#also just in case it needs saying ‘deserved’ does not mean ‘entitled to’ re ryan gosling…

[fandomshatepeopleofcolor]

thinking about it now, Charles Melton should've been nominated for best supporting actor instead of Ryan Gosling as Ken

This might be a hot take here on tumblr dot com buuuuuuuuut

I think Ryan’s nomination is actually deserved.

If we accept the premise of the Oscars, and accept the existence of the Barbie movie, Ryan as Ken could have come off as ridiculous and try-hard but it didn't. My one quibble is that he is too old to play Ken opposite Margot as Barbie (there is ten years difference between them, and there's only so much that makeup and moisturizer can do) but other than that, Ryan Gosling absolutely has the comedy chops and by my count he delivered an adequately charming performance.

This is an aside but something that's getting lost in the hashtag white feminism conversation is that it is narratively absurd that the film industry has rewarded the less important guy but not the literal lead girl from the feminism 101 movie. It feels intellectually dishonest to not acknowledge how on the nose this is. We can talk more about this on @fandomshatewomen if people wanna get into it.

Back to your message though, if we’re exploring hypotheticals, how about we look at the rest of the list of noms:

Mark Ruffalo for Poor Things

Robert Downey Jr for Oppenheimer

Ryan Gosling for Barbie

Robert De Niro for Killers of the Flower Moon

Sterling K Brown for American Fiction

If we are swapping out someone on this list, my personal choice would be Robert De Niro, backup option Robert Downey Jr.

Both of these men are already household names, and this was not either of their best work or tbh even like among their better work. Also, neither of them “needs” this nomination, it does nothing for their careers.

But for an actor like Charles Melton who is good at his job but very much at the beginning of his career, it could mean a meaningful increase to the money his agents can negotiate for him on subsequent projects. Like yes, numbers vary, but the “awards bump” is a thing, and proportionally speaking it would mean WAY more for his career than one of the Roberts.

• mod dyr