After a full year of critically acclaimed films, the 2024 awards season was bound to be competitive, with many deserving movies going without nominations. However, some of the biggest films of the year were shut out of major categories despite their overall commercial success and positive reception from both audiences and critics.
Most notably, "Barbie" was a global sensation that took the world by storm during the summer of 2023. The film was a massive box office success, raking in $1.365 billion, making it the top-grossing, no.1 film of the year. However, Margot Robbie who portrayed "Barbie" and co-produced the film alongside director Greta Gerwig, was snubbed in the categories of Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Director categories, respectively.
Oscar Nominations were announced on Jan. 23, which immediately sparked outrage over Robbie and Gerwig being shut out of their categories and not receiving their well-deserved nominations.
Rolling Stone said, "Greta Gerwig's Oscar snub for 'Barbie' is classic Academy BS. Only eight women have been nominated for Best Director in the Oscars' nearly 100-year history and just three have won… 'Barbie' made $1.4 billion and was a cultural phenomenon, yet its director wasn't nominated."
While "Barbie" did receive several other nods from the Academy, Robbie and Gerwig were frontrunners to win their respective categories, making their omission even more shocking.
Ryan Gosling, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, said in a statement to CNN, "And I never thought I'd being saying this, but I'm also incredibly honored and proud that it's for portraying a plastic doll named Ken. 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."
Gerwig and Robbie are the faces of the "Barbie" movie. While Gosling portrayed a hilarious Ken, the fact that he was nominated over Robbie's emotionally layered portrayal of Barbie is a sick joke. The genius of "Barbie" would never have been possible without the contributions of Gerwig and Robbie. Yet true to the themes of the film, The Academy lifted the male character of Ken up and pushed aside the accomplishments of women.
America Ferrera, a surprise nomination for Best Supporting Actress, said in an interview with Variety, "I was incredibly disappointed that they weren't nominated," she said. "Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it."
This would have been Gerwig's second selection for Best Director, following her 2017 nomination for "Ladybird." After creating a movie that had the global impact of "Barbie," Gerwig's nomination was expected; therefore, her exclusion from the category was utterly outrageous. Failing to nominate the director who created the No.1 movie of the year is a devastating failure on the Academy's part.
Ferrera also commented on Robbie's snub for Best Leading Actress: "What Margot achieved as an actress is truly unbelievable," Ferrera said. "She brings so much heart and humor and depth and joy and fun to the character. In my book, she's a master."
At the end of the day, Robbie makes "Barbie" powerful. Without her believable portrayal of the plastic doll we all grew up with, "Barbie" wouldn't have been executed as effectively as it was, nor would it have been embraced so widely. Robbie brought raw emotion and humor to the role. Barbie could have easily been a one-note character, but between Robbie's performance and Gerwig's writing, "Barbie" explored themes of feminism, patriarchy and the unfair societal expectations placed on women, something that the Academy failed to recognize.
Though excluded from some major categories, "Barbie" collected nominations in several others, including Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Ryan Gosling), Adapted Screenplay (Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach), Costume Design, Production Design, and Original Song ("I'm Just Ken" and "What Was I Made For?").
Ultimately, Gerwig's nomination is the true snub of the 2024 Oscar nominations. To write and direct a film that got people of all ages, genders and races to go to the theater to support the movie and its message is a feat which Gerwig deserves to be recognized for. "Barbie" was the highest-grossing film in the U.S. and worldwide and was the biggest domestic release from a female director in history. "Barbie" was also the highest-earning live-action movie globally from a female director ever. To break the records that "Barbie" did, Gerwig deserved to be recognized for the overall global impact of her direction and vision.
Though this was an unusually competitive year, with many big films like "Saltburn" and "The Iron Claw" completely shut out of nominations, "Barbie" was the ultimate snub. The stunning omission of Robbie and Gerwig from being nominated proves the challenges women continue to face to be recognized in the entertainment industry. Hollywood once again demonstrates that the patriarchy is alive and well through their failure to recognize the cultural impact of "Barbie," proving that the Academy never understood the point of the film in the first place.
Please note that the views and opinions of columnists do not reflect those of The Post.
