A Reel Opinion: The BARBIE Dust-Up

We are less than two weeks away from the 96^th Academy Award nominations, and there is already controversy surrounding one of the most popular films of the year, Greta Gerwig’s BARBIE. 

 

The fantasy/comedy film, which has finished as the highest grossing film of the year and (ahem), expected to earn several Oscar nominations, has been deemed by the Academy to compete in the Best Adapted Screenplay category, despite its campaigning to compete in Best Original. The classification has been met with social media outrage from fans of the film. 

 

Every awards voting group has its own rules for movies determining which category a screenplay falls into. BARBIE was likely considered for Adapted as its primary characters, Barbie and Ken…were based on pre-existing dolls, or characters, that have been around for over 60 years. Many films about pre-existing characters, such as previous Oscar nominees TOY STORY 3, BORAT 2, and BEFORE SUNSET were ultimately classified as Adapted Screenplay. The added wrinkle to this is: The Writers Guild of America (WGA), designated BARBIE as an original work for their upcoming awards. 

 

While it is true that BARBIE is an original story that was not based on any previous BARBIE short-film or cartoon, the roots of the film come from the toyline that has been around for decades. The term “adapted” simply means that the writers built upon specific pre-existing material. BARBIE is based on a copywritten entertainment product. Even if the story is new, without the existence of the toyline…there would be no BARBIE film. And after all, the film itself literally says “Based on Barbie by Mattel” in the opening credits. 

 

Most of the noise coming from socials seem to think that Best Adapted is a lesser category (not true at all, Best Picture winners come from this category all the time), and that it is disingenuous of the Academy to stick Barbie there. But maybe the real disingenuous move is coming from the campaign to get in the Original category…where it doesn’t have to compete with its year-long rival, OPPENHEIMER. When the nominations do come, BARBIE is going to land right where it belongs: a great story based on an old idea.

 

*

 

The 96^th Academy Award Nominations will be announced January 23^rd.