February 01, 2024 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | By Zoe Smith
It has been a long-known fact that the Oscars, the Grammys and many other critics’ awards for Hollywood are nothing but infamous scams, opting to snub celebrities. The Oscar nominations for 2024 dropped on the morning of Jan. 23, 2024. The egregious decisions, which many believe snub celebrities, seemed to have peaked with a full list of people who The Academy has glazed over.
Zach Efron and Charles Melton are two actors in the spotlight surrounding the discussion of Oscar snubs. Efron delivered what is acclaimed to be the best performance of his career for his new film “The Iron Claw.” Based on the life of the Von Erich brothers as they navigated the world of professional wrestling, Efron displayed an array of emotions that left any audience teary-eyed. Being that he got his start in the Disney movie “High School Musical,” and has climbed the ranks of cinema to create a stunning narrative that the Oscars has looked over is certainly disappointing.
Melton is another actor who displayed some of his best acting to date. Melton got his start on the CW show “Riverdale,” and what Melton has proved is that he wasn’t a bad actor on Riverdale, but rather the scripts were poorly written. Melton stepped up to the plate in the Netflix film “May December.” Acting alongside Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, many were speechless to see the young actor steal the show. “May December” only received one Oscar nomination, not even for Portman or Moore, but for “Best Original Screenplay.”
The story is loosely based on the groundbreaking news in the 1990s of the 36-year-old teacher who started a relationship with her 12-year-old student. Melton, who plays Joe, the student, now 20 years after the original scandal, perfectly balances the perspective of a child who grew up too fast. He got married and became a parent at only 18, while at the same time, embodies the experiences of a man who never grew up. Melton embraced the tragic character and delivered a raw performance, yet the film Academy didn’t think it was enough to earn the sought-after “Best Supporting Actor” nomination.
Without a doubt, the biggest and most controversial lack of nominations comes from one of the front-runner movies, “Barbie.” With eight nominations, it’s hard to imagine that the film in any way could be considered snubbed, and yet the Oscars never cease to surprise the public. This is the result of The Academy deciding not to nominate Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig in their respective roles.
Now I have mixed feelings about this ‘snub’. I was genuinely surprised that Robbie was not nominated for “Best Actress.” Do I think she deserves the “Best Actress” award? No. But do I think she should have at least been nominated? Yes. I love the film and the way Robbie embraced the role, but there are also so many other actresses in the category who presented such a strong performance, and there are even more actresses who I would argue were more definitely snubbed than Robbie.
The one I would more openly acknowledge as a snub is Greta Gerwig. “Barbie” was the highest-grossing movie of 2023 and an absolute cultural phenomenon. Gerwig was the mastermind behind the scenes that was able to make “Barbie” into a movie to be taken seriously and not just a shallow comedy about dolls. To have directed a movie that grossed over $1.3 billion dollars and for The Academy to think that still isn’t worth a nomination is laughable. “Barbie” was more than a film; it was a cultural stamp that has been ingrained in society and it made Gerwig the highest-selling female director of all time.
But luckily, people were quick to find the silver lining, and that is actress America Ferrera. The Honduran-American actress was nominated for her role as Gloria for “Best Supporting Actress.” She won earlier at the Critics’ Choice Awards for her performance and that makes me even more excited to see her gain recognition for her vivid and complex portal of Gloria and what it’s like being a woman in “The Real World.” Billie Eilish was another woman who shined, being undoubtedly nominated for her all-consuming and tear-jerking song “What Was I Made For?” from the “Barbie” soundtrack.
If there was one actress who I was most upset to see gain no recognition for her role, it was Greta Lee for her soul-bending performance in the film “Past Lives.” A movie about how the depths of emotional intimacy can impact a person. It feels as though the movie is about nothing and everything at once. The film has been overshadowed by other Oscar contenders of the year, but nothing stayed with me after watching a film quite like “Past Lives,” possibly one of my favorite movies to be released in the past year. The cultural richness and haunting portal of true love made me fall in love with everything the film embraces.
One of the few things that the Oscars seem to have gotten right this year was the nomination of Lily Gladstone for Best Actress in Martin Scorsese’s film “Flowers of the Killer Moon.” She makes history as the first Native American to be nominated in the category. Gladstone delivers a packed punch in her role as Mollie Burkhart, married to Ernest Burkhart, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Working alongside DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and many other A-list celebrities, Gladstone steals the show as she highlights the sobering relationship between settlers and indigenous people. Many hoped for Gladstone that this history-making nomination wins her the award and highlights Native American actors and their complex and powerful stories.
This is not the first time the Oscars have marked themselves as controversial, and it surely won’t be the last. The Academy Awards creates a narrow narrative that often excludes many. It is important to acknowledge the people who deserved a chance at the prestigious ceremony, while also celebrating the people nominated who did break the narrative. People on social media were saying that it was mainly women who were snubbed, but I chose to look for a glass-half-full perspective and see this as a night where women are winning. From Ferrera to Eilish, to Gladstone, I know at least a couple female-identifying individuals I will be rooting for at the 2024 Oscars.