Barbenheimer Mashup
Two big-budget films released the same day demonstrate the power of convergence.
Two heavily-promoted films debuted last Friday: Barbie and Oppenheimer. And, some internet-based wiseacres (or, is it “wisenheimers?) exploited that rare occurrence, developing amusing memes to commemorate the occasion. The only question I have is, “Why not ‘Oppenbarbie?”
There was a groundswell of interest amongst people planning to see both films, perhaps back-to-back. I would have jumped on board that train, but I fear that my box of Raisinets would not have lasted through two, back-to-back movies, and that would have been tragic.
It appears that Barbie outperformed Oppenheimer during the first weekend, perhaps because the former film is about a toy, and the latter is about history - Americans seem to be much more interested in toys than in history. Although, a familiar quote attributed to George Santayana: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” clearly relates to paying attention to history, not to toys. Lest you think there are no famous quotes pertaining to Barbie, brainyquote.com features 132 quotes about Barbie - in the interest of full disclosure, a couple of them appear to refer to an Australian slang word for barbecue - you know, “throw another shrimp on the barbie.” I’m just relieved that none of these quotes were linked to Klaus Barbie, Nazi Germany’s infamous “Butcher of Lyon.” I think my favorite Barbie quote is a Steven Wright soundbite - Steven said, “If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?”
Naturally, Rule of Three determined to devote this column to examining the landscape of “mashups.” But, during the course of our exhaustive research on this topic, we stumbled across this piece, which we believe to be the definitive word on this issue. As we read this article, something about it sounded familiar - it was, in fact, a column written by. . .Rule of Three. The defense has nothing further to add, your honor.
Reprinted in its entirety, by permission of Rule of Three (originally published on March 26, 2022). . .
Mash-Ups Expand Our Vocabulary
Sometimes one plus one equals more than two.
A “mash-up” is a made-up word, which is created by combining two separate words or phrases. Examples of recognizable mash-ups include: “hangry,” which combines the two words, hungry and angry, and speaks to how one feels when exceptionally hungry; and “staycation,” which includes the two words, stay and vacation, reflecting one’s intent to vacation at home (likely due to lack of funding); and “brunch,” a combination of breakfast and lunch, yielding a delightful repast, which hopefully includes a Bloody Mary. Little known fact: the word “mash-up” itself is derived from two separate phrases: “mashed potatoes,” and “uplifting” - literally meaning, potatoes which have a positive spiritual impact. Your motivation for faithfully reading Rule of Three weekly may not necessarily include learning things you may not learn elsewhere, but the team here at Rule of Three is quite gratified to be able to provide that service to you, nonetheless.
Mashups are apparently a thing in the music world. According to Wikipedia (so you know it’s true), a musical mashup is, “. . .a creative work, usually in the form of a song, created by blending two or more prerecorded songs, typically by superimposing the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another, changing the tempo and key where necessary.” Whew! That was exhausting simply reading the description. Imagine spending time in a recording studio, mixing and re-mixing, and dubbing, and pollinating (I’m kidding about that last one - that’s not really a recording studio activity, it’s typically associated with bees, which, as Winnie the Pooh famously stated, “You never can tell with bees.”) - now that would truly be excruciating.
I sampled one of the musical mashup examples cited by Wikipedia: Do it Again Medley with Billie Jean, a dance-mix song performed by a band (or, more likely a sound engineer) named, Club House. Now, the building blocks included two great songs, originally performed by stellar artists: Do it Again, from Steely Dan, and Billie Jean, by Michael Jackson. If I were asked to pen a review of this piece (what’s that, you’d like me to pen a review of this piece?), I would describe it as a mindless bit of elevator music, assuming, of course, that the “Saturday Night Live ‘Night at the Roxbury’ guys” were bumping and grinding to it in an elevator (clip of that classic SNL skit helpfully attached here). Sometimes one plus one doesn’t equal two.
Some people believe that the penultimate musical mashup is a a mix of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and Public Enemy, yielding a set of tracks dubbed, “Whipped Cream Mixes,” produced by an experimental band named, Evolution Control Committee (yeah, I know, I never heard that band’s name on Casey Kasem’s American Top 40, either) - I actually found this sample to be kind of interesting - perhaps you will also. . .
Another application for mashups has been with celebrity couples. Who can forget “Bennifer?” You know, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, who are currently in their second iteration, “Bennifer 2.0.” Somewhere in there, a different Jennifer surfaced with Affleck - Jennifer Garner. It makes me wonder if the name, “Jennifer” is a prerequisite for a relationship with Ben Affleck. Who’s next, Jennifer Lawrence? Jennifer Aniston? Jennifer Hudson? Matt Damon? (Just kidding, Matt Damon is not named Jennifer - I was just testing to see if you were paying attention). And, isn’t Bennifer a mashup of a mashup, given that Jennifer Lopez was already contracted into “J-Lo?” And, where exactly does “A-Rod” fit into this universe? I honestly cannot remember how that couple was christened, during their relationship cycle: “A-J?” “Lo-Rod?” It makes my head spin, man.
But enough prelude - let’s get on with the fun stuff - spinning new words out of thin air. Here are some of my suggestions - perhaps you have some of your own:
“Drexting” - “Sexting” is a recognizable activity, combining two popular pastimes: sex and texting. I’m surprised that my suggestion, “drexting,” has not yet found its way into popular culture, melding the two words, drunk and texting into one descriptive word. Texts sent while drunk can be quite amusing, even without the impact of auto-correct. Please note that I am not advocating another “drext” option, which some might infer combines driving and texting.
“Sustle” - Millennials have led the charge in developing a “side-hustle,” in which one’s hobby is nurtured to the point at which it can become an income-generator, intended to supplement income derived from one’s day job.
“Coupotato” - I know, I know, what is it with you and potatoes? But, bear with me, the mashup here is couch and potato, yielding a truncated version of “couch potato.” The problem with this particular word is spelling and pronunciation - I considered alternatives for a longer period of time than I’m willing to admit, and I don’t think the end-result is a perfect solution - some might wish to pronounce “Coupotato” as “Coup-potato,” which sounds kind of like a hostile potato takeover (a great name for band, by the way), or in pronouncing it as intended, “Cow-potato,” one might wonder what is gained by sacrificing the “ch” piece of the puzzle - it hardly seems worth the effort. A more obscure option I considered was “Copotato,” which sounds a bit like a shared-custody arrangement, in the wake of a bitterly-contested divorce involving Mr. Potato-Head and Mrs. Potato-Head.
“Elemusic” - a mashup of elevator and music - although, upon reflection, some high-brow readers might interpret this to be “elegant music,” and envision ballroom dancing in tuxedos and ballgowns.
“Interwipe”- a mashup of intermittent and wipers, a typical feature on automobiles today, the resulting new word sounds a bit like an International espionage agency.
“Minime” - with apologies to Austin Powers, this one is a mashup of minimal and methodology - not a very useful mashup though, eh?
“Adorababy” - upon sharing this one with you, I plan to “drop the mic,” and exit the stage - this one, obviously combining adorable and baby, is a beautifully-crafted, highly-descriptive word - I cannot be expected to top this one - thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen - please tip your waitress, and drive carefully on your way home.
Here is a link to the original column, in the event that you’ve got some weird sense of duty to ensure that this reprinting is faithful to the original publication. . .
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