Is the Barbie snub backlash tonedeaf?
News about the Oscar snubbing Barbie’s Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig has been filling up our feeds but where is the buzz about all the historical nominations of women of color?
Why isn’t Barbie Kenough?
The Oscar nomination buzz isn’t about who snagged a nomination, but why Barbie herself, and director Greta Gerwig, got snubbed.
The film got an astounding eight nominations, including best picture.
But fans say Ryan Gosling’s nomination for best supporting actor as Ken, when Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig were overlooked for best actress and best director, is exactly the double standard about the patriarchy that the film pokes fun at.
Others are calling the backlash tone deaf, saying that historic nominations are still happening!
Lily Gladstone is the first indigenous American woman to be nominated for best actress for “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Barbie’s America Ferrera was nominated for best supporting actress along with other women of color like Color Purple’s Danielle Brooks and D’Vine Joy Randolph for her role in “The Holdovers.”
Women across TikTok are celebrating those nominations, noting women of color are often underrepresented in Hollywood and under-recognized for their work, especially at prestige award shows.
But are the Oscars even relevant anymore? For the most part, big box office draws for Gen Z like superhero films, horror movies, comedies, and the Hunger Games franchise typically don’t win Oscars.
And “Oscar-worthy” movies don’t always do well at the box office. Like 2021’s West Side Story and 2017’s Blade Runner 2049.
Do you think Barbie deserves better? And do the Oscars even matter? Let us know.