Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024 was a long-awaited day for film nerds like myself. I spent 2023 watching so many movies (I got Letterboxd and became obsessed with logging every movie ever) so I was pretty excited to see the nominees for the 96th Academy Awards. Everything was pretty much as expected, like the numerous Oppenheimer nominations. I was really glad to see multiple nominations for The Holdovers because that was such a sweet movie and deserves all the praise.
But, like many other people who have been anxiously awaiting the nominees, I couldn’t help but feel upset when neither Greta Gerwig nor Margot Robbie received nominations for Best Director or Best Actress. This was especially disheartening when Ryan Gosling was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Before getting into the issue of not nominating two of the women who set major records for the year, congratulations are needed for America Ferrera who got nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category.
This huge career milestone for Ferrera is being ignored because of Gerwig and Robbie’s snubs. Only two other Latina women were nominated for Best Supporting Actress before Ferrera, making her achievement that much more incredible. While it’s totally reasonable to be upset with The Academy for not nominating Gerwig and Robbie for Best Director and Best Actress respectively, Ferrera’s record nomination should not be overlooked and needs to be celebrated.
Recently in interviews, Ferrera—instead of being congratulated for her achievements and talking about her own nomination—has been asked about her thoughts on Gerwig and Robbie’s lack of nomination. Ferrera absolutely deserves to be celebrated and should be able to share her excitement about this nomination without feeling guilty about her co-stars’ lack of nomination. I absolutely hope to see America Ferrera take this award home, as her role in Barbie was incredible and so deserving of this nomination.
I think the main issue with Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie’s lack of nomination is greatly summed up in Ryan Gosling’s response to his own nomination. “There is no Ken without Barbie” is a phrase that really sticks out. Having not nominated the two women who made this film possible for two of the largest categories truly speaks volumes. As the first one-billion dollar movie directed by a woman and the numerous other box office records that Barbie broke, it’s impossible to understand how Greta Gerwig was not nominated for Best Director. While both Gerwig and Robbie were nominated in other categories, and Barbie as a whole received 8 nominations, Best Director and Best Actress are two massive awards, and it would be assumed that one of the biggest movies of 2023 would be nominated for these awards. As a whole, there appears to be lingering sexism to these nominations, and it’s ironic that two major women are under-appreciated for making a film about the impacts of misogyny and the patriarchy as a whole. Gerwig and Robbie’s lack of well-deserved nominations should not take any light away from America Ferrera’s amazing achievement in Best Supporting Actress category. I am still looking forward to watching the Oscars like I do each year, and I hope to see Barbie take home many of the awards they’re nominated for. However, I think that maybe The Academy should rewatch the movie, and take some notes about our still very patriarchal society.