Ken is a 10: Ryan Gosling steals the show at Oscars 2024
At this point, most film fans know that the Oscars are more about the spectacle of it all than anything else. However, This year, many people seemed to have missed the memo as the ceremony was largely a lacklustre event. That was until Ryan Gosling showed up on stage to breathe some life into the proceedings with an energised rendition of ‘I’m Just Ken’.
When the Barbenheimer trend first started, many thought that Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie would be competitors commercially as well as critically during the awards season. Despite those expectations, the latter battle has been completely tilted towards Nolan’s biopic as it has swept major categories throughout the awards circuit. Although Barbie racked up significant numbers at the box office, it hasn’t been able to keep up when it comes to critical accolades.
In many ways, just like the Oscars, Barbie was also about the spectacle. Incorporating one of the most well-known products of American hypercapitalism to spin a superficially feminist story, Gerwig’s latest feature draws us into a bright plastic world that’s great to look at but doesn’t have anything revelatory to say. However, it’s that sense of spectacle that fits right into the Oscars atmosphere, and Ryan Gosling is at the centre of it all.
Bringing on the legendary Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash for his performance, Gosling took to the stage with the ‘Kenergy’ that he has shown throughout the Barbie press campaign. It’s a project that has been close to Gosling’s heart from the start, especially because it initially seemed extremely challenging to embody such an infamously hollow character.
During an interview, Gosling explained: “It was the title page of the script, which said ‘Barbie and Ken,’ but ‘and Ken’ was scratched out. And the next impression was, ‘This is the hardest part I’ll ever play.’ How do you approach playing a 70-year-old crotchless doll? There’s no research you can do for that. There’s no one you can shadow, no documentaries you can watch, no books written about Ken. You’re on your own.”
Interestingly, the Oscars rendition of ‘I’m Just Ken’ was on everyone’s mind even before any of it had been set in stone. When asked about the possibility earlier this year, Gosling added: “Well, I haven’t been invited. And I wasn’t thinking about it until now, and now it’s all I’m going to think about. Do you get paid to sing at the Oscars? Do you have to drive yourself? What kind of scratch is involved? They pick you up at least, right?”
Since Barbie was released, most of the discussion around it has been about the grandeur of the production rather than its politico-philosophical frameworks. Gosling embraced it all while singing ‘I’m Just Ken’, tapping into the Oscars’ long history of fetishising and celebrating celebrity culture to create a moment befitting the night’s decadent spectacle.
In that sense, Barbie might just be the most Oscars-worthy film in the running, and Ryan Gosling is its glorious cheerleader.
