Life is too comfortable for too many progressives these days, particularly the younger ones. Modern America offers every available comfort to them, both materially and legally. When my grandparents were coming up in the &#8217;40s and &#8217;50s, their options were a lot more limited — because of race, class, and wealth. A black man working his way to the top of a profession looked a lot different back then than it does now. State and federal law has endured a long tailoring process involving DEI, critical race theory, and a lot of lawsuits. We even went to war over our slavery issue, and the Civil Rights era remains one of our most hallowed movements, on the Right and the Left.
Women are able to engage in every part of civic and public life — military, law enforcement,  leadership, corporate headship, etc. Even the world of professional sports has opened up to women in a new and exciting way over the past couple of decades. Women have more access to career and income than ever before.
Even still, with all these advancements, we are treated to a nonstop litany from progressives about the hardships of their sex, race, or ethnicity. The drumbeat is always the same: We don’t have what other people have, and it’s not fair. 
Case in point: WNBA star Angel Reese. Reese recently received one of the highest honors my 8-year-old self could have ever imagined: Mattel has released an Angel Reese Barbie doll. In a press conference where she was asked about it, Reese explained it was a special moment for her. She said when she was growing up, she didn’t have access to dolls and toys that looked like her. 
Reese was born in 2002. Not 1950. Not 1970. 2002. 
Christie Barbie first dropped in the 1960s. The 1970s brought us Cara Barbie and Carla Barbie. In the 1980s, we saw a black Ken (Malibu Barbie). Black supermodels such as Tyra Banks, Naomi  Campbell, and Beverly Johnson have all had Barbies fashioned after them, all prior to Angel Reese’s birth. Tyra Banks even did a Barbie-come-to-life movie in 2000 called &#8220;Life-Size.&#8221;
Barack Obama was elected the president of the United States in 2008, just six years after Reese was born. It doesn’t get much more representative than that.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_1156233" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1156233" class="size-medium wp-image-1156233" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2288945969-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2288945969-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2288945969-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2288945969-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2288945969.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images</div>
Why would Reese say such an absurd and easily disprovable thing in 2026? It reminds me of the time actress Jennifer Lawrence went on a podcast and said playing her &#8220;Hunger Games&#8221; character was the first time a woman had led a major action movie. Sigourney Weaver would beg to differ. 
Lawrence and Reese are victims of comfort. In a society in which victimhood is the most valuable public currency, these women and others like them face the dilemma of being extremely successful while simultaneously trying to appear oppressed. They have had opportunities most people in the world can only dream of, and those opportunities are unique to American life: movie stardom, professional athletics, millions of dollars in payments and sponsorships.
Every opportunity has been afforded to them, and they were wise enough and talented enough to take advantage of those opportunities. But the money only keeps flowing in that direction if the complaints keep flowing. Their stories aren’t all that interesting to the struggle-session crowd, so what do they do? They borrow the stories of others.  
That’s where Angel Reese is right now and why the lie slipped so easily from her mouth. Her story is uninteresting to the left-wing media. She came from a boring old nuclear family where both parents were basketball players, attended a private school and then college, and from there went straight into the WNBA. She’s been privileged from the start and had all the greatest examples and mentors from the start, but she can’t tell that story because there are no victims in it.
She can’t even tell a story about how no one in public life (or in toy life) looked like her at the time. In 2008, we were already in an era of commercial and public diversity; we need look no further than our president at the time. In 2026, the &#8220;diversity&#8221; mission is statistically complete — and then some. 
Reese grew up in the era of &#8220;representation.&#8221; She works in a business built on representation: women’s professional sports. She has a job that many young women before her could only dream of. She would have to work incredibly hard to find examples in her own life of where black people or women weren’t represented. Instead, she simply borrowed someone else’s story — the story of my grandparents, or even her own. The story of generations of activists who came before us, who had to give of their own blood, sweat, and tears to be afforded an opportunity at peace, let alone material success. She borrowed from stories that were authentically frustrating and authentically powerful. 
This is sad because Angel Reese is a truly talented and accomplished woman. There is no doubt she has worked hard to get to the top of her career. Instead of being proud of it and telling that story, she commandeers a different story because she believes it is better than her own. 
It is not. Her story is hers alone to tell, and that’s what makes her unique and her position in life so powerful. She has influence beyond the dreams of many Americans, but she chooses to lead with victimhood rather than her own journey because she doesn’t see her journey as incredible.
We have not properly taught America’s children to covet their own stories and be grateful for them. Reese tells a stolen narrative because in a culture where victimhood is prime currency, her own story is just too comfortable.
***
This is republished with permission by the author. The original can be found <a href="https://substack.com/home/post/p-210243352?selection=5a31f461-5414-4a85-95e8-344e41c29435#:~:text=Reese%20grew%20up%20in%20the%20era%20of%20%E2%80%98representation">here</a>.
Kira Davis is a political writer, a podcaster, and the author of &#8220;Drawing Lines: Why Conservatives Must Begin to Battle Fiercely in the Arena of Ideas.&#8221;

