Barbenheimer rave: 'It's like a high school dance in there'

On Saturday night inside a warehouse in Bushwick over the thumping bass of house music, blazing lights oscillated between bright pink, moody red, and blinding white. Outside, the smoking area was crowded with women in head-to-toe pink and men in dress shirts, with the committed few in fedoras and vests. They were waiting in line to take a photo in a human-sized Barbie box reading “She’s The Bomb!” encased in a pink heart. It was the definitive photo opp at an event that demands to be posted: a Barbenheimer themed rave.

The Barbenheimer rave assigns all guests as Barbies, Kens, or Oppies. Credit: Marissa Alper Credit: Marissa Alper

On Barbenheimer opening weekend, Barbie and Oppenheimer made $162 million and $88.4 million, respectively, at the North American box office. While moviegoers poured out of cinemas and memes about the films flooded timelines, a group of dedicated fans, party lovers, and those interested in the novelty of the first ubiquitous film release flocked to Bushwick. For them, just seeing the films didn't quench the thirst to experience the cultural moment.

“I was looking for a Barbenheimer event,” Aura Myers, a 24-year-old who works in a costume shop told me. “I found out about Barbenheimer like eight months ago and immediately knew I wanted to see both.” Myers saw Oppenheimer Thursday and Barbie Friday. She found out about the rave on TikTok and arrived in a handmade heart-shaped pink corset top and hand-painted pink boots.

SEE ALSO: The cult of Barbenheimer: In the pursuit of saving cinema, did we all lose our minds? Myers in her handmade heart-shaped pink corset top with her two equally-Barbified friends. Credit: Marissa Alper

Barbenheimer began as an internet joke about the much-anticipated and diametrically opposed films from boy director Christopher Nolan and girl director Greta Gerwig coming out the same day (July 21). With people craving a universal experience, Barbenheimer turned into the defining cultural moment of the summer.

As is the case with any good bit, the impulse to push Barbenheimer as far as it would go intensified. It wasn’t enough to simply see the films, argued Twitter. Barbenheimer must be a double feature, and you must go in costume. Users hashed out the ideal viewing schedule in detailed quote tweets. If the double feature was Barbenheimer's football game, then the rave was like going to the tailgate: the cherry on top for those partaking in Barbenheimer, but also an event in itself for those who wanted to be in on the joke even if they weren't keen to spend 5 hours at the movies.

A rare Oppie in a sea of Barbies and Kens. Credit: Marissa Alper

It was one of those viral Barbenheimer viewing schedules that inspired Alex Fox, Borja Schettini, and Peter Bilski to plan the rave in just two and a half weeks. The rave was not created by the slick marketing machine of Barbie, instead the friends opted for a guerrilla TikTok campaign. At the start of the event Schettini, the 22-year-old production designer of the rave, shared that 780 tickets had been sold.

For many of those partygoers, word of the rave just materialized on their FYPs, the same place they likely found out about the Barbenheimer phenomenon in the first place.

“I found out about the event on TikTok. About 50 percent of the events I go to I find out about on there,” Jenny Wong, a 35-year-old data scientist told me while she waited for her turn in the Barbie box. “The hype for this has been building for so long. Last October one of my friends had a Barbie-themed party just based on leaked photos from the movie," she added.

An attendee who took the combination quite literally. Credit: Marissa Alper

The event attracted cinephiles and ravers alike, providing an opportunity for friends with different ideas of a good time to experience something together. Jake Sherman and Ryan Robinson were two such friends. “I am more of a movie person." Sherman, a 25-year-old aspiring lawyer, told me. "I took Barbenheimer seriously from the get go and knew I wanted to do the double feature." Sherman planned a double feature for the day after the rave, starting with Oppenheimer in IMAX at 2:30pm.

Meanwhile Robinson, a 25-year-old who works in sales, was there for the party. “I have no plans to see either movie,” he said. Assessing the quality of the event, Robinson said, "The lighting is really cool." He decided to come because he's "more of a rave person" and lives nearby.

A person stands in the middle of the dancefloor, staring off into the distance — likely thinking about the consequences of Oppenheimer's actions. Credit: Marissa Alper

Robinson and Sherman both dressed on theme. Robinson wore a pink Carhartt t-shirt and Sherman had on a Ken-inspired getup of a striped short-sleeve dress shirt and pink sunglasses. "I am as Ken as I could be,” explained Sherman. “I didn't know the air conditioning situation, if I had known it was well-air conditioned I would have worn an Oppenheimer-inspired outfit."

A fellow Ken, Gordon Fan, had already seen Barbie and Oppenheimer. The 30-year-old fashion worker described Oppenheimer as “a headache” and appreciated the nostalgia ushered in by the Barbie movie. "I am a millennial, so I grew up with Barbie in my childhood. There's a re-emergence of childhood happening right now. Instead of growing out of it, we can still be cool and dress in pink,” said Fan.

C'mon Barbie, let's go party. Credit: Marissa Alper

The party was not without its critics. I overheard a man dressed in all black, presumably from the Oppenheimer contingent, complain, “it’s like a high school dance in there.” And he had a point. The barren warehouse space was adorned with a balloon arch reading “Barbenheimer,” half in pink, half in silver, a handful of silver and red spike balloons, and pink beach balls.

As the night progressed, having secured their photo-op, people moved away from the Barbie box onto the dance floor. The music — which according to Schetteni was supposed to start with "cunty, hyper-pop" and move into "Berlin boiler house" over the course of the night — was interrupted by the sound of people popping the balloons on the dance floor adding a certain Oppenheimer ambiance.

The music ranged from "cunty, hyper-pop" to "Berlin boiler house." Credit: Marissa Alper

The house drinks were similarly kitschy. For Oppenheimer, a smoky mezcal-based drink, and for Barbie, a sickly-sweet pink lemonade cocktail.

Halfway through the event, large pink heart shaped balloons were tossed around the crowd allowing for carefree “look how much fun I’m having on the dance floor,” photos. But the nostalgia for dressing up and community events was part of the charm.

A biblically accurate cowboy Ken. Credit: Marissa Alper One of the coveted pink heart-shaped balloons. Credit: Marissa Alper

Amid the spectacle of the event, attendees relished in the novelty earnestly greeting strangers with, "Hi Barbie" when they passed each other and singing along to Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice's "Barbie Girl" remix.

There are so few places to build community these days that people jumped at this opportunity to bond over Barbenheimer. The widespread meme gave the broad stroke of attendees a shared language. Throughout the night I heard the recycled line, “Are you Barbie or Oppenheimer,” repeated over and over again, but it gave everyone something to talk about.