On January 23rd, 2024 the Academy Awards nominations were announced for the 96th annual award ceremony set to take place March 10th 2024. There were a few potential nominees missing from the announcements that some fans found surprising and unjust. Especially for the Gen Z and female demographic, one particular movie being left out of most of the major categories felt unrepresentative of its impact, and that movie would be Barbie. Barbie themes of feminism and the struggles of womanhood resonated with millions of women. Sometimes as a woman, it can feel like our struggles are not shown in the media in a light but meaningful manner as we saw through the barbie movie. It set off a revolution on social media with hundreds of thousands of opinions on the movie that had young and old female fans that it made them feel validated.
As most of us know, 2023 was the year of Barbenheimer, the battle in the box office and for the hearts of fans between Barbie and Oppenheimer. At the end of their time in the theaters Barbie did come out on top grossing over $1.4 billion in the box office, with Oppenheimer about $950 million in the box office. Even with the vastly different storylines and themes they were pitted against each other by audiences. Now that we are in the midst of the awards scene, and the Oscars are quickly approaching, many fans assumed that the two blockbuster films would dominate all of the major categories. The comparison continues with Cillan Murphy and Christopher Nolan getting nominated in their prospective categories and Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig being left without a nomination.
Barbie was written and directed by the four time Oscar nominee Greta Gerwig. Gerwig is an acclaimed director for movies like Lady Bird and Little Women. She is known for writing coming of age and feminist themes that have struck a chord with young women. Gerwig failed to receive a nomination for the film despite the fact that it is the highest grossing film made by a female director in history. The so-called snub for best director is a surprise to many in Hollywood as well as fans. This is especially true due to the fact that she was nominated at the Golden Globes and Directors Guild of America earlier this year.
The other nomination that fans and many others were surprised not to see on the list was Margot Robbie up for best actress for her portrayal of Barbie. In addition to her role as the main character Robbie also produced the film.
This article wouldn’t be complete without recognizing that the movie did get some acknowledgment from the academy. Including nominations in best supporting actor and actress, best picture, Best writing of an adapted screenplay, best costume design and best set design. Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken and received a nomination for supporting actor made a statement following the news of the nominations.
He stated:“I am extremely honored to be nominated by my colleagues alongside such remarkable artists in a year of so many great films. But 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”. He publicly recognized that they deserved to be appreciated on the Oscars stage.
Fans were particularly outraged by the two being left out because it is a direct example of what the movie is trying to bring awareness to, how high achieving women are often squashed and intentionally marginalized to benefit men. With the only male star of the movie receiving a nomination when the two creators of the movie not being recognized feel all too familiar in the society we live in, it is a let down after the inspirational tone that Barbie set.