The 2024 Oscar nomination list came out last week, and let’s just say that some fans are not happy for a number of different reasons. Let’s unpack it all!
This year will be the 96th Oscars award ceremony, and there is some controversy about some of the nominations. The main one that I have seen everyone talking about is Barbie. Margot Robbie did not receive a nomination for Best Actress, and Greta Gerwig failed to get a nomination for Best Director, despite the overwhelming success of the film. Barbie fans were outraged at the lack of recognition for this, considering Ryan Gosling got a nomination for his role of ‘Ken’ in the movie. Fans are claiming that this is just another example of exactly what the Barbie movie is representing, the patriarchy hard at work and diminishing the great work these women put into this movie. Ryan Gosling came out with a statement regarding this, 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. No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius. To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement.”
While I do agree that it is sad to see two talented women failing to get recognized for such a huge movie, I think there is still something to celebrate that not many people are talking about. America Ferrera has been nominated for the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in Barbie. She expresses joy in representing the Latiné community, alongside other Latiné nominees by saying “I’m so proud to get to bring Latiné representation to this years Academy Awards, along with my fellow Latiné nominees. May the diversity of voices acknowledged by the Academy continue to grow!” This is something that I have not seen many people talking about in mainstream media, and I think that it should be.
Aside from all of the Barbie nomination controversy, it was nice to see so much diversity in the Best Supporting Actress category, with actresses of color occupying majority of the nomination slots. It is also worth noting that Lily Gladstone made history as the first Native American nominated for best actress, and Colman Domingo is the first Afro Latino nominated for best actor.
What are your thoughts on the 2024 nominations?