Barbie is one of the ten Best Picture nominees for this year’s Oscars. However, the promo for the event heavily promoted Greta Gerwig‘s movie. Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel shares his reactions towards Barbie being singled out.
In the Oscars’ only promo, a lost Jimmy Kimmel tries to get back to Hollywood in time for the Oscars. He and Weird Barbie go through the movie-themed land of each Oscar-nominated flick to make their way through Oscarland.
Other Best Picture contenders weren’t happy with the Warner Bros. movie as the core of the promo. Jimmy Kimmel told Deadline he’s aware of the complaints and has an honest take on them.
“Yeah. I heard that [complaint] too. I haven’t heard that, specifically, from anyone, but you know, if a promo is going to tip the scales, as far as voting, for Best Picture, then I don’t know, maybe people’s convictions should be a little bit stronger, you know?” said Kimmel.
It’s understandable why Barbie was the center of the promo, as the feel-good movie was such a global phenomenon. With many Best Picture contenders being dark, like Oppenheimer and The Zone of Interest, it would be really hard to make a humorous promo based on movies like that. Luckily, Jimmy Kimmel isn’t letting the complaints bother him.
“I don’t really think that that’s going to have any impact on who people actually vote, but people do like to complain. And that is one of the joys of hosting the Oscars — you get to hear from all manner of everyone, inserting their own agendas and complaining about this and that and why isn’t there more of this, why isn’t there enough of that. And you know, I feel for the producers of the show because they have to deal with all that.”
Barbie’s Role in the Oscars
Barbie’s beautiful production design and costumes received nominations for the 96th annual event. Two songs from the comedy flick also received nominations, like Billie Eilish‘s “What Was I Made For” and Mark Ronson’s “I’m Just Ken” performed by Ryan Gosling.
Star talent nominations were controversial for Barbie. While fans were happy to see Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera recognized for their performances, Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig experienced snubs. On the plus side, at least Gerwig was able to snag an Adapted Screenplay nomination with her partner Noah Baumbach.
The box office record film has also achieved the highest honor of scoring a Best Picture nomination. With 2023 being such a competitive year, it’ll be very interesting to see how many Oscars Barbie will take home. You can find out yourself on March 10 on NBC.
