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Texas Dem. congressman wades into Barbie snub drama by branding best director snub for Greta Gerwig sexist

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Texas congressman has waded in on the 'Barbie' Oscars fiasco, accusing the Academy Awards of sexism, after Greta Gerwig wasn't nominated for best director.

Democrat Joaquin Castro, 49, is the latest to get involved in the bizarre outrage after the Oscar nominations were announced. Barbie, the hit movie of 2023, was directed by Gerwig - but she was not selected to be in the running for the award. 

Castro took to his professional X account to write: 'Hollywood still has a big problem with women. In 2022, women made up 11% of directors (of top 250 grossing films)

'So in 2023 Greta Gerwig: 1. Directs Barbie, year's highest grossing film at $1.4B; 2. Provides coattails to Oppenheimer ($1B); 3. Saves [Warner Bros. Discovery's] disastrous year.

Democrat Joaquin Castro, 49, is the latest to get involved in the bizarre outrage after the Oscar nominations were announced. Barbie, the hit movie of 2023, was directed by Gerwig - but she was not selected to be in the running for the prestigious award

Democrat Joaquin Castro, 49, is the latest to get involved in the bizarre outrage after the Oscar nominations were announced. Barbie, the hit movie of 2023, was directed by Gerwig - but she was not selected to be in the running for the prestigious award

'How do you end up directing the biggest hit of the year, a cultural phenomenon, and not get an Oscar nomination for best director? Be a female director in Hollywood, apparently.'

Castro was berated by his followers. One person wrote: 'Good to see you’re worried about the important stuff.' Another added: 'We have bigger issues, clown.' 

He was not the only politician to chime in. Hillary Clinton has made a statement after Greta Gerwig and actress Margot Robbie were not nominated at the Academy Awards for 'Barbie.' 

The former secretary of state posted on social media on Wednesday morning: '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.'

The 76-year-old also added #HillaryBarbie at the bottom of her post onto X, formerly known as Twitter, joining the likes of Ryan Gosling in condemning the snub.

The list for the 96th Academy Awards, which is set to take place on March 10, was released on Tuesday, with the two notable omissions prompting a flood of ire. 

Adding insult to injury was the nomination of Robbie's male co-star Ryan Gosling, who is up for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Ken in the movie. 

Another Barbie star, America Ferrera, was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress. 

Gosling went as far as issuing an extraordinary statement criticizing the Academy for not nominating the pair

However, he stopped short of giving up his own Oscar nomination in protest. 

Gosling ceremoniously wrote: 'There 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.

'No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius. To say that I'm disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement.

'Their work should be recognized along with the other very deserving nominees.'

Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie pose backstage during the 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on January 14, 2024

Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie pose backstage during the 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on January 14, 2024

Elsewhere in his statement, Gosling expressed gratitude for his Best Supporting Actor nomination

Elsewhere in his statement, Gosling expressed gratitude for his Best Supporting Actor nomination

Some fans were left unimpressed with Gosling's statement, with one person saying: 'It would be a powerful statement if he withdrew his name from consideration.'

Others online said that Gosling should 'simply decline' the Oscar nomination - and not show up to the star-studded event at all if he is truly outraged and disappointed.'

One person wrote: 'He can decline and give the nomination to another actor. So many things that he can do...'

LA Times critic Mary McNamara also claimed Barbie would have been nominated for an Oscar had she been a prostitute, the survivor of a serial killing, or if she threw Ken out of the Dream House window

McNamara said the nominations - and lack thereof - showed how voters were out of step with the feminist messaging in the film. 

'How did voters justify giving "Barbie," with its very clear message that women have to dance backward in heels to get half the validation their male peers get, a best picture nom while ignoring the two women who made that picture possible?' McNamara wrote.

The critic refers to three films which did receive glowing nominations - 'Poor Things,' which features sex work, 'Killer's of the Flower Moon,' about serial slaughter, and 'Anatomy of a Fall' about a woman accused of her husband's murder. 

'If only "Barbie" had done a little time as a sex worker,' McNamara mused. 'Or barely survived becoming the next victim in a mass murder plot. Or stood accused of shoving Ken out of the Dream House's top window.

'Certainly millions of "Barbie" fans are currently wishing they could push someone — perhaps a member or two of the film academy — out of a very high window.'

Director Gerwig, 40, was nominated for a lesser category, adapted screenplay, alongside her husband Noah Baumbach, 54 - something McNamara described as 'breathtaking' in its irony. 

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