Margot Robbie, the star and executive producer of Barbie, has finally responded to the double whammy of snubs the film received during this year’s Oscar nomination, and now she’s shared her reaction to the outcry.
Robbie commented on the snubs for her and director Greta Gerwig during a SAG screening of the film, saying, “There’s no way to feel sad when you know you’re this blessed.” She continued, “Obviously I think Greta should be nominated as a director, because what she did is a once-in-a-career, once-in-a-lifetime thing, what she pulled off, it really is. But it’s been an incredible year for all the films.”
“We set out to do something that would shift culture, affect culture, just make some sort of impact,” Robbie concluded. “And it’s already done that, and some, way more than we ever dreamed it would. And that is truly the biggest reward that could come out of all of this.”
Robbie is, of course, being wonderfully gracious and she is nominated for Barbie in one way as the film received a Best Picture nomination, but the fact that Gerwig and she were both left off the noms list while Ryan Gosling (Ken) received one for Best Supporting Actor felt like the Academy being woefully out of touch with a film about womanhood and feminism. It was bad optics for the Oscars even if this year a female director was nominated for Best Director and a record amount of Best Picture nominations were directed by women. Hell, even the Best Actress category is a diverse and multicultural selection. The problem is that none of that matters in the face of a movie everyone saw losing out.
Thankfully, the Oscars actually mean nothing to any of us outside of famous people clapping for famous people so while the Oscars may not have gotten it right the cultural impact of Barbie is definitely important.
