2023 was a huge year for movie enthusiasts and Hollywood itself, with Emma Stone‘s ‘Poor Things‘, Cillian Murphy‘s ‘Oppenheimer‘; Lily Gladstone’s ‘Killers Of The Flower Moon‘ and Margot Robbie‘s ‘Barbie‘. The better the year was for films, the more competitive the awards season was for 2024. In a race as intensive as this, one of the films had to lose. Quite surprisingly, it ended up being ‘Barbie‘. The most successful film of the year that broke several records and influenced an array of things in its release year.
After Greta Gerwig‘s masterpiece lost seven Oscars and two major nominations, conversations about film critics and their ignorance towards women-led films have surfaced again. Here’s what the message of the film was, for those who didn’t watch it, didn’t understand it, or didn’t like it. And here’s how the film’s loss ironically proves the point it was trying to make. Get your popcorn and get seated.
‘Barbie’s Performance At The Box Office
‘Barbie‘ was the most anticipated film of 2023. Ever since the first teaser dropped, the film successfully painted the town pink; and by town, we mean everything. For months, huge brands collaborated with the film. You could get a pink burger and pink fries and live in a big pink Barbie house. Every influence on social media was busy finding everything that was pink; Barbie-themed. The hype of the film was nearly insufferable, and the biggest fear for everyone was, what if the film doesn’t live up to the hype it has created around it? Thanks to Great Gerwig, though, this woman never misses.
We’ll get to the social message and influence later on, but the film performed massively well at the box office. In terms of earnings and sales, it absolutely crushed ‘Oppenheimer‘.
On opening day, the film earned $70.5 million. Overall, it earned $1.36 billion, a feat that was not achieved by any other female-directed film. It was the highest-grossing film of 2023 and the 14th highest-grossing film of all time. The ‘Barbie’ effect was real, and one of those rare instances of an overly hyped film living up to its expectations.
In Case You Missed It: ‘Barbie’: Opening Scene Of Margot Robbie And Ryan Gosling’s Fantasy-Comedy Explained
What Was The Social Message ‘Barbie’ Was Trying To Send?
Most viewers who went to watch ‘Barbie’ came back in tears. This included middle-aged women to teenagers discovering feminity for the first time. Margot Robbie’s portrayal of a stereotypical doll made to be perfect and realising how as a woman, being perfect is the last thing you can be, was a relatable feeling for everyone. How often have we all struggled with that?
The film initiated difficult conversations on how women are viewed in society, and how beauty standards for women are impossible to reach and mostly are set by men. How women who are ‘girly’ or like ‘girly’ things are not taken seriously. The hilariously awful takeaway from this movie later became people blaming the film for spreading the ‘feminist agenda’, for showing men as inferiors in the films. Many also argued that Margot Robbie was apparently mid. And that Ryan Gosling was the best thing in the film.
America Ferrera’s speech had a separate fan base. Part of which goes, “I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us. And if all of that is also true for a doll just representing women, then I don’t even know.”
A film on a doll that was stereotypically made to represent ‘perfect’ women and their ‘perfect’ lives, something Greta Gerwig wonderfully crafted into a beautiful feminist film. All these feats of the movie found enthusiastic spaces in social media discussions. It seems, however, that the message turned cold to people who drew up nomination lists and award winners.
What The ‘Barbie’ Snub Means
The Oscars not recognizing the film and the message it was trying to send to the audience, in a way proves Gerwig’s point right. A film called ‘Barbie‘ went to the Oscars and the actress who played Barbie and the person who made ‘Barbie‘ were not a part of the nominations. Ironic? Yes. But unexpected? Also yes.
The feminist movement that the film was trying to bring together seems to have fallen short with a certain section of the audience who saw the film as ‘misandrist’, while many men complained about how they disliked that men were shown as dumb creatures in the film. This is funny because that is exactly what women have been through ever since cinema started. The casting of a brilliant actress like Marilyn Monroe in movies where she was made to portray a dumb blonde, women being shown as objects of desire and romantic interest in male-centered movies; women not being taken seriously – all of it has been against women in the years preceding in cinema.
While the Academy and many viewers continue to dismiss ‘Barbie‘ and its huge impact and magnificence, simply because it relied on comedy to take off the veil from complex instances of gender issues, and chose to have a film revolving completely around a woman, it also simultaneously chose to choose a film made about a historic event of the invention of the atom bomb, over a realistic film about the truth bombs that mirrored what women faced every day, just to be a woman.
Possibly the worst part of this was how Ryan Gosling received more praise than Robbie and Gerwig herself. Which obviously tells a lot about the filmy minds of the current generation of critics and viewers. We will, however let that aside because it’s Ryan Gosling’s Ken after all, and we love him.
In Case You Missed It: BTS’ V Calls ‘Barbie’ The Most Impactful Film He Has Watched
Conclusion: Feminism Is Unlikeable In Hollywood
So are we going to sit and accept that it will take more time for the juries of award shows to accept feminism in films, particularly ones that do not involve women dying, struggling fatally, and going through a ‘weak’ phase to finally come out as strong in the end? To what extent is the audience tolerant enough to sit through 90 minutes of a film revolving around a woman? How many more discussions do we need to have to explain that feminism does not mean that women are superior, it just means equality?
Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie not getting recognized for their work on the film in any way, and credits going to Ryan Gosling for ‘carrying the movie’ is why we need to talk more about feminism in films. Men being triggered by a film that showed men as, well, men, even though women have had decades of sitting through terrible personalities of female characters crafted by male filmmakers is why we should talk more about feminism in films. The audience reducing the hard work of so many women behind a film that was the most successful film of the year and garnered and influenced billions, and yet couldn’t get a seat in any of the winners’ table set by the men is why we should talk more about feminism in films.
In Taylor Swift‘s words, “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can/ Wondering if I’d get there quicker/ If I was a man”
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