Sometimes life imitates art in the most disappointing ways. For the biggest movie of the year (and all time), earning over $1.3 billion worldwide, Barbie was a fairy tale about the pitfalls and persistence of patriarchy. The same story could be told about the 2024 Oscar nominees. The patriarchy is bluntly represented by Ken (played by Ryan Gosling in the film), who was nominated for Best Actor, leaving Margot Robbie’s Barbie and Greta Gerwig as the director out of the Mojo Dojo Casa House (the Dolby Theatre, in this case).
I suspect that not even Gerwig could have predicted this day.
Does it really matter that the female lead actress and director of a movie about a Barbie doll got snubbed? Yes, it does.
Why the Barbie Oscar Snubs Matter
After two-plus years of a pandemic and a streamer service takeover, Barbie got people back into the movie theaters, some even going to seeing the film for a second time or as a double feature with Oppenheimer, creating a cultural event called Barbenheimer. For the Academy to snub Robbie and Gerwig in their respective categories is reinforcing the perception that Hollywood is the snake that doesn’t know better than to eat its own tail.
As storytellers, it’s important to recognize female-driven stories that could only have been created, or birthed so-to-speak, by women–especially if these stories are making such an important contribution to the film as an industry. But what makes the Academy’s snub of Barbie disappointing is the message it delivers about female-driven stories.
The good news is that Barbie did receive eight nominations, but trailed Oppenheimer‘s 13 nominations, Poor Things with 11, and Killers of the Flower Moon with 10 noms. Lily Gladstone made history as the first Native-American to receives the Oscar nominated for Best Actress.
‘Killers of the Flower Moon’
The 2024 Oscar Nominations
Best Picture
American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
Colman Domingo (Rustin)
Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)
Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening (Nyad)
Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Sandra Huller (Anatomy of a Fall)
Carey Mulligan (Maestro)
Emma Stone (Poor Things)
Actress in a Supporting Role
Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction)
Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
Ryan Gosling (Barbie)
Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)
Actress in a Supporting Role
Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)
Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)
America Ferrera (Barbie)
Jodie Foster (Nyad)
Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
Directing
Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)
Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)
Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest)
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
American Fiction
Barbie
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Maestro
May December
Past Lives
International Feature Films
Io Capitano
Perfect Days
Society of the Snow
The Teachers’ Lounge
The Zone of Interest
Animated Feature Film
The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Documentary Feature Film
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
20 Days in Mariupol
Live Action Short Film
The Actor
Invincible
Knight of Fortune
Red, White and Blue
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Documentary Short Film
The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
The Island In Between
The Last Repair Shop
Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó
Animated Short Film
Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
War Is Over!
Film Editing
Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Cinematography
El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Production Design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Costume Design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Music (Original Score)
American Fiction
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Music (Original Song)
“The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot
“I’m Just Ken” from Barbie
“It Never Went Away” from American Symphony
“Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon
“What Was I Made For?” from Barbie
Makeup and Hairstyling
Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Society of the Snow
Sound
The Creator
Maestro
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest
Visual Effects
The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon
The 96th Academy Awards will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on March 10, 2024.
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The post 2024 Oscar Nominees Are Here (And So Is the Patriarchy) appeared first on ScreenCraft.
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Author: Shanee Edwards
