Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie co-wrote the Barbie movie together over Quarantine and ended up creating one of their favorite projects. photo courtesy of Getty Photos
Fans of the biggest grossing movie of 2023, Barbie, are furious over the lack of Oscar nominations.
Barbie, released in July of 2023, was one of the most anticipated movies of the year. For months before its release, enthusiasts raved over the “legendary” release time between Barbie and Oppenheimer, the two biggest movies of the year that were set to open on the same weekend. The same opening times helped boost both in popularity, bringing huge crowds to the two movies and resulting in the nickname “Barbenheimer” for the opening weekend. Fans participated in marathons, watching the two movies in theaters back-to-back, enjoying the comedic relief and empowerment from Barbie and the intense, thrilling emotions from Oppenheimer.
While fans were enthralled by Barbie, most viewers agreed that this movie was not at all what they expected. The trailers and marketing teams focused more on the fact that this movie was a comedy and included an epic journey for Barbie. However, what surprised many viewers were the unexpected emotions they experienced while watching. Barbie, while incredibly humorous, was also surprisingly empowering. The movie delved into the difficulties for women in today’s world, using Barbie Land’s seemingly woman-dominant environment (more sexist towards men) to compare to the real world, where feminism and misogyny is such a huge issue. Women all over the world found this movie to be incredible. According to Addison Smith, an alum of Thomas Jefferson High School, it was, “… relatable and created a new-found love for life.”
When Barbie went to the real world to find her former owner, she was faced with all the common issues of being a woman almost immediately. She is catcalled, sexually violated, and frequently treated as less than, whereas Ken, the man who traveled with her, blended in immediately, loving the apparent men-led world that differed from his home. When Barbie returns to Barbie Land, she finds that Ken helped the men “take over,” and viewers see what was once a woman-dominated land transform into what our world has looked like and continues to look like now in terms of gender norms. From here, viewers see this switch into a more feminism-focused storyline.
America Ferrera, who played Barbie’s old owner, comes to Barbie Land to help save it from the Kens. The character displayed an incredibly empowering visual of feminism, and Smith iterated that “she [Ferrera] describes perfectly what it is like to be a woman today, both the positive and overwhelming negatives. How women are so much more than what society tries to force us to be: servants, wives, child bearers. We are smart, hard-working, we are mothers to our children, we are businesswomen, doctors, teachers, we are everything a man can be and more.” Smith found America’s character, “Gloria” to really empower her in this movie, making it so much more than just a comedic movie about a doll like many expected before watching it. “It was such an unexpected world-whirl of emotions.”
Not to mention the glorious direction and production by Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, who not only helped direct and write Barbie, but played Stereotypical Barbie. The set, script, and direction were all done phenomenally, and made it arguably one of the best feature films of 2023. Greta Gerwig is a renowned director; before Barbie, she acted and produced and has seen plenty of success in her direction. Only having directed and created three movies before Barbie, she was nominated for three Oscars for her fabulous rendition of Little Women and Lady Bird. Gerwig shows a great amount of admiration for the work that she, Robbie, and the entire crew of Barbie put into the production. She created the movie to show how interesting life is – even with all of the ups and downs, it’s all worth it in the end. Barbie is, without a doubt, the biggest movie of Gerwig’s career thus far. It is a beautiful display of life. At the end of the movie, Barbie decides to give up her perfect life in Barbie Land to live in the real world, because she decides she wants to live and feel. When she goes to the real world, she experiences emotions she has never felt before, such as sadness, anger, and also peace. Her journey in the real world reflects what life is about, ups and downs, highs and lows, and choosing to feel and accept in order to live – not only for women, but for all humans. That is why the world was so shocked when the nominees for the Oscars came out and neither Greta Gerwig nor Margot Robbie were nominated for their work. While the movie did get nominated for six Oscars, awards failed to include Best Director and Best Leading Actress like many expected it would. In the end, Barbie only won a single Oscar for Best Song: “What Was I Made For,” by Billie Ellish.
Not only were viewers disappointed, but the cast and production crew, including Robbie and Greta, were incredibly saddened by the snub. Cast member Ryan Gosling, who played Ken, stated that, “There is no Ken without Barbie.” Gosling was nominated for Best Supporting Character, while Robbie was not nominated for any Oscars. Many argue that the snub is exactly what this movie tried to convey – how women are taken advantage of and not appreciated as they should be. Barbie is about equality Barbie Land is a parallel to our world, where women are taken advantage of here, it is the opposite in Barbie Land. Barbie Land is what we hope for in the real world: absolute equality – a world where neither men nor women have more rights or control than one another. The Oscars is a representation of women being let down constantly, losing even when they deserved to win. It is very noticeable that Robbie and Gerwig were snubbed, especially after Barbie has become one of the highest grossing movies ever, reaching $2.9 billion in sales, No. 14 worldwide.
A recent study by Forbes Magazine showed that only 28% of the nominated movies at the Oscars had female leads, again showing the sad fact that women in every field are treated less than, losing simply because they aren’t men. However, with so much success and encouragement from people all over the world, there is no doubt Gerwig, Robbie, and the entire cast know this movie spoke to the millions of people who watched it. Even without awards, the cast will always be acknowledged for their amazing work on Barbie.
