Why People are Upset About the 2024 Oscar Nominations: Spoiler Alert, It’s Because of Barbie

It’s every film geek’s favorite and least favorite time of year. 

Award season. 

Every year, after watching what Hollywood has delivered, thousands if not millions of movie buffs sit on the very edge of their seats as they eagerly await to see if their favorite films have been given the coveted honor of being nominated at one of the major award shows. 

Starting with the Golden Globes and ending with the Academy Awards (Oscars), this two month period is a rollercoaster that takes movie goers on a ride of excitement as they watch their favorites get nominated and win. But, most often this rollercoaster goes down in a ditch of disappointment for the fans of films that are snubbed of recognition.

Especially this year.

The 96th Academy Awards nominations were announced on January 23, 2024 and many people are upset over the Academy’s choice of nominees. X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Instagram, and even Reddit were drowning in posts over what movies, actors, and directors were robbed of nominations. 

Although this happens every year, this year’s sea of posts seemed more outrageous than the rest. One culprit stood out as the reason: the Barbie movie. 

What was arguably the most influential and impactful movie of 2023, Barbie was not nominated for two major categories in the upcoming Academy Awards: Best Actress for Barbie herself, Margot Robbie and Best Director for Greta Gerwig. 

People were outraged. Almost everyone expected Robbie and Gerwig to get those nominations. One X user wrote, “Ken getting nominated and not Barbie is honestly so fitting for a film about a man discovering the power of patriarchy in the Real World.” Another wrote “​​Ryan Gosling, while deserving, got an Oscar nomination for Barbie while Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie didn’t? Completely proving the point of the movie in 20 f–ing 24 you cannot make this up.” 

Even Barbie stars Ryan Gosling and America Ferrara, who were nominated for their respective categories, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, expressed their disappointment publicly. Gosling told CBS News, “To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement” and “Their work should be recognized along with the other very deserving nominees.” Ferrara spoke to ET and felt that “Their work in both of those categories was phenomenal and in my book [they] deserve to be acknowledged for the history they made, for the ground they broke, for the beautiful artistry. They’re my girls, and I want to see them celebrated for their amazingness, so that part of it is definitely bittersweet.”

It is understandable why this snubbing has caused so much upset and discourse. To many people, women especially, Barbie wasn’t just a movie. It was a pop culture movement. And it for sure made an impact. Millions of people went to the cinema dressed in pink and sparkles to see the doll they had loved so very much as a child. The doll that somehow, years later, reemerged in their life through this film and made them feel seen and heard to their experiences as a woman. Yes, one can argue Barbie is a plastic doll, and the feminist ideas discussed in the film were quite surface level. But the movie had an undeniable impact. After the movie came out, so many women took to social media to post about how Barbie encapsulated their girlhood and womanhood. Especially the monologue delivered by America Ferrara’s character, Gloria, that summarized the bizarre standards women are held to in our society, which was very relatable for women. This snubbing, in some ways, captures the essence of this Ferrara performed: “We have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.”

With all this being said, it deems the questions—What is Oscar worthy? Why was Barbie Oscar worthy to so many people and why did its snubs in two categories cause so much anger?

The term “Oscar worthy” does not have a clear definition. The criteria an actor or movie must meet in order to earn a nomination is not that stringent. In fact, the nomination process is quite simple (except for Best Picture). Nominees for each category are selected by votes from the members of their respective branch. Thus, only actors nominate actors, only directors nominate directors, and so on. “Oscar worthy” is whatever they decide.

Barbie was considered “Oscar worthy”. While it wasn’t nominated for Best Actress or Best Director, the film still secured eight nominations: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and two Best Original Song. It was nominated for many of the reasons why people loved it: acting, writing, style, aesthetic, and music. And, technically, Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig were nominated. Robbie for Best Picture, as she is one of the main producers, and Gerwig for Best Adapted Screenplay, as she is the writer.

That brings us back to the question: Why did Barbie’s snubs in two categories cause so much anger? The two people snubbed were still nominated in other categories, so why is there such an upset?

It’s mainly because of what it represents.

Think about it. The two women that led a film about female empowerment and girlhood were not nominated for their work and performance that touched women all over the world. To many, Robbie gave a performance that left a profound impact on audiences and it was one that was relatable enough so every woman could see a small part of themselves in Barbie. Gerwig, in many ways, led the film to success through her direction and sensitivity she incorporated with the subject matter. The fact that they were not nominated further secures the belief many people hold about the Academy—they do not want to see women succeed and be recognized for their art. As this has been a common occurrence in past years, it is not completely far-fetched that Barbie might have fallen victim to this. 

The situation was arguably made worse by Ryan Gosling’s nomination. Most saw this as the Oscars proving the very point of the movie—men succeeding on the backs of women— even though they were in different categories with differing levels of competitiveness. The majority of people tend to overlook these underlying factors and only focus on the surface aspects.

Ultimately, whether Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig were really snubbed or not will continue to be debated on, and even as the Academy Awards come and go.

Maybe the other actors didn’t feel Robbie’s performance was as exceptional as the other nominees. Maybe the other directors didn’t like Gerwig’s directing style. Or, maybe it has to do with the directing branch being mainly composed of men. 

We won’t know whether these snubs were about the quality of the film or the messages it carried.

But, it is apparent that this snubbing has caused huge amounts of upset. After all, it is not a Barbie world, life is not plastic, and it certainly is not fantastic.