Barbie, the highest-grossing film of 2023, denied Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig of Academy Award nods.
There has been indignation at Robbie and Gerwig’s exclusions since the Academy revealed the nominees for this year’s ceremony, and an expert predicted that these decisions will never be forgotten.
The film was nominated for eight awards, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Ryan Gosling, and Best Supporting Actress for America Ferrera, even though Robbie and Gerwig were not able to secure a nomination.
“It’s definitely not a good look that the Academy members left out Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie for directing and staring in a movie that’s largely about how impressive” remarked Dave Karger, host of Turner Classic Movies and author of 50 Oscar Nights, in an interview with People Magazine.
He went on, “These two high-profile omissions will be remembered — and they will sting — for a long time, even though they both received nominations for their work on Barbie in other categories.”
“I do think that the Academy membership has a bit of a bias, unconscious or otherwise, against true comedies and towards heavier dramas,” the expert went on to say.
“Greta and Margot surely made it on to thousands of ballots, but since those ballots are weighted towards voters’ No. 1 and No. 2 favorites, we can assume they simply didn’t earn enough of those top-tier votes.”
