It’s rare that a large part of the internet ever comes together to agree on something. Usually, comment sections are filled with people arguing with anyone who will respond to them.
But as soon as the Oscar nominations were announced this year, the internet exploded with many of the same comments: “We are literally living the plot of the Barbie movie,” they said. “How could Ryan Gosling be nominated and not Margot Robbie? They missed the entire point.”
Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera, were both nominated for their work in “Barbie” in their respective categories, posted their own statements. “There is no Ken without Barbie,” Gosling said.
And soon, even political figures were getting involved. Hillary Clinton posted to her Instagram on Jan. 24. “You’re both so much more than Kenough,” she wrote, referencing Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig, who were not nominated for Best Actress and Best Director, respectively.
Online comments came together instantly to bash the Academy for their judgment concerning “Barbie.” But just as quickly, it began to divide. Some began to question whether it was fair to say Margot Robbie was snubbed. After all, there are only five slots for Best Actress nominations, and all of them are filled.
Greta Gerwig not getting the Best Director nomination seems to be a different conversation. Though a co-ed category, only eight women have ever been nominated for Best Director in almost 100 years of Academy history. It does seem like they had their token female nomination this year with Justine Triet for “Anatomy of a Fall” and felt like they were done nominating women for the category.
But Robbie would have been nominated for Best Actress. She wasn’t up against Gosling, and his nomination does not affect hers. She was only up against other women. Annette Bening (“Nyad”), Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Sandra Huller (“Anatomy of a Fall”), Carey Mulligan (“Maestro”) and Emma Stone (“Poor Things”) were nominated for Best Actress this year. Which of these women should not have been nominated for Robbie to get a spot? The anger stirred up after Robbie was not nominated pits women against each other and diminishes those whose work was acknowledged. Robbie won’t win the Oscar, but another Barbie will.
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Gladstone is the first Native American actress to be nominated for Best Actress. Many think she has a good chance of winning the category. How must she feel when the main rhetoric around the 2024 Oscars is that Robbie deserves a spot instead?
To say that Robbie not getting a Best Actress nomination (even though five other talented actresses did) and Gosling getting a Best Supporting Actor nomination is “living the plot of the movie” misses the point of “Barbie” entirely. The movie’s message was about the impossible standards women are held to, and the danger of pitting women against each other. To boil down the struggles of women living underneath a patriarchy to a rich celebrity not winning an award undermines what feminists are truly fighting for. If all women had to worry about was not winning Oscars against other qualified women, we wouldn’t need the “Barbie” movie in the first place.
So is Hollywood a Mojo Dojo Casa House, a place where only men are praised for their work? In some ways, yes—that’s why the “Barbie” movie hit so hard. But, as amazing as her portrayal of the popular doll was, Robbie’s lack of a nomination does not prove we are living in Kendom.
