When the Oscars revealed the nominations for this year, it is safe to say that many people, specifically women, were extremely disappointed. Despite making history at the box office, “Barbie” lacked two very important nominations — Greta Gerwig for director and Margot Robbie for best actress.
As the host of the 96th Academy Awards, talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel released a promotional video in preparation for the March 10 ceremony. Featuring the world of Barbieland, Kimmel receives the help of Kate McKinnon, Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera to find his way to the Oscars.
In what appears at first to be a light-hearted and comedic video, Gosling innocently states “Good thing Greta’s got director in the bag,” only to be corrected by Ferrera that Gerwig, in fact, was not nominated. Following this revelation, the last 30 seconds of the video feature Gosling, and later everyone, screaming in horror.
For a video showcasing the hosting of the Oscars, the reference to the snubbing of Gerwig on the hand of Kimmel and Gosling is an interesting promotional, or satirical, tactic. Calling the snub a “disappointment,” Gosling had previously released a statement after the nominations:
“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.”
When a film is the highest grossing nominee of the year, the lead actor, actress and director should be recognized for their performance — not just the man. This is a leading issue across numerous award shows where women are left in the dust despite their dedicated work.
The Oscars have been a boys club since origination, and this year is no outlier. Since the Oscars debuted in 1929, only seven female directors have been nominated — and only three have won.
However, there are some exceptions when it comes to the recognition of women by the Academy.
Lily Gladstone, lead actress in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” was recently the first Indigenous person to win a Golden Globe for best actress, and is now the first Indigenous woman from the United States to be nominated for an Oscar. This is a massive step in the diversification of Hollywood, and Gladstone is very deserving of it.
This is just one victory in a long battle for women to be recognized and rewarded. It seems as if there can only be a certain number of nominations or awards for women in the cinematic world, and we are just supposed to be content with that.
While we can commend men like Gosling and Kimmel for speaking out against the academy, we shouldn’t have to even be praising them. We shouldn’t have to thank the men who acknowledge the discrepancies with the system of Oscars nominations. There should not be anything or anyone to thank about it in the first place.
It’s also interesting to note that the snubbing of Gerwig and Robbie has generated a lot of Oscars buzz. Is it possible that leaving them out was purposeful in order to rile up viewers and create greater publicity? Or was it purposeful negligence due to the variety of films being recognized this year?
The Oscars are, and may always be, made for men and men only.
