Another year of disappointing offerings from Hollywood has come and gone, and as Tinsel Town continues its slow decay, movie fans are once again left wondering where all of the good films have gone. The Oscar nominations were recently announced, and there were a few noticeable snubs from some big-budget movies.
There were big-name films nominated, including “Oppenheimer,” which garnered 13 nominations, telling the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer as he developed the atomic bomb, but the director and lead actor of one of the biggest movies in film history were snubbed in a move that has feminists in a tizzy.
“Barbie” was the biggest movie of the Summer, and the movie Oppenheimer, which came out simultaneously, prompted many to label the Summer as “Barbenheimer.” While both films were wildly successful, Barbie was excluded from many of the Oscar categories. Specifically, director Greta Gerwig and star Margot Robbie did not receive nominations for their specific roles in the Summer smash.
Gerwig was snubbed as “best director,” and Robbie missed out on “best actress.” The exclusions angered many fans, and co-star Ryan Gosling, who played “Ken” said, “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. No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius. To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement.”
America Ferrara, who was nominated for supporting actress as well as best adapted screenplay, said: “I was incredibly disappointed that they weren’t nominated. Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it. What Margot achieved as an actress is truly unbelievable. One of the things about Margot as an actress is how easy she makes everything look. And perhaps people got fooled into thinking that the work seems easy.”
The screenplay was criticized as being messy and sometimes incoherent by critics, but leaving Robbie out of the nomination for best actress in a film about feminism confounded many commentators. Perhaps most hilariously was failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Clinton knows a thing or two about failure, having lost to President Donald Trump in the biggest upset in political history in 2016.
She took to social media to express her thoughts on the perceived snub and once again managed to refer to her 2016 loss. Clinton said: “Greta & Margot, While it can sting to win the box office but not take home the gold, your millions of fans love you.” She was obviously referring to her claims of actually winning the popular vote in 2016 despite Trump winning the all-important electoral college. Clinton continued: “You’re both so much more than Kenough. #HillaryBarbie.”
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It is hard to believe that the biggest movie of the year would have its two main female players snubbed because of sexism. More likely, there were better directors and performances. That aside, at least we can count on good old Hillary Clinton to take every advantage of the situation and attempt to appeal to a demographic she lost in 2016.