The nominations for the 96th Academy Awards were announced on January 23rd, with Oppenheimer leading the list with 13 nominations. However, the focus of the conversation since the announcement has been on another film - Barbie. Despite being a billion-dollar movie, Barbie was snubbed from nominations in the Best Actress and Best Director categories. Greta Gerwig, the director, missed out on a Best Director nod, while Margot Robbie, the lead actress, missed out on a Best Actress nod. On the other hand, Ryan Gosling was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and America Ferrera was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for their roles in Barbie.

With the lead actress and director out of the race, fans have expressed their astonishment at this turn of events. During a recent appearance on The Today Show, last year's Best Actress Oscar winner, Michelle Yeoh, was asked about her thoughts on the Barbie snubs. Yeoh spoke about her own win last year and how it felt to be recognized by the Academy after being in the industry for so long. When asked about Gerwig and Robbie missing out on Oscar nominations, Yeoh commented, "For us, it's like, it's not enough nominations to go around.

The only take is that it's so competitive out there, and there's no guarantee because you're not the only voter. It's widespread."

However, many fans criticized The Today Show for asking Yeoh about the Oscar snubs for Barbie. They believed that asking the first Asian woman to win an Oscar in the Best Actress category about two white women not receiving nominations was an inappropriate question. Some fans also questioned the mainstream's obsession with Barbie and why it was considered deserving of every nomination.

Despite the controversy, Barbie did receive eight Oscar nominations. The 96th Academy Awards will take place on March 10th, 2024, and will be live-streamed on ABC.