Anyone who wants to understand how the internet works in 2024 need only take a look at the many excited conversations about Barbie’s Academy Award nominations. However, it may understandably be preferable for the person to look away.
It probably would have seemed counterintuitive a year ago that a film based on the most famous doll of all time would manage to receive eight Oscar nominations, as well as become the highest-grossing film of the year and a critical hit. What was supposed to be a victory lap when those nominations were announced Tuesday turned into several simultaneous vectors of outrage over the nominations the film didn’t receive. Some of these arguments have merit; others looked more forced than a doll posed in various contortions. The rhetoric was so widespread that almost everyone felt the need to say something about it, like baseball fans getting caught up in the stadium wave.
OPEN DISCUSSION
Barbie’s postmodern world is divided between the real world and Barbieland, where there is no patriarchy. The tension between these two realities provides the film with a dramatic engine and constitutes much of the social commentary; It would have been very impressive if this sentence had been read in reference to a movie about Barbie a year ago. Although the male lead of the film, Ryan Gosling, was nominated, neither the real star (Margot Robbie) nor the director (Greta Gerwig), whose vision is evident in every frame, was nominated, which seems to be clear evidence of the film’s thesis.
Unfortunately, this view is so obvious that it seems trite. It ignores the fact that Gosling has a flashier, funnier role; Although Ken is definitely the male lead, it’s a role relegated to the supporting category where he has a better chance of competing.
But pretending not to understand why so many of the film’s ardent supporters have come to this conclusion and are excited about it requires too much avoidance of logic. But that didn’t seem to stop anyone.
CONSOLENCE TURNS INTO CONFLICT
There were some positives to Robbie and Gerwig’s best actress and best director snubs. The film’s eight total nominations are clearly a reflection of the duo’s amazing collaboration, and if Barbie manages to win best picture in the long run, they could both potentially win trophies as co-producers. Robbie and Gerwig were not technically “underrated” because they were sharing nominations for a separate award. Moreover, Anatomy of an Autumn filmmaker Justine Triet won best director, suggesting that Hollywood did not completely ignore women when handing out awards in this category.
Rather than presenting these points as “looking on the bright side,” For conversations like this to occur, it used to take a while for reaction to turn into reaction, but now it happens instantly.
A WORLD BEYOND BARBIE
Can two things be true at the same time? The debate continues. When it came to the outrage over Barbie post-nomination, many thought it was an either-or situation. So many social media observers and writers are asking, “Why are we mad at Barbie when X is happening?” structure. In some cases, the
But while the world events in question undeniably deserve constant consideration, it’s unrealistic to expect anyone not to be upset about anything else. The mere fact that people were upset when Robbie-Gerwig’s snide remarks came to light neither hinders nor diminishes the celebrations around Gladstone’s victory. There is no bandwidth limit on the number of talking points allowed to appear online, and Gladstone will be in the spotlight for a long time leading up to a potential win on Oscar night.
HILLARY CLINTON WEIGHTS
Just when he thought the discourse couldn’t get any more rebellious, Hillary Clinton entered the conversation. Her post on X presented Barbie’s snubs as a reflection of the 2016 election and injected chaos-genie energy into the ongoing conversation.