America Ferrera, whose Supporting Actress nom is a total farce, is calling Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie’s snubs “incredibly disappointing.” Got that? Additionally, Ryan Gosling says he’s “disappointed” by the snubs
THR has been all over this morning’s Greta Gerwig snub. Firstly, they have a piece titled, “Greta Gerwig’s Oscar ‘Barbie’ Snub Slammed: “How Is This Even Possible?” which regurgitates all of the triggered reactions to Gerwig’s absence in the Directing category.
“Both Gerwig and Robbie ignored … it’s still so easy for Hollywood to overlook and discount artistic contributions of women — EVEN WHEN IT’S THE POINT OF THE YEAR’S BIGGEST MOVIE!” wrote MSNBC host Jennifer Palmieri. “My God. It was nominated for best picture. Didn’t direct itself, friends!”
“The joke I made to my wife walking out of BARBIE: ‘Watch Gosling get nominated and Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie get shut out’ … just happened,” wrote sports host Joey Wright. “The Academy needs a REAL man in the mirror moment because the whole idea and premise of Barbie completely flew over their heads.”
“Greta Gerwig’s omission is crazily wrong,” wrote author Kurt Andersen. “Could’ve easily been in place of Scorsese, nominated for a film that isn’t even one of his own ten best.”
“Greta Gerwig snubbed for Best Director?” wrote TV host Julie Stewart-Binks. “How is this even possible? Margot Robbie not nominated, but Ryan Gosling is? Did anyone even understand the plot of the highest grossing movie of all-time?”
“After Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie made a film about patriarchy that generated a billion dollars for Hollywood, the man in the film got nominated for a major award and I’m honestly not sure what I expected,” wrote columnist Brandon Friedman.
I don’t know about you guys, but having either or Jonathan Glazer and Justine Triet nominated is an absolute improvement over a Gerwig nomination. In fact, it makes this year’s Best Director category look even more legit.
THR’s Scott Feinberg who, at some point in January, predicted “Barbie” to win Best Picture, is saying that the Gerwig snub might have to do with the older and more male-skewing director’s branch of the academy:
What happened? The directors branch has long been among the Academy’s oldest and most male (it’s currently 75 percent male), which could have been a contributing factor regarding the omission of Gerwig, whose first three films — “Lady Bird”, “Little Women” and “Barbie” — have all been nominated for best picture (something that is unprecedented), but who has only once been nominated for best director (for Lady Bird).
I’m not buying it. Last year had had a strong batch of titles, and, although “Barbie” was the most popular blockbuster of the year, there were just better directed films to choose from.
As you noticed from the Triet and Glazer nods, the directors branch is known to deviate away from very commercial filmmaking, and loves to honor arthouse directors. For that very reason, I always saw a Gerwig nomination as a longshot in this category.