If you ask someone what defined the summer of 2023, most people will probably tell you it was the Barbie movie. Although released later in the summer, Barbie was the biggest movie of 2023 and achieved high success, amassing 1.4 billion at the box office and ranking it the 14th highest-grossing movie of all time. Barbie even racked up an impressive list of nominations, including 5 BAFTA Awards, 18 Critics Choice Awards, 9 Golden Globes Awards, and 8 Academy Awards (Oscars).
Despite the hefty 384 nominations that Barbie amassed, the internet was in an uproar over two nominations that the movie didn’t garner. As previously mentioned, Barbie got 8 Academy Award nominations, such as Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Ryan Gosling’s nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. Of course, the million-dollar question is: Where is Margot Robbie’s nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Greta Gerwig’s nomination for Best Director?
Greta Gerwig directed a critically acclaimed feminist movie about Barbie and tastefully tackled the subject of patriarchy, yet Barbie herself was not nominated for Best Actress, nor was Greta Gerwig nominated for Best Director. But Ken was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.
This made a lot of people really upset, and Ryan Gosling himself even saw the irony of the situation. He released a statement talking about how honored he was to be nominated for the part of Ken, but he also commented on his disappointment that Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie weren’t nominated, saying, “There is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film.” America Ferrera, who deservedly got nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, also commented on the situation, saying, “I was incredibly disappointed that they weren’t nominated.”
A lot of people on social media were disgruntled about this too and did not hold back when it came to giving their unfiltered opinions. One user wrote on X, “Greta Gerwig’s Best Director snub is awful enough, but Margot Robbie’s Best Actress snub is one of the stupidest snubs I’ve ever seen. It’s laughable and ridiculous.” Another X user wrote, “It’s like the Academy didn’t even watch the movie. It’s painfully ironic how they proved that the patriarchy is still alive and well and how a woman can do the same thing as a man but not get credit for it.”
On the other hand, there are people who don’t think that Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie were snubbed at all. Whoopi Goldberg denied the claim that Gerwig and Robbie were snubbed, saying, “You don’t get everything that you want to get, that’s what you have to keep in mind. Not everybody gets a prize, and it is subjective. Movies are subjective. The movies you love may not be loved by the people who are voting.” Ben Shapiro, who is notorious for unashamedly giving his controversial opinions, went on a whole shpiel on The Daily Wire about how Barbie was “overrated trash” and “unwatchable”. He then concluded his speech, saying, “It’d be super hilarious if the patriarchy ends up winning in a movie made about how terrible the patriarchy supposedly is.”
I personally think it is wonderful that Ryan Gosling secured an Oscar nomination for his performance in Barbie. He was hilarious and quirky and I couldn’t imagine the part of Ken being played by anyone other than him. On the other hand, I think it’s absurd that Margot Robbie didn’t get nominated for also delivering a phenomenal performance. I think it just proves the point of the movie and it is, in fact, painfully ironic. However, I am absolutely thrilled that America Ferrera got nominated for her show-stopping performance in Barbie.
Despite the controversy surrounding the award show this year, the Oscars will be held on March 10th this year, and I will be watching!