GettyImages-2288657532

Controversial WNBA Star’s Victimhood Claim Runs Into One Big Problem

Angel Reese

Barbie

Oppression

Race

Upstream

WNBA

Democrats don&#8217;t know what to make of young men — look no further than their catastrophic attempts to sanitize <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/platner-caves-suspends-senate-campaign">Graham Platner</a> as proof — but finding a figure who resonates with guys isn&#8217;t that hard. In fact, there&#8217;s a Hollywood star whose roles always seem to connect with men. Of course, it&#8217;s Ryan Gosling.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ryan-gosling-breathes-new-life-into-a-tired-genre-with-project-hail-mary">“Project Hail Mary,”</a> whose screen time was dominated primarily by Gosling and a puppeteered alien, scored the <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/project-hail-mary-box-office-biggest-debut-2026-amazon-mgm-record-1236696247/">biggest opening weekend</a> this year for a non-franchise film. Making $683.3 million worldwide, the movie also received 94% on <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/project_hail_mary">Rotten Tomatoes</a>. The film&#8217;s success is due in no small part to Gosling, who has become one of the most beloved and relatable actors in Hollywood. 
Back in 2023, Gosling stole the show in “Barbie.” Gosling’s Ken struck a chord with young men across America. Guys would <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DRAsX0EEj9v/">dance and sing</a> to the song “I’m Just Ken,” ironically or earnestly expressing the pressures and pent up feelings a feminized America has wrought on them over the years with <a href="https://genius.com/Ryan-gosling-im-just-ken-lyrics">lyrics</a> such as “Doesn&#8217;t seem to matter what I do, I&#8217;m always number two,” and “No one knows how hard I tried.”
Songwriter Mark Ronson, who co-wrote “I’m just Ken” with Gosling, said the song “has helped young boys emotionally.”
“The song tells boys that it&#8217;s OK to be runner-up,” Ronson <a href="https://www.music-news.com/news/UK/171602/Mark-Ronson-I-m-Just-Ken-has-helped-young-boys-emotionally">said</a>. “The internet’s caused a level of isolation in boys and this idea of male camaraderie and sharing your feelings is a nice and unexpected thing to come out of it.”
Gosling&#8217;s relatability has also turned him into a meme. In <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/literally-me-syndrome-wow-this-is-literally-me">2018</a>, the &#8220;literally me&#8221; meme began with a post on Facebook comparing a nerdy boy on his computer to five popular male characters of the “loner” archetype. &#8220;Wow, this is literally me,&#8221; he thinks. It became wildly popular.
Gosling is now a frequent feature in variations of the meme. One person on Reddit <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/16g1ejn/what_is_going_on_with_the_ryan_gosling_is/">explained</a> it this way: &#8220;[H]e plays a lot of characters who are awkward, quiet, lonely/struggling romantically, and/or depressed (most notably the Driver in Drive and Officer K in Blade Runner 2049, but Ken fits too), and given that he&#8217;s also quite good looking, wears stylish costumes, and is portrayed as a cool badass despite those relatable flaws, he&#8217;s ripe for disaffected young men to semi-ironically, semi-not heavily relate to him.&#8221;
In the “literally me” trend, guys post jokes about their <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DMXgwwjgE1Z/">inability to talk</a> with their female peers, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DNcgCIkRI2u/">loneliness</a>, and lack of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C6XNiWOI-ht/">compliments,</a> with one comment asking, “Y’all are getting compliments at all???” 
Through internet culture, this loner archetype evolved into the “sigma male,” a romanticized version of the lone wolf. Alt-right writer <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-sigma-male-8655129">Theodore Beale</a> coined the term in 2010. “They are characterized by their autonomy, self-sufficiency, and preference for solitude, making them intriguing figures who don’t fit neatly into established social categories,” Beale said. 
Young men <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnGaJ3G-4cI">connect with Gosling</a> so well because his characters in films such as “Drive” and “Blade Runner 2049” are alone, can&#8217;t express their feelings, and struggle to find love. This pain of inadequacy and isolation is romanticized. Gosling&#8217;s roles idealize being alone, fully self-sufficient, and not “needing” anyone.
But that life is actually exhausting, and you can see this exhaustion played out. Gosling is the face of the “modern loner” with a thousand-yard stare. 
