The 2024 Oscars nominations caused an unexpected reaction from internet users, especially when it came to the Best Actress category. The audience quickly realized that Margot Robbie, who played the plastic doll in “Barbie,” was not present among the list of actresses nominated, taking their uproar to social media and vastly overlooking the other talented artists who made the list.
While it is completely normal to feel upset about your favorite artist not receiving the acknowledgment you deem necessary, it does not make the nominations unfair or misogynistic. Framing Robbie’s omission from the best actress category as a feminist issue reduces the entire movement’s valid fight for equality in the arts. On top of that, it is incredibly disrespectful to all of the other nominees in the same category. Even the actress herself declared that she has no reason to be upset about not being nominated.
Not only that but “Barbie” has received eight Oscars nominations in total, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, discrediting claims that “stories important for women” are being dismissed in favor of “manly films.” Furthermore, equating anything that is overly feminine as feminist is a dangerous logic, especially when detrimental to other art pieces that do not have the same aesthetic, since it implies that women cannot enjoy more “serious” themes.
Even though “Barbie” is a great start for those who are unfamiliar or new to feminism, it is wrong to claim that it is the only feminist film of the year. “Poor Things,” “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Anatomy of a Fall,” all received several Oscars nominations and contain strong female characters and feminist themes, oftentimes more powerful than “Barbie.”
More aggravating than these three films being overlooked is the piece Los Angeles Times wrote on the situation, actively diminishing these films’s strong female characters: “If only Barbie had done a little time as a sex worker. Or barely survived becoming the next victim in a mass murder plot. Or stood accused of shoving Ken out of the Dream House’s top window.” Note that “barely survived becoming the next victim in a mass murder plot” is a reference to the Native American genocide that happened in the US, the plot of “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
It is incredibly telling and sad that Lili Gladstone’s historic achievement, as being the first Native American to be nominated in the Best Actress category for a film with such an important message, is not being talked about as much as Robbie’s perceived “snub,” I wonder why. Moreover, it feels incredibly off-putting to accuse the Academy of misogyny for a Best Actress category “snub.”
This entire debacle serves to show the oftentimes ridiculous nature of what the internet deems to be worthy of discourse, since Margot’s co-workers, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera and Simu Liu also chimed in and shared their disappointment. Not only that, but even former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton decided to speak on Robbie’s “snub” in the 2024 nominations. This performative feminism is at the cost of much more important causes happening right now—actual feminist issues,—but if you want to solely look at art, there are plenty of films with more powerful messages that are being recognized as well.
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