Barbie, Margot & Greta... Thank you, but no thank you.

It was the highest-grossing film in 2023. The movie, Barbie, grossed $1.44 Billion and is the 14th highest-grossing film of all time. And, I had skipped it. I had zero interest in seeing the movie and that is tremendous since I collected Barbie dolls in my twenties. I am the generation that played with Barbie dolls and thought our bodies, boyfriends and homes should be like the doll, Ken and its dream house. 

Photo by Rubén Bagüés on Unsplash

I am not referring to Barbie as she. I outgrew it. Barbie is a doll and thus its dream house, and not her dream house. I read great things about the movie and moments of lessons in the fantasy comedy plot. To this day, even amid allegations of snub and even sexism by the Academy that Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig were not nominated for the Oscar, I still don't have an interest in seeing the movie. Typically, I would wonder what it is all about and watch the movie. Not with Barbie.

A movie and its artistic value, are subjective. Nominations are neither based on gross revenue nor mainstream popularity, but rather on individual preferences and perspectives of the voting members of the Academy. I am certain there are voting members of the Academy who just shrugged at the fantasy comedy based on a plastic figure that was once heavily criticized for its unhealthy visualization of how a woman's body should be. 

1997's Titanic is the 4th highest-grossing film of all time yet Leonardo DiCaprio didn't receive a nomination for the Best Actor while his costars Kate Winslet and Gloria Stuart received nominations for the Best Actress and the Best Supporting Actress. If Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig were snubbed because they were women, was Leonardo DiCaprio snubbed for being good-looking? 

I am not taking away Margot Robbie's talent as an actress. I am certainly not taking Greta Gerwig's tremendous talent as a director. Is it possible that their art didn't shine as much in the fantasy comedy about a plastic blonde doll? For the voting members of the Academy, is it possible that Emma Stone, Lily Gladstone, Annette Bening, Carey Mulligan and Sandra Huller were just a tad bit better in their performance for the films they were nominated for than Margot? Did their acting deliver more depth and complexity? 

Is it possible that Justine Triet, Martin Scorsese, Yorgo Lanthimos, Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Glazer delivered slightly better directions for their nominated films? With Justine Triet among the nominees, the omission of Greta Gerwig from the list of nominees can't be a snub for her being a woman. Perhaps, it is a snub for Barbie being a fantasy comedy. 

All is a subjective process. That subjective process has a history of being discriminatory, but can we honestly say that Barbie the film was compelling?

Vivaterra

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