The Oscar Nominations – Has Barbie Been Snubbed?

It’s that time of the year again. The Oscars is approaching – the prestigious awards ceremony where
the film industry celebrate their finest work of the past year. And so, as usual, the nominations for
each category have now been released to the public so we can all formulate our opinions. While
plenty of actors, actresses, directors, and films have been recognised for their outstanding
achievements, there has been plenty of unrest surrounding the “Barbie snub.”
Barbie was definitely a highlight for the film industry in 2023 – releasing on the same day as
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer as the phenomenon “Barbenheimer”, Barbie generated $1.4
billion at the worldwide box office and received critical acclaim, with a current 88% on Rotten
Tomatoes. The acting, directing, and overall message of problems within our society were all crafted
beautifully by director Greta Gerwig. Despite this, while the film was nominated for eight categories,
Barbie did not receive any nominations for Best Actress and Best Director, causing a controversy that
has caught many an eye.
It’s not only the fact that Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, who played the titular Barbie, did not get
ample recognition from the Academy. In Barbie itself, Gerwig shows us the flaws of society (with a
hot-pink coat of paint), helping audiences realise that the villain of the film wasn’t Will Ferrell’s CEO
of Mattel, or Ryan Gosling’s emotionally conflicted Ken, but the inequity of genders in society itself.
Unfortunately, it seems that the Academy has proved Gerwig’s message right. Gosling, who played
Ken, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and yet, in his own words, “There’s no Ken without
Barbie, and there is no Barbie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie.” Robbie also came out to
say that “I think Greta should be nominated as a director because what she did is a once-in-a-career,
once-in-a-lifetime thing.” The fact of the matter is that Gerwig and Robbie, the driving forces behind
the true meaning and success of the blockbuster, are being hugely underappreciated with not being
recognised for their deserved categories.
It isn’t all black clouds and sad faces for Barbie fans, however. America Ferrera, who played Gloria, a
Mattel employee who helps Barbie in the real world, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas were nominated for Best Original Song for “What Was I Made
For?” And of course, Barbie has been nominated for the top award of Best Picture, being a huge
contender for taking the main prize.
But how does a film get nominated for Best Picture but not have its director and leading actress
recognised? Only if we look into the problems of our society and the industry, just as Barbie tells us
to do, will we begin to figure this out. Until then, we all know in our hearts that even if they weren’t
nominated for their respective categories, Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig will always be ‘Kenough’
for us.