A patron buys a movie ticket underneath a marquee featuring the films “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” at the Los Feliz Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)

“Theory will take you only so far.”

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Target demographic: identifying the right customers using the observable and measurable characteristics of a group of people or population. That is business jargon for: you may consider yourself a million shades of complexity and intangibles…but you are nothing but a few quantifiable boxes to most of the world…at least the parts that do the counting. You are easily broken down and digested. You are a predictable set of stereotypes.

You are your age, your gender, your ethnicity, your location, your education, your occupation, your income, your marital status, your family size.

It may seem harmless from a distance, just a product looking for the right patrons, but it has an inherent darkness. It strips the person of his/her personhood and makes them just a set of parameters. It removes names and filters through numbers. It ignores faces and focuses on facets.

In August 1945, a target demographic was sought. What would be the destination of greatest destruction? Where would an impact have the most impact? The American army wanted to end WWII and rightfully so. Instead of imposing disaster on Japan’s military might, a different type of target demographic was selected. It was decided that civilian casualties would send a stronger message. The Deciders were able to drop two atomic bombs on Japanese soil, obliterating and incinerating over 200,000 people. How were they able to do such a ghastly thing? Easy, using target demographics. Those are not people underneath all that rubble. Those are just the desired demographics.

In 1959, a target demographic was sought. What boxes, if checked, would fill the company coffers? Although their pockets were shallow, their power of persuasion was bottomless: little girls. The American market pinpointed a lucrative and as-yet untapped industry: the insatiable desire of little girls to pine for the perfect. If children could be seduced, stimulated, and sometimes strategically shunned, they would be the ultimate consumer. Never quite good enough, but maybe another purchase would do it or the next one after that. I’m sure the motives were not as sinister or simple as that, but the aftermath seems bleak. A consumer-culture in children is nothing short of brainwashing babies. How could a room full of greedy men place this Barbie-burden on all future generations of young girls? Easy using target demographics. Those are not insecure adolescents underneath all those wrappers; those are just the desired demographics.

Targeting a demographic tends to dehumanize and trivialize. Empathy requires individuals. Don’t miss the beautiful trees for that blasted forest, you know?

J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) is hungry but struggling to find the right nourishment. He is eager to immerse himself in the world of quantum physics, but there aren’t many places prepared for that type of plunge. He studies in England and Germany with varying success, but his real goal is to bring the world of quantum physics to the U.S. To establish the budding science here at home.

As his academic notoriety increases, so does his societal standing. Before he knows it, he is appointed positions at the University of California, Berkley and the California Institute of Technology. His unquenchable thirst for knowledge continues to grow, now with help and financial backing. As he rubs shoulders with the elite, he begins to see a trend: a lean of the academics toward communist-friendly ideals. Those ideals are not too far from his natural lean either. Although careful to never “join,” he certainly creates and maintains many friendships that do.

As World War II increases in intensity, a rumor begins to spread: the Nazis are aggressively pursuing nuclear weaponry. That alone sends a wave of terror through the world. The response from the U.S. is immediate. If they are, then we are. Gen. Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) is ordered to start the Manhattan Project, the U.S. nuclear program. In his search for the perfect person to head this program, Groves ultimately appoints Oppenheimer. Although the communist rumor persists, the man’s tenacity and intelligence are unparalleled.

So begins research into the atomic bomb. With the clock ticking, the pressure mounting, who will win this arms-race? Will there be anyone left after the race is run?

I am a big Christopher Nolan fan. His imagination and ingenuity are unique in Hollywood. No one can make an original blockbuster, one that has ambition and precision, quite like him. With that being said, a biopic?

Nolan, who wrote and directed Oppenheimer, chose the perfect story for his biopic: intriguing and cataclysmic. No story in all human history is quite as powerful and immense. Each decision is burdened with the weight of the world. Nolan, through the screenplay and his directing choices, resides in that weight. The screenplay is a bit overindulgent and heavy, but the tension is effectively sickening. Nolan’s direction is full of style and momentum.

The cinematography of Hoyte Van Hoytema is gritty yet graceful. The music by Ludwig Goransson is well-timed. The production design of Ruth De Jong brings this past world to life, full of texture and truth.

The movie features great acting. Cillian Murphy, long-time collaborator with Nolan, but first-time lead, is transformative. He seems born to play this role. There is enough nuance in this performance to stretch from here to the moon. Matt Damon is wonderfully empathetic as Gen. Groves. Robert Downey Jr. is a surprise as Lewis Strauss, the movie’s complicated antagonist. Florence Pugh does quick but efficient work as Jean Tatlock, a one-time romantic interest of Oppenheimer. Kenneth Branagh, Casey Affleck, Jason Clarke, and Gary Oldman all show-up and command the screen in their brief moments.

It isn’t my favorite of Nolan’s filmography, but it is a powerful addition to this eclectic and energetic director.

REPORT CARD: Oppenheimer

Assessment: A larger-than-life story told with delicacy and determination

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Barbieland is inhabited by each and every Barbie, all queens of their own little Dreamhouse-kingdoms. Oh, and there are some Kens thrown in there, too. They just wait around for Barbie to look at them, basically.

Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) lives a perfect life: perfect hair, perfect breakfast, perfect friends, perfect everything! Recently, though, weird thoughts refuse to be ignored. Her contemplations of death and darkness are creating quite the strange ripple through this overly-pink-community. When Barbie’s heels hit the ground, everyone can see that something drastic is happening. Barbie is sent to the only one who might know: Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon).

Weird Barbie breaks the bad news. A rift has been created between the toy-world and the real-world. In order to mend the widening-rift, Barbie must travel to the real-world to find the little girl that plays with her. It is in that relationship that the fracture can be healed.

Barbie makes the perilous journey over land, sea, space, and rollerblades? Oh, and Ken tagged along because he wants Barbie to look at him.

The real-world is nothing like Barbie anticipated. It is grimy, violent, and apparently run by men. When the real-world infiltrates Barbieland, everything is thrown out of balance. Is there a way forward for either world without discrimination and subjugation?

I am not a huge fan of writer/director Greta Gerwig. I have found her style to be a lot of noise with very little music. It always feels a bit clunky and clumsy. Endearing in a way but ultimately immature. Barbie is no different. Maybe a bit pinker.

Gerwig’s script has wonderful intentions; she clearly has something she wants to say. I applaud her awareness, but her execution is ham-handed. Film Theory 101 says “show not tell,” yet all she does for two hours is tell, tell, tell. It feels like an after-school-special warning me about the dangers of bullying. I also feel her comedy is lazy. This isn’t baseball where 3 out of 10 is an impressive batting average. If 10 jokes get three laughs, it isn’t funny. Her direction shows some marked smartness and vision although gets a bit flat in the sentimental moments.

The production design of Sarah Greenwood and the art direction of Dean Clegg have some fun life to it. The Barbieland sets have an immediate inventiveness to them.

Margot Robbie’s performance is consistent and authentic. America Ferrera is grounded and controlled as Gloria. Ryan Gosling is a scene-stealer as Ken, silly and endlessly enthusiastic. I could do without the huge dance number, though. The movie doesn’t know what to do with some of the cast: Kate McKinnon (as Weird Barbie) is just there, Michael Cera (as Allan) is just around, Will Ferrell (as Mattel CEO) is inconsequential and unnamed.

Overall, it has moments of joy and worth mixed in with moments of tedium and waste. It is quite the mixed bag.

REPORT CARD: Barbie

Assessment: Nostalgia mixed with present-day protests