Robert Downey Jr. Just Had His Say On “Barbie,” And People Have Officially Had Enough Of “People Trying To Make An Underdog” Out Of A Billion-Dollar Blockbuster
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
When the 2024 Oscar nominations were announced last month, all that people could talk about were Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig’s so-called snubs for their work on Barbie.
While the blockbuster movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards, many expressed their outrage that Margot did not get a Best Actress nod for her performance in the titular role, and Greta did not get a Best Director nomination.
At this point, it is worth mentioning that Margot’s role as a producer on Barbie was recognized in the Best Picture category, and Greta was nominated alongside Noah Baumbach for Best Adapted Screenplay.
As the discourse erupted on social media, it was eventually pointed out that the outrage was actually the “epitome of white feminism” as people highlighted the fact that the response to Margot's not being nominated this year was overshadowing the success of the women who were — including her costar America Ferrera.
America plays Gloria in Barbie and received her first-ever Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category. She is also one of the few Latina actors to ever be recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Despite this, America’s statement in response to her nomination centered Margot, with the actor seemingly downplaying her own achievement in order to express her disappointment for her costar, who has been nominated in acting categories twice before.
America added that “what Margot achieved as an actress is truly unbelievable.”
Needless to say, people were heartbroken over the way America’s huge moment had been tarnished, with one person tweeting at the time, “I wonder how America Ferrera feels right now, getting her first Oscar nomination as one of the few (13) Latina actresses to ever do so, and all the commentary is about her white co-star who did get nominated (for the third time) just not for acting.”
“So many White feminists are ignoring that America Ferrara, a woman of colour has also received an Oscar nomination for Barbie,” another added. “Sure, it would have been great if Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie were nominated but this whole discourse is the very epitome of White feminism.”
And while the conversation had finally simmered down in recent days, Robert Downey Jr. just reignited it — and people are not impressed with what the actor had to say.
In case you missed it, Robert is nominated in this year’s Best Supporting Actor category for his performance in Oppenheimer, and he couldn’t resist heaping praise on Margot in a conversation with Sterling J. Brown and Willem Dafoe for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.
As the three men discussed how acting doesn’t always involve big, performative gestures, Robert said, “It never fails to impress and remind me how little you need to do to be effective.”
He continued, “Just the simplest version of expression, that’s what the camera wants. The closer the camera gets, the more it wants it. Time and time again, it’s demonstrated that it’s super effective.”
He then applied this logic to Barbie by centering Margot’s performance during America’s most famous scene in the film.
Robert said, “Margot Robbie is not getting enough credit, in my opinion. America has this amazing speech — and by the way, she nails it. I’m watching it and go, ‘Wow, that was a really tough one. That’s like a one-act play. The whole movie hinges on it.’”
“But it’s the cuts away to Robbie so actively listening that I realize Greta is really on to something here,” he added.
Robert then related Margot’s work in that scene to his own experiences, explaining, “It’s hard when someone has the fucking two-page passage and they go, ‘OK, now let’s jump in and get Bob,’ and you’re like, ‘I’ve been listening to this all day, and now I have to make it work!'”
Reacting to Robert’s comments on a Reddit forum, one person wrote, “‘America Ferrera was great but…’ is such rude phrasing too. Most of the articles I've read about her nomination were just a way to bring up this Margot snub to the point where more of her quotes were about that than her actual nomination.”
“White feminism is weird. You have a Latina actress like America Ferrera who gets nominated for the most prestigious award an actress in a supporting role can have, but somehow the conversation remains centered around Margot Robbie instead. Instead of celebrating Ferrera's accomplishments, they're bemoaning Robbie's lack of nominations,” another agreed.
“As if being the lead of the highest grossing movie of the year worldwide wasn't enough, and getting nominated for Best Picture as a producer wasn't either,” they continued. “POC getting into the Oscars final nominations is incredibly rare in and of itself, reducing that is heinous especially given maybe it won't happen again for Ferrera.”
Others questioned what extra credit Robert expected Margot to receive, with one asking, “I'm so over this Barbie snub discourse. Just curious which one of the actresses nominated would RDJ un-nominate so Margot can get her credit? 🙄🙄”
“This,” somebody else agreed. “Saying Margot got snubbed implies another nominated actress took her spot. So name who you think doesn’t deserve the nomination!!”
Another pointed out: “Robert Downey, Second of Your Name— Margot is nominated for an Oscar for her work on Barbie.”
“What more credit could she possibly get??? LOL! She's the lead actress in the title role, the fucking producer... and the movie made over a billion fucking dollars! She wasn't nominated for Best Actress because the script let too many others shine. She wasn't carrying the movie,” one more tweeted.
While somebody else wrote, “I'm baffled at people trying to make an underdog out of a multi million dollar toy commercial made by a billion dollar company.”
Robert’s comments came as Margot broke her silence on the reaction to her and Greta being snubbed, saying during a SAG screening this week, “There’s no way to feel sad when you know you’re this blessed.”
"Obviously, I think Greta should be nominated as a director, because what she did is a once-in-a-career, once-in-a-lifetime thing, what she pulled off, it really is. But it’s been an incredible year for all the films,” she went on.
"We set out to do something that would shift culture, affect culture, just make some sort of impact,” Margot concluded. “And it’s already done that, and some, way more than we ever dreamed it would. And that is truly the biggest reward that could come out of all of this."
People Are Pointing Out That The “Insufferable” Response To Margot Robbie's And Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” Oscars Snubs Is Actually “The Very Epitome Of White Feminism”Stephanie Soteriou · Jan. 25, 2024
Margot Robbie Broke Her Silence On Her "Barbie" Oscar Snub For Best ActressMorgan Sloss · Jan. 31, 2024
This Is How Leonardo DiCaprio Has Used His Star Power To Platform And Support Lily Gladstone On Her Rise To FameStephanie Soteriou · Jan. 26, 2024
