Did the Feminist Overtones Hinder Barbie’s Performance within the Academy

Barbie took the world by storm in 2023. Starting in March, people could not get enough of Margot Robbie’s classic Barbie inspired looks as she jetsetter around the world, taking on the pink carpet everywhere. So much so that Barbie: The World Tour, a highly anticipated book comprised of Robbie’s iconic looks from the press tour, will be released this March.  

Robbie’s international, high profile press tour paid off overall as the film grossed $1.44 Billion in box office sales worldwide after its July release date. From March to August, Barbie was all around. The film went on to become the 14th highest grossing film of all time and very few films ranked above it have a leading lady, let alone an ensemble of strong women carrying the film. Barbie became the top grossing film of 2023 and a group of women portraying the most iconic toy of all time went headfirst into Hollywood’s glass ceiling.  

The glass ceiling in the film industry has been slowly and methodically chipped away for years. For so long, women have not had as strong of a voice or as much recognition as the men in Hollywood. A topic that comes up quite often during this time of year: award season. And with 8 Academy Award nominations in 7 distinct categories, Barbie did well with the Academy on paper. But upon closer examination, the leading women of Barbie did not bode well with the Academy.  

Greta Gerwig, the mastermind behind the conceptualization of the Barbie movie both wrote and directed the film. She created Barbieland on paper and then made it a reality. The world and performances went on to lead the film to a Best Picture nomination. Yet, the woman who brought the world to life and into our reality did not receive a nomination for Best Director.  

And for Barbie herself, Margot Robbie has also been neglected by the Academy.  

Meanwhile, Ryan Gosling was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and his song “I’m Just Ken” in which he tells the story of how Ken is nothing without Barbie… 

The message behind Barbie and the discourse surrounding the film has been polarizing since its announcement. So, it is only fitting that award season has opened a new can of worms.  

Looking back at some of the criticisms surrounding the film after its release, most critiques were that feminism topics were too basic, it didn’t tackle enough sides of feminism, and was information any feminist already had. “It’s hard to be a woman.” “A lot is expected of you when you’re a woman.” “You have to be everything to everyone all the time and smile while doing it.”  

However, this film was not created to solve feminism but rather to start the conversation. It wasn’t meant for those well-versed in the nuances that come with feminism but rather for those who are neglecting and refusing to acknowledge the inequalities and impossible societal expectations of women.  

Is it alarming that the two women leading the project and doing everything in their power to get this lesson out are not receiving recognition from the Academy for their hard work? Absolutely. In a story that tells the tale of women having a standard to strive for that they can never reach, the women telling the story fell short of the mark in the Academy’s opinion.  

There is an uproar about what this means for women. What it means for you to make a story about women for women and then get “snubbed” by the Academy. That this will be damaging and set the feminist movement back.  

What is done by the Academy is done. What is truly going to affect women and society, is how we react to these nominations.  

Barbie was a great movie that dealt with the complexity of womanhood overtly. But I must admit, in my opinion the complexity was in the topics rather than the film itself. 

The question truly is, are the Oscars meant to focus on the film alone or consider the film’s cultural impact? The way you answer that will affect how you feel about the Oscar nominations.  

Does overt and on-the-nose feminism deserve the Oscar? I loved Barbie. I thought it was fun and telling. However, it was Feminism 101 and pointed which goes against one of the major rules of screenwriting “show don’t tell.”  

However, taking those 101 lessons into consideration, it is difficult for me to outright say Margot Robbie should’ve been nominated for Best Actress as that implies someone else in the category needs the boot. Thankfully, Greta Gerwig was not completely overlooked and is receiving recognition as she is nominated for Best Writer.  

While it is interesting that Ryan Gosling received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor while the female lead, he was supporting did not, his nomination does not truly take away a nomination from Gerwig and Robbie. They are in different categories. It is hard to say that Robbie and Gerwig were snubbed because that pits them against the women who did receive nominations for Best Actress and Best Director. Is it fair to say those women who put in the same endless amount of work in an industry that generally puts women second?  

I don’t know the answer. But I do know that it is difficult for me to put two women side by side and say one was more deserving of a nomination than the other when the argument tends to roll back to the topics of the film rather than the actual performance.  

Is it more beneficial for us to look at the other women nominated and how the other films were directed to understand if the Academy’s decisions were unjust? Should we reexamine the construction of the Academy and its members? Or do we need to have more clarity on what the Oscars stand for?  

Does the Academy see them as mutually exclusive, cultural impact versus the complexity and quality of the art of filmmaking? 

Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig gave us an amazing film, one that touched the hearts of women around the world. Barbie made so many women feel seen and understood. But in an industry of subtlety, it may be it may have been too overt for the Academy. 

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