The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, is arguably the most famous out of all the award shows for film and television. Some of this year’s contenders are the people involved with Oppenheimer, Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon, Poor Things and many other movies that had a massive impact on the industry. Last year cinema broke records with Barbie and Oppenheimer releasing on the same date, leading the world to nickname July 21st as Barbenheimer. Barbie earned $194.3 million and Oppenheimer earned $98 million internationally in opening weekend which broke records around the world.

(Spoilers Alert).

Barbie was an important movie which saw a world where women were in control. Barbie and Ken then travel to the real world and discover that society is dominated by men. The movie takes us on a journey of female empowerment and in the end, Barbie decides to stay in the real world, embracing a normal, imperfect body and life. Ryan Gosling has been nominated at this year’s Oscars for his role as Ken, however, Margot Robbie has not been nominated for portraying Barbie. This has resulted in many people, including the cast themselves, being left disappointed as Robbie is not getting the credit she deserves. One of the main aims of the movie was to express the importance of women, so her snub is a letdown from the academy. 

Not only that, Greta Gerwig did not get nominated for best director either. This, again, shows us that Barbie is not getting the praise it deserves. Barbie has now reached over $1 billion in profit and for Gerwig to not receive acknowledgment for this at the Oscars is absurd. It was nominated for 8 Oscars but the 2 most important women in the film (Greta and Margot) have been ignored. This is not the first time the Oscars have disregarded female directors. Over 400 directors have been nominated throughout time, but only 8 of them have been female. This discrimination at the Oscars has resulted in viral movements such as #OscarsSoMale as the award show has not recognised the incredible female work within the film industry. 

Backlash

The Oscars have also faced backlash throughout time for being predominantly white as previous winners have been 93% White, 6% Black and 1% Asian. This sets a bad example for the public as minority groups are not seeing themselves represented at prestigious award shows. This discrimination has resulted in #OscarsSoWhite going viral as many want to see massive change at the award show. This year Lily Gladstone has made history by being the first ever Native American to be nominated for best actress in Killers of the Flower Moon. She had an incredible performance in this film and hopefully, she is recognised for this role. If she wins, it will make history and allow Native Americans to see themselves represented.

The Big Winner?

Oppenheimer is set to sweep the Oscars this year as in other award shows such as the BAFTAS and the Critics Choice it has taken over. Oppenheimer is now the highest-grossing biopic of all time so its awards are well deserved. The Oscars ceremony will take place on March 10th at 11 pm GMT. The race is on to see who will win and be recognised for their talent in 2023.

The official categories and nominations can be found at https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2024