It’s official: the nominees for the 2024 Academy Awards were announced this morning, and—while a few very notable names were missing—two stuck out immediately.
ICYMI, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie positively owned this past summer. Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, the blockbuster hit was nothing less than a cultural juggernaut, grossing over one billion dollars worldwide while also being popular with fans and critics alike—a truly rare feat.
So you can imagine movie lovers’ genuine surprise when actors Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid took to the stage this morning to announce the 2024 Academy Award nominees over a live stream, and the Best Director category AND Best Actress categories snubbed both Greta and Margot respectively.
While the film was still nominated for eight awards in total—including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, and Best Costume Design—many were quick to point out that Greta was overlooked for her personal achievements in creating what was, quite literally, the biggest film of the year, and Margot was bypassed despite being the heart and soul of said film.
As you can imagine, there was no forgiving the snubs, and fans of the filmmakers quickly took to X to express their feelings, which ranged from disappointment to full-on disgust:
Many were also quick to point out the obvious irony on display, given that a film about women being sidelined so men (and horses) can steal the spotlight saw two of its female creators snubbed while their male counterpart was praised in two categories, with Ryan Gosling being nominated for Supporting Actor and his epic ballad “I’m Just Ken” being nominated for Best Original Song:
While this is not by any means the first time an Academy Awards snub has caused a major upset, it’s certainly some of the most glaring omissions in recent history, given the film’s overwhelming success.
It’s also worth noting this is the second time Greta has had a critically acclaimed film nominated in the Best Picture category but has been shut out of the Best Director category (the former being 2019’s Little Women).
So, uh…yeah. To sum up everyone’s general feelings on these snubs with an appropriate and timely gif:
