'Barbie' didn't get nominated for an acting Oscar but 'Ken' did. People are pointing out the irony

Fans of the Barbie movie - a film that champions the role of women - were expecting its female star to get an Oscar nomination.

Barbie driving a pink convertible through the desert with Ken in the backseat

Barbie is now the biggest movie to be directed by one woman, surpassing Wonder Woman's $US822 million ($1.2 billion) global total. Source: AP / Warner Bros. Pictures

If you still haven't seen the Barbie movie and have put in a giant effort to avoid spoilers, then the Oscars nominations might have seemed pretty uncontroversial.

But many social media users had a lot to say in response to the announcement that supporting actor Ryan Gosling was nominated for the top industry award, but the film's star Margot Robbie and director Greta Gerwig were not nominated.

The film received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and Robbie was nominated for Best Producer.

Gerwig became the first woman to direct three films that have been nominated for the top prize, following Lady Bird and Little Women.

But many were expecting the year's highest-grossing film to get a Best Actress or Best Director nomination.

Some pointed out that acknowledging Gosling for Best Supporting Actor, but not the female lead, was infuriatingly counter to the point of the film's feminist messaging.
"So the whole point of the barbie movie was to empower women and show that we are strong and capable in a very male dominated world, yet the leading actress and director wasn’t nominated for an Oscar????" one X user wrote.

"Tell me you didn’t understand the meaning of the film without telling me."

Others thought Gosling, who played Barbie's boyfriend Ken in the movie, was just a better actor and his other Oscar nomination for the song I'm Just Ken, about a man whose life has no meaning without a woman looking at him, was more than justified.
Entertainment industry magazine Variety said Gosling released a statement saying he was honoured to be nominated by colleagues.

"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 said.

He said no recognition for anyone on the film would be possible 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."
When the song won Best Song at the Critics Choice awards last week, Gosling appeared stunned.

The song is competing against Billie Eilish's track What Was I Made For? - also from Barbie - the Oscars' Best Original Song category.
America Ferrera was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film and Gosling said he was "so happy" for her.
Some X users felt Ferrera wasn't given enough credit for her character and feminist monologue in the film, amid all the commentary around Robbie.

"y’all claim to care about women but don’t celebrate the actual indigenous woman who was nominated from barbie. and some of y’all are even more upset about america’s nomination than ryan’s," one user wrote.
"Ryan Gosling supporting actor nom deserved sorry to hate women," one X user wrote.
"I might get jumped but i’m gonna have to say it with my chest nobody in barbie deserved a nomination. not ryan gosling, and not margot robbie. let’s put this discourse to a rest," another wrote.

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3 min read
Published 24 January 2024 12:41pm
Updated 24 January 2024 8:02pm
By Madeleine Wedesweiler
Source: SBS


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