I bet the Board of Governors of the Academy Awards – whoever they are – are getting the side eye from female relatives and any of their younger ones.
Boy, and I mean boy! Did they miss the whole point of the Barbie movie? You have to ask – did they even watch it? Or did they scroll for the scenes with Ken and ignore the critical narrative outlined in the movie?
Everyone I know, men and women, old and young, took to heart the message behind the Barbie movie.
If box office returns indicate what the movie-going public would like to see, Barbie was highly successful by any objective measurement tool. According to Variety Magazine, “Barbie” has become Warner Bros.’ highest-grossing worldwide release of all time, eclipsing 2011’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” ($1.34 billion, not adjusted for inflation).” Attention Academy Awards: Barbie is Warner Brothers highest-grossing worldwide release of all time.
But Barbie isn’t a thing that the Oscar-nominating committee largely snubbed. The committee nominated eight people for their work on the female empowerment movie but ignored key people who brought Barbie to us: both the director, Greta Gerwig, and the woman who literally brought the film to life, actress Margo Robbie.
Ironically, the failure to include both by the patriarchal Board of Governors was the very plot of the movie. Simply put, they missed the plot. Ryan Gosling, nominated for best-supporting actor, called this absurdity what it is: Absurd!
The principal players might have done better if the movie had been considered in a different category. Suppose it was, say, considered a non-fiction documentary. The movie’s plot urged us to examine real-world stereotypes of the masculine ego, the connection between insecurity and power, and how those impulses threaten to dominate our fragile society with flexing and the need to be in charge.
I may choose not to watch the Oscars this year. Instead, I may tune into CSPAN and watch St. Paul, Minnesota’s newly elected all-female city council. A first for the midwestern city.
If I had to choose between fact and fiction, I would choose fact and celebrate the citizens of St. Paul instead of imagining this could only happen in Hollywood. But, wait, it did happen in Hollywood and then was ignored by a man named Oscar.
For the record, I am not anti-man. I am quite pro-man. I have a wonderful husband and son, plus two brothers I adore and respect. I want them to be successful, just not at the expense of me, my daughter, my nieces, and the rest of our gender.
And that is the entire empowering message of the Barbie movie, that women can lead and men can too — think of Allan — by sharing power, not by grabbing it.
Oscar, you may want to pay better attention – or risk being canceled this year.