by In her own world, Barbie can accomplish almost anything. But in the real world, “Barbie” suffered a major setback Tuesday morning: Although Greta Gerwig’s colorful comedy attacking the patriarchy was last year’s biggest box office hit and set a record for the highest-grossing film ever directed for a woman, Gerwig failed. to receive an Oscar nomination for best director.
The snub had many in Hollywood scratching their heads, as the 40-year-old filmmaker had earned Golden Globe and Directors Guild of America nominations for best director for “Barbie” and had earned an Oscar nomination for her debut solo, “Lady Bird,” just six years ago.
Ryan Gosling, Ken to Margot Robbie’s Barbie, criticized the academy’s vote even as he himself received an Oscar nomination. “No recognition would be possible for anyone in the film without her talent, courage and genius,” he said in a statement, referring to both Gerwig and Robbie, who missed out on the best actress award. “To say I’m disappointed they weren’t nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement.”
Is it simple sexism? Certainly, if it were not for the presence of Justine Triet, the filmmaker of “Anatomy of a Fall,” among the nominees for best director, the academy would have much more to explain. Oscar voters have long been accused of placing more importance on stories starring men, a bias that the academy has sought to rectify in recent years by diversifying its ranks. Still, comedies often struggle to earn favor at the Oscars, and a comedy starring women has even more hurdles to overcome, as Robbie discovered.
It’s worth noting that although “Barbie” had no trouble making it to the best picture category, in which all academy members can vote, Gerwig’s snub was handed out by the directors’ branch, which is made up of only 587 voters. about a quarter of whom are women. This intellectual group is by far the most likely to reject mainstream studio fare, as snubbed directors like Denis Villeneuve (for “Dune”) and Ben Affleck (“Argo”) have discovered. Even Kathryn Bigelow wasn’t immune: The first woman to win the best director Oscar for “The Hurt Locker,” she received a surprising snub for her next film, “Zero Dark Thirty.” If there was any branch that would look askance at “Barbie” because it is a toy, it is this one.
The academy has also become much more international over the past decade, with members from 93 countries casting their votes this year. That change has had a pronounced effect in the best director category, as three of this year’s nominees, Triet, Jonathan Glazer (“The Hot Spot”) and Yorgos Lanthimos (“Poor Things”), primarily live and work in Europe. That increasingly international bent likely ousted director Alexander Payne, a previous favorite of this branch, who would have become the most nominated living filmmaker under 65 if “The Holdovers” had earned him a fourth directing nomination.
Still, Gerwig has plenty to console herself with besides record-breaking box office returns. She is now the first filmmaker in history to have her first three solo feature films – “Lady Bird,” “Little Women” and “Barbie” – nominated for best picture. It’s also possible that the sympathy generated by this snub could boost her fortunes in another category: most likely the race for adapted screenplay, where she and her husband, Noah Baumbach, were nominated against a strong field that includes Christopher Nolan for “Oppenheimer “, but now they are well positioned to achieve their first victories.
