Barbie Oscar nominations: Netizens react as director Greta Gerwig, actor Margot Robbie get snubbed. ‘Literally the plot’

Barbie which was the biggest hit of 2023, the highest-grossing movie ever directed by a woman and a bona fide cultural sensation that turned movie theaters pink and left a still-going trail of think pieces in the wake of Greta Gerwig's feminist fantasia.

Though the “Barbie” received eight Academy Awards nominations, including best picture, Director Greta Gerwig and actress Margot Robbie failed to land directing and lead actress Oscar nominations. However, "Barbie" actor Ryan Gosling, earned a best supporting actor nomination.

Their omissions from the Oscar nomination list sparked a sharp reaction from fans on X (formerly Twitter) as many said the same patriarchy parodied in "Barbie" at work.

Also Read: Oscars 2024: Oppenheimer gets 13 nominations, Ryan Gosling in contention for Barbie

Writer Charlotte Clymer wrote, “Let me see if I understand this: the Academy nominated "Barbie" for Best Picture (eight nominations total) -- a film about women being sidelined and rendered invisible in patriarchal structures -- but not the woman who directed the film. Okay then.”

Novelist Brad Meltzer wrote, “Nominating Ken but not Barbie is literally the plot of the movie”

Activist Shanon Watts wrote, “The iconic Barbie monologue delivered by the brilliant, Oscar nominated America Ferrera really rings true after the movie’s director, Greta Gerwig, was passed over for an Oscar nomination … even though the movie she created was nominated for Best Picture.”

One user wrote, “Barbie getting a Nomination for best picture but not best director is so weird cause like. no one walked away from that thinking “that was the best movie of the year” but everyone walked away from that thinking how they should let more women direct big budget Fun Movies like it deserves a best director nom more than a best picture nom Greta ate so hard with that”

Another user wrote, “You have to be a leading lady but you can’t be nominated for best actress. You have to be a strong female director but you can’t be nominated for best director. You have to have a wildly popular dance song but you can’t be nominated for best original song.”

Some other wrote, “Greta Gerwig made a film that was critically acclaimed, culturally impactful, hilarious, unique, visually exceptional, perfectly cast and acted, left people laughing, crying and thinking AND made a billion dollars at the box office. But no Best Director nom?”

Ken comes in support of Greta and Margot:

Ryan Gosling said that he was disappointed after "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig and lead actor Margot Robbie were not nominated in two major categories at the 2024 Academy Awards. “I am extremely honoured to be nominated by my colleagues alongside such remarkable artists in a year of so many great films. And I never thought I’d be saying this, but I’m also incredibly honoured and proud that it’s for portraying a plastic doll named Ken,” Gosling said in a statement. "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," he added.

Hillary Clinton also took to X and wrote, "Greta & Margot, While it can sting to win the box office but not take home the gold, your millions of fans love you. You’re both so much more than Kenough. #HillaryBarbie"

On Tuesday night's “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Kimmel quipped that Gosling being nominated for Ken while Robbie and Gerwig were snubbed “was kind of the plot of the ‘Barbie’ movie.”

Barbie's Oscar nomination:

The film has got about eight nominations: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor: Ryan Gosling, Best Supporting Actress: America Ferrera, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song: “I’m Just Ken,” and “What Was I Made For?,” Best production design, Best Costume design. 

Highest grossing movie

Warner Bros.' ‘Barbie’, the highest grossing movie worldwide with a worldwide Box Office collection of $1,441,820,453 was produced on a budget of $145 million. It became the first movie from a solo female director to cross $1 billion at the Box Office. Barbie broke numerous records with one being the fastest Warner Bros film to cross the $1 billion mark in 17 days, breaking the record held by "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2.

Meanwhile, the 96th Academy Awards will be held on March 10 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles. Jimmy Kimmel is returning to host the ceremony for the second consecutive year. He has hosted the ceremony four times.

(With inputs from AFP, AP)