‘Barbie’ fans slam Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig’s Oscar snubs

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Barbie was the biggest box office hit of 2023, but director Greta Gerwig and star Margot Robbie were both snubbed when the Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday.

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Although the film is up for best picture, adapted screenplay, and supporting actor and actress, Gerwig was omitted from the directing category and Robbie isn’t among the best actress nominees.

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Considered a lock for a leading actress nom, the group instead includes Annette Bening (Nyad), Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon), Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall), Carey Mulligan (Maestro) and Emma Stone (Poor Things).

Even more surprising, Gerwig, who was previously nominated in 2018 for Lady Bird, was left off of the best director list, with voters opting to go with French filmmaker Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall), Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon), Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) and Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest).

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With over $1.4 billion in box office receipts, the feminist comedy was not only the biggest film of 2023, but Gerwig became the highest-grossing female director of all time. Along with Oppenheimer, which opened on the same day last July, the film helped bring people back to the movies in droves last summer.

With Robbie already a winner at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards and Gerwig receiving best director noms at the Directors Guild of America, the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice, the omissions by the Academy were immediately panned by fans of the film.

“Both Gerwig and Robbie ignored…it’s still so easy for Hollywood to overlook and discount artistic contributions of women – EVEN WHEN ITS THE POINT OF THE YEAR’S BIGGEST MOVIE!” wrote MSNBC host Jennifer Palmieri. “My God. It was nominated for best picture. Didn’t direct itself, friends!”

“The joke I made to my wife walking out of BARBIE: ‘Watch Gosling get nominated and Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie get shut out’ …just happened,” wrote sports host Joey Wright. “The Academy needs a REAL man in the mirror moment because the whole idea and premise of Barbie completely flew over their heads.”

Author Stephen King questioned: “No nom for Greta Gerwig? Can that actually be true?”

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“After Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie made a film about patriarchy that generated a billion dollars for Hollywood, the man in the film got nominated for a major award and I’m honestly not sure what I expected,” added columnist Brandon Friedman.

On X, one fan called the exclusion “tone deaf.”

“The Barbie Oscar snubs for best actress for Margot Robbie and best director for Greta Gerwig, while Ryan Gosling gets nominated for best supporting actor, are a different level of egregious and tone deaf. What. A. Time,” they wrote.

The Oscars has long faced criticism for ignoring female directors with only three women winning the coveted prize in its nearly 100-year-old history — Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) and Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog).

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America Ferrera, who is up for best supporting actress for her role in the film, said she was “incredibly disappointed” Gerwig and Robbie weren’t recognized.

“Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it,” Ferrera told Variety. “Creating this world, and taking something that didn’t have inherent value to most people and making it a global phenomenon. It feels disappointing to not see her on that list.”

Ferrara went on to call Robbie’s performance “truly unbelievable.”

“One of the things about Margot as an actress is how easy she makes everything look. And perhaps people got fooled into thinking that the work seems easy, but Margot is a magician as an actress in front of the screen, and it was one of the honors of my career to get to witness her pull off the amazing performance she did. She brings so much heart and humour and depth and joy and fun to the character. In my book, she’s a master.”

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Grateful for her own nomination, Ferrara did at least find a silver lining in Barbie getting a best picture nomination.

“It’s as it should be,” Ferrera told the outlet. “Women filmmakers telling all different kinds of stories that resonate in different ways in the culture is the goal. I would love to see even more female-directed movies on the list and to see more female directors acknowledged for making the best cinema of the year.”

But not everyone was lamenting the snubs. British podcaster Connor Tomlinson wrote, “Ryan Gosling has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Barbie … Kenergy claims its final victory over Feminism.”

In addition to the Academy’s Barbie oversight, Leonardo DiCaprio got the cold shoulder for his leading performance in Killers of the Flower Moon. The Color Purple also failed to land noms in the best picture and best actress categories (Danielle Brooks is up for best supporting actress). The Holdovers director Alexander Payne also failed to score a nod for his critically acclaimed dramedy.

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Other high-profile snubs included Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, Ben Affleck’s Air, Ava DuVernay’s Origin, Timothee Chalamet’s crowd-pleasing Wonka, Michael Mann’s Ferrari and Zac Efron’s wrestling biopic The Iron Claw, which were shut out altogether.

Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster historical epic, Oppenheimer, leads the pack with 13 nominations. Meanwhile, Barbie scored eight noms, including best picture; Ryan Gosling for best supporting actor; Ferrara for best supporting actress; and two best-song candidates in What Was I Made For and I’m Just Ken.

The 96th Academy Awards will air Sunday, March 10.

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X: @markhdaniell

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