Academy Awards Expert Weighs In on Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig Oscar Snub

Everyone was shocked when the Academy Awards nominations were revealed and the biggest film of 2023 was nominated for best picture, but the film’s director and star were glaringly left off of their respective categories. Both Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie were nominated for Golden Globes, but they were passed up for the Oscar, and fans were left wondering why.

Now that all the memes and discussion among viewers has taken place, an expert is weighing in. Author and Turner Classic Movies host Dave Karger explained to People in a recent interview:

“It's definitely not a good look that the Academy members left out Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie for directing and starring in a movie that's largely about how impressive women are often marginalized… Even though they both received nominations for their work on Barbie in other categories, these two high-profile omissions will be remembered — and they will sting — for a long time.”

Gerwig is in the running in the Best Adapted Screenplay category, and the movie is in the Best Picture category, but it’s wild that a best picture would only get supporting actor recognition. Karger went on to share what he thinks might have factored into the Academy’s decisions, saying:

“I do think that the Academy membership has a bit of a bias, unconscious or otherwise, against true comedies and towards heavier dramas. Greta and Margot surely made it on to thousands of ballots, but since those ballots are weighted towards voters’ No. 1 and No. 2 favorites, we can assume they simply didn’t earn enough of those top-tier votes.”

Whatever the reason, at this point all we can do is commiserate with one another and keep talking about the discrepancy so that this doesn’t happen again in the future. The Academy Awards will air on March 10th.