The 96th Academy Award nominations were announced on Jan. 23 and have made a splash by leaving out one of the record-breaking female directors of 2023: Greta Gerwig. Many have been expressing their opinions about how Gerwig was not nominated for the “Best Director” category, despite how much of a hit her movie “Barbie” was. This anger was continued for Margot Robbie, who played Barbie in the film, and was not nominated for “Best Leading Actress.” Her co-stars Ryan Gosling, who played Ken, and America Ferrera, who played Gloria, were nominated for their respective categories.
“Barbie” was released July 21, 2023, and quickly became the best opening weekend of the year, according to the Los Angeles Times. Many flocked to theaters in pink to watch the feature as the hype for the movie began earlier that year through PR tactics like the “This Barbie/Ken is…” posters. The movie highlighted the basics of feminism by bringing the character Barbie from Barbieland into the real world.
Ferrera gave a speech that became viral after the movie was released regarding a women’s life, and it became, arguably, one of the most talked-about scenes of 2023. Ferrara was nominated for “Best Supporting Actress,” which made people even more shocked to see that Robbie had not been nominated for “Best Actress.”
Adding fuel to the fire of Gosling’s nomination was the recent win of the movie’s comedic song “I’m Just Ken” at the Critic’s Choice Awards over Billie Eilish’s tear-jerking “What Was I Made For?”, used at the emotional climax of the film.
After his Oscar nomination, Gosling released a statement regarding his disappointment in not seeing Gerwig or Robbie amongst the nominees for “Best Director” and “Best Actress.” Gosling wrote, “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 even went so far as to say that disappointment would be an understatement regarding their snubs.
America Ferrera also shared her disappointment about the lack of nominations for Gerwig and Robbie, saying, “Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it.” She called Robbie a “master” actress who possibly made her role seem too easy to those choosing who gets nominated for an Oscar.
This is not the first time the Oscars has been called out for a lack of nominations for female directors. Since the show’s beginning in 1929, only eight women have been nominated and only three have won. Part of the disappointment for Gerwig not getting the nomination is due to her being the first female director to hit $1 billion in the box office. The film was nominated for “Best Picture,” becoming one of three films directed by women to be nominated in this category this year.
“Barbie” is not Gerwig’s first film to have had people saying she was snubbed for a “Best Director” nomination – the other was “Little Women” at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020.
The 96th Academy Awards will air on Mar. 10 on ABC.
