Everyone is aware that Barbenheimer had quite the moment last year – but earlier this month the Oscars showed us just how much it has not ended.

I have seen countless posts, articles, opinions recounting the events of the Oscars earlier this month; but few of them recognised the almost perfect recreation of the movie’s plot.

Barbie broke records. It vastly out-achieved all of the other 2023 films in every way. It set new records for non-franchise films, films by a female director and Warner Bros. films. Barbie saw people flocking to the cinemas in a way that they haven’t since COVID had racking up streaming subscriptions from the comfort of our own couch. All of this could lead you to believe that Barbie was a shallow money-grabbing film, indeed that is what The Academy seemed to believe. Was it? Let’s examine it a little closer.

It is a film that examines reality vs imaginary and finds a (somewhat) clear definition between the two. The Matrix did that in 1999 and won four Oscars. It asks and answers what mortality is and why it is valuable to us. When The Irishman did so, it was nominated for ten Oscars. It uses brilliant sets and cinematography to tell an epic story. Everything Everywhere All at Once delighted audiences with its genius use of sets, cinematography and special effects before taking home seven Oscars. Barbie won one Oscar.

Yet, here’s the pattern, Barbie was the most viewed, commented on and loved part of the night.

Ryan Gosling’s performance of I’m Just Ken is the most viewed clip of the night (with 11 million views just weeks after the show aired). Do you see the pattern?

Barbie is viewed as purely fun, entertainment. The Oscars audience were up out of their seats boogeying and singing along to Ryan’s fantastic performance – as they should have been, it was brilliant! How many of those audience members recognised the song’s context and meaning. It is the story of a male with a fragile sense of identity, and a big ego, throwing a tantrum upon ‘realising’ that he is not number one in everyone else’s life. Something that happens all too frequently – just google ‘nice guy’. Yet listeners seem to go beyond enjoying the song, aligning themselves with the message ‘I’m just Ken’. Is that really how you want to represent yourself?

And Ryan Gosling gets it. From his acceptance of the role via text to Greta (a picture of his daughters’ Ken facedown in the dirt next to a used piece of citrus) to his faux-rivalry Oscars skit with co-presenter Emily Blunt where he says that Oppenheimer was riding Barbie’s coattails all summer, Ryan Gosling has shown an exact recognition of Ken’s place in the film and the film’s place in the world.

Of course I’m Just Ken has twice the views as Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For (the song that won the Oscar). It features the male character’s story. Of course Ryan Gosling (as Ken) was nominated for an Oscar but Margot Robbie (as Barbie) was not. The Academy was ready to nominate a doll, just not a female one. Of course Greta Gerwig was nominated for Best Director on Lady Bird, but not Barbie. In peak #MeToo, Lady Bird was produced by a minor production company and a only a moderate box-office success. The perfect combination for an Oscar nomination.

Hollywood is intimidated by successful women. When Titanic broke box-office records, helmed by Peter Jackson, it was nominated for and won both Best Film and Best Director. When Lord of the Rings broke those records anew, again helmed by Peter Jackson, the films were nominated for and won Best Film and Best Director.

Barbie is not a Marvel movie; focused on plot devices, stunts, limited dialogue and CGI (or is it AI these days?). Barbie explores the fundamentals of feminism and the patriarchy in a meaningful and entertaining way. Barbie herself was uniquely positioned, as a symbol of femininity for decades, to allow women around the world to reflect on their experiences as a woman. Greta and Margot saw this opportunity and executed it with finesse.

So the Oscars played out almost as if Greta Gerwig had scripted it along with the Barbie movie. The men of Barbie were celebrated while the women (excluding America Ferrera’s well-deserved nomination) were overlooked. Once again, women’s voices were registered but not heard. This was a movie unapologetically exploring the female frustration with patriarchy, but remembered for its patriarchal messages instead. The Oscars made that exceptionally clear.

Unsurprisingly, I don’t think I can say it any better than Gloria:

It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.