The 96th annual Oscars are fast approaching on this year’s awards season beltline. Last year the big ticket movie of the year was “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which was nominated for 11 titles and won a total of seven oscars. Numerous Academy Awards that stemmed from this film broke records.
In 2023, Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar win for “Best Actress” for her role as Evelyn in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” made her the first Asian woman to ever win the title. Similarly, Ke Huy Quan became the first Vietnamese-born actor to win an Oscar for an acting performance. His win was “Best Supporting Actor” for his role as Waymond in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” There were many other wins last year from this “Best Picture” winner that broke records, as well as other nominations not exclusive to this movie, but this film definitely created a huge impact. So what movie will become the talk of the town this time around?
The suspected sweep seems to be “Oppenheimer.” With the leading number of nominations at 13 total,“Oppenheimer” is speculated to be the film that wins top nominations, like “Best Picture” and “Best Director.” “Oppenheimer,” as described by a writer of The New York Times, Manohla Dargis, is “A drama about genius, hubris and error, both individual and collective, it brilliantly charts the turbulent life of the American theoretical physicist who helped research and develop the two atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II — cataclysms that helped usher in our human-dominated age.” Despite how many trophies they bring home, the crew of this year’s blockbuster have definitely been recognized for creating a fantastic biopic of a story never seen before, but what about the other movie that has been equally hyped up by the media this year?
“Barbie” was famed last year for being the humorous movie that tugged at everyone’s heartstrings, and by everyone, I mean everyone. It was the highest grossing movie of 2023, bringing home $1.4 billion dollars at the box office. “Barbie” brought every little girl’s imagination to the big screen, with life-sized direct replicas of everyone’s favorite dreamhouse and every possible Barbie in every profession that is out there. Mattel’s mission statement was definitely reflected, as it reads, “We’re working to create a world where equal opportunity is the norm, not the exception.” This humorous film provided the world with a riveting soundtrack and deep monologues that spoke on the real experiences that women face in America with unequal opportunities within the workforce and the expectations put upon us by a society that is fueled by the male gaze.
“Barbie” has been nominated for eight awards, but has been viewed by many as snubbed for “Best Director” for Greta Gerwig and “Best Actress” for Margot Robbie. Despite the accomplishment of eight nominations, fans of the movie have taken to the media to share their distaste for the nominations they didn’t get. Millbrook science teacher Mrs. Skipper said, “My opinion is probably a little biased as I have only seen Barbie out of all the movies that were listed. I do believe though that Barbie should have been nominated for more major awards than just ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Supporting Actor.’ I feel they were snubbed!”
Along with opinions such as this one, some fans have seemed to be blind to the fact that regardless of whether “Barbie” was recognized, there are other deserving individuals who have been nominated. Millbrook junior Shelby Green said, “ I would say that although I believe Greta and Margot got snubbed, I think it’s about women supporting women. All of the actresses are amazing at what they do and equally deserve a win. Lily Gladstone deserves the award she got for being the first indigenous woman. Margot responded to her saying that she is very thankful for everything she has accomplished and doesn’t need to be sad because the other nominees were deserving.”
At the end of the day, “Barbie” received eight nominations this season and part of the movie’s success will always be thanks to Gerwig and Robbie. It’s important to remember that movies have famously been snubbed for Oscars like, “The Shining,” for ages, but that doesn’t really apply to the “Barbie” movie due to it’s large amount of nominations in other categories. Also, despite how in control we might think we are, Oscar nominations are completely unrelated to what the viewers think. Numerous movies like, “Poor Things,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and “Anatomy of a Fall” are all within multiple highly anticipated categories this Oscars though and they highlight groundbreaking topics just like “Barbie.” So let’s maybe accept the nominations we do have, and support all pieces of work that received recognition at the Oscars which will stream on Sunday, March 10.
