The 2024 Oscar nominations for Barbie surprisingly didn’t include Greta Gerwig for Best Director and Margo Robbie for Best Actress. These snubs allowed an Oscars expert to weigh in on what Barbie’s snub says about The Academy.
Turner Classic Movies host and author of 50 Oscar Nights, Dave Karger, spoke to People about the significance of The Academy overlooking Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie for Barbie.
“It’s definitely not a good look that the Academy members left out Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie for directing and starring in a movie that’s largely about how impressive women are often marginalized.”
Barbie received eight nominations, including Best Picture, America Ferrera for Best Supporting Actress, and Ryan Gosling for Best Supporting Actor. In a surprising twist, Gerwig was only nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, which she shares with her partner Noah Baumbach.
The Oscars also overlooked Margot Robbie for the Best Actress category. Fortunately, she received recognition at other award shows like the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and the Screen Actors Guild, among others. Karger predicts what these Barbie snubs can mean for Oscar history going forward.
“Even though they both received nominations for their work on Barbie in other categories, these two high-profile omissions will be remembered — and they will sting — for a long time.”
The Possible Reason For the Barbie Snubs
For the most part, drama tends to be the genre that dominates the Oscar winner picks. This is all the more reason why Dave Karger thinks these two prominent snubs for Barbie occurred.
“I do think that the Academy membership has a bit of a bias, unconscious or otherwise, against true comedies and towards heavier dramas,” Karger theorized. “Greta and Margot surely made it onto 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.”
On the bright side, Greta Gerwig has a chance of winning for her Barbie screenplay. Margot Robbie is eligible to win as a producer for Best Theatrical Motion Picture at the PGA Awards. So, at least The Academy didn’t ignore these two talented ladies in every category.
To find out how many trophies the comedy satire will win, the 96th Academy Awards will air on March 10.
