After a summer of Barbie, Ken is the real winner.
Ryan Gosling, whose portrayal of Ken in the 2023 summer blockbuster Barbie was labeled iconic by many, is set to perform “I’m Just Ken” live at the 2024 Academy Awards on March 10, according to Variety. The song is one of two tracks from the film to have received a nomination for Best Original Song. The second, “What Was I Made For?,” won the Grammy for Song of the Year earlier this month.
This isn’t the first time “I’m Just Ken” has been recognized by film critics. It won Best Song at the Critics’ Choice Awards last month, famously shocking many — including Gosling. His reaction to the win went viral across multiple social media platforms.
The announcement of the 2024 Oscar nominations in January set social media ablaze.
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Oppenheimer led the pack in nominations with 13, while Poor Things, which somehow combines Frankenstein, Victorian England, sexual liberation, and suicide into one movie, came in second with 11. Barbie performed well with eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress for America Ferrera, and Best Supporting Actor for Ryan Gosling, but director Greta Gerwig and “Barbie” actress Margot Robbie both went unrecognized.
The decision — viewed by many as a snub that disregarded the “pro-woman, feminist messaging” of the film — led to a widespread meltdown by the Left on social media.
“Ken getting nominated and not Barbie is honestly so fitting for a film about a man discovering the power of patriarchy in the Real World,” said one user on X. That post has received more than 172,000 likes.
Hillary Clinton was quick to jump into the conversation, posting: “Greta & Margot, While it can sting to win the box office but not take home the gold, your millions of fans love you. You’re both so much more than Kenough. #HillaryBarbie”
Gosling similarly responded to the outrage. “[T]here is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film,” he wrote. “To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement.”
While it is customary for tracks nominated for Best Original Song to be performed during the Academy Award show, the widespread social media upset raised doubts as to whether “I’m Just Ken” would make the cut.
“I still have not been asked,” Gosling told Variety in an interview early this month. “It might be too much of a risk to have me do it.”
Apparently, the Academy decided otherwise. Gosling will perform the hit song, which had over 100 million streams on Spotify alone. It remains to be seen whether Ken will be taking home a few more awards — raising the ire of feminists yet again.
