Well, well, well! Since 1929, the Academy Awards have celebrated and honoured some of the greatest movies and cinematic performances. However, they are also notorious for overlooking artists and films that deserve the same recognition and respect as the Oscar winners. This scenario has led to the emergence of the term ‘snub club’, a group comprising talented actors and actresses, amazing directors, and sensational films that the Academy did not appreciate. The number of cinematic projects and artists increases in the ‘snub club’ every year. This year, we have Barbie’s Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie as the new entrants to this club.
Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie had to overcome numerous obstacles before giving Barbie to the audience. Imagine how hard it must have been for the duo to pitch a movie about a Barbie doll from the Barbieland who decides to visit the real world after experiencing a serious existential crisis. Initially, the executives at Warner Bros did not believe that ‘Barbie’ could target audiences of all demographics. But thanks to Gerwig’s incredible and imaginative filmmaking, the film shattered several box office records and became the highest-grossing film of 2023, earning over $1.4 billion globally.
Barbie has earned eight nominations at the 96th Academy Awards. However, the film failed to bag nominations in Best Director (Gerwig) and Best Actress (Robbie) categories. This has resulted in the creation of the ‘Boycott Barbie’ movement on social media platforms, as many believe that both Robbie and Gerwig were wrongly snubbed. The on-screen Ken, Ryan Gosling, however, has bagged an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In response to this scenario, USA Today quoted: “kind of proves the point of the movie.” The Associated Press declared Gerwig’s snub “one of the biggest shocks in recent memory.”
Gosling himself has shared his disappointment about Gerwig and Robbie not getting nominated for Best Director and Best Actress at this year’s Oscars.
Ryan Gosling has released a statement about his disappointment that Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig didn’t get #Oscar nominations.
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) January 23, 2024
“There is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig & Margot Robbie… No recognition would be possible for anyone on… pic.twitter.com/m3IAqcm3tX
Many factors have contributed to Barbie’s controversial Oscar snubs this year. Caryn James of BBC Culture believes that Hollywood’s unending sexism is one of the major reasons behind this situation. Instead of taking the movie seriously and actually recognising its worth, the Oscar voters treated it like a fun billion-dollar popcorn flick. It seems like Oscar voters failed to realise how brilliantly Barbie used meta-humour to tarnish the stereotypes that surround women to this day.
Yes, we understand that not all great artists and movies can receive nominations at the Oscars, as both the ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Actress’ categories have five slots each. But it is clearly visible that the AMPAS has, once again, preferred straight-forward and serious drama films over emotionally rich and highly inventive movies like Barbie.
In addition, among all the directors nominated this year, Justine Triet’s nomination is the most surprising. We are not saying her ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ was bad. It was suspenseful and outstanding. But when it comes to the AMPAS’ habit of choosing sober flicks over inventive ones, it becomes understandable why Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie failed to earn Oscar nominations this year.
Gerwig, though, has been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay with Noah Baumbach. But let’s be honest here folks. It seems almost impossible that she will win in this category, given the competitors such as Oppenheimer, American Fiction, Poor Things, and The Zone of Interest.
This year’s Golden Globes kind of teased us that Robbie and Gerwig may get snubbed at the 96th Oscars. Barbie did not win Best Comedy or Musical but was bestowed with the cheesy (and stupid, to be honest) cinematic box office achievement award. It was like a consolation prize for the Greta Gerwig directional.
Check out how fans have reacted to Greta Gerwig’s and Margot Robbie’s Oscar snubs.
If #BarbieMovie isn't nominated for every possible category, esp. for our Goddesses Margot & Greta, and if Billie doesn't get nominated for best original song, then we should boycott the #Oscars because what the fuck is the point if they don't recognize historical significance!?? pic.twitter.com/jUVsXE3PuV
— Miss S⸆⸉😘🇵🇰 🪬🫶🏾🪩✨💃🏾🥳😻😘✨KATTDO ERA (@supermormongirl) January 23, 2024
LETS BOYCOTT THE #Oscars #JusticeForMargot pic.twitter.com/JqUU5To2tw
— sky (@luvisintrouble) January 23, 2024
I really need Ryan Gosling to boycott his nomination/potential win somehow...examples:
— ✨Elaine ✨ (@SuperFly2319) January 23, 2024
-refusing to go to the Oscars
-refusing to get up to accept the award
-using his acceptance speech to call out the fact that Greta and Margo got robbed of noms due to fragile male egos... pic.twitter.com/OU33tLFoTY
Boycott the Oscars #Oscars2024 https://t.co/qbPZpOrOzL
— Mauri Wilsie (@redheadteacher) January 24, 2024
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