“He’s not just one guy,” the host of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnGaJ3G-4cI">Reel Emotion</a> said. “He’s everyone who’s ever looked out a window and wondered if anyone cared.”
The pain of Gosling’s characters in these films is further amplified by the fact that they remain alone — the world reminding them that it’s “not for them.”
“That’s why people keep editing Ryan Gosling in all these sad edits,” Reel Emotion said. “To impersonate something that we’ve all felt.”
Lately, Gosling&#8217;s films have shifted from merely relatable to more aspirational. Gosling’s move from lone-wolf characters to men who find happiness in relationships comes after his marriage in 2022. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DWEMsjDDwlM/">In an interview</a>, Gosling said becoming a father changed his perspective on his career, making him want to create films that he can bring his whole family to.
&#8220;Project Hail Mary,&#8221; he said in an interview, is “so hopeful as well, which, I think, is what I really responded to. This idea of ‘okay enough with the dystopian future ideas that are so bleak and offer no solutions.’”
Journalist Anthony Breznican wrote for Esquire that “Project Hail Mary” is actually about <a href="https://esquire.com.au/project-hail-mary-male-loneliness?page_data=1">“male loneliness.”</a> Men specifically struggle with forming and maintaining deep friendships with other men.
“We believe in that old maxim, ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed,’ and we’re there for that 100 percent — as long as we’re not the one ‘in need,’” Breznican said.
In the film, Dr. Ryland Grace, played by Gosling, sounds like many lonely young men today. 
“I didn’t have much of a social life back when things were normal,” Grace says. “Sometimes I’d grab dinner with other faculty and staff at the school. I’d have the occasional Saturday-night beer with old college friends.”
Then, Grace finds “Rocky,” an unlikely alien friend reminiscent of E.T. They develop a deep connection that stems from each of them bearing the weight of a civilization on his shoulders. With a seemingly impossible task and a shared mission, they develop a bond. 
The 2024 film “The Fall Guy,” an action-packed comedy with a surprisingly well-designed plot, is similarly driven by a relationship. Gosling’s character, Colt Seavers, starts out in a wonderful relationship with Jody Moreno, “the girl of his dreams,” until he gets in an accident that ruins his stuntman career. Then, he hides and abandons her. When they get reintroduced, there’s tension and a lot of effort from Seavers to heal the relationship matched by plenty of distrust from Moreno.
Seavers works to save her production and clear his name, which culminates in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mczCiT1fe2E">confession of his feelings</a> toward her. This scene is the moment he finally decides to be <a href="https://winterstjames.com/bomb-bastic-action-meets-chivalrous-love-a-critique-of-the-fall-guy-movie/">vulnerable</a>, expressing how stuntmen are trained to be &#8220;invincible&#8221; and never admit to pain, always giving the thumbs-up.
Journalist Jeffery Zaslow wrote in the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304620304575166090090482912">Wall Street Journal</a> that guys tend to form bonds by doing things together. They don’t often share their emotions or insecurities with each other, but will with their wife or close female friends. This dynamic plays out in “The Fall Guy” and “Project Hail Mary.” Seavers confesses his love for Jody; Grace sacrifices his future for Rocky. One pours his heart out; the other shows he cares by his actions. 
“Researchers say women&#8217;s friendships are face to face: They talk, cry together, share secrets,” Zaslow writes. “Men&#8217;s friendships are side by side: We play golf. We go to football games.”
This doesn’t mean guys don&#8217;t express emotions to each other. Grace, when the mission is completed and he and Rocky are going their separate ways, feels sad in what should be a joyous moment. When Rocky asks why, Grace — in the book from which the film is adapted — says, “You’re my friend. Heck, you’re my best friend. And pretty soon we’re going to say goodbye forever.”
More boys and young men want to see male characters in caring and affectionate fatherly roles. “Today’s youth want to see boys and men portrayed on screen showing emotional connection and vulnerability and moving away from isolation and other masculine stereotypes,” according to <a href="https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/gen-z-gen-alpha-evolving-masculinity-in-movies-tv">UCLA research</a>. They want masculinity defined by “emotional availability” and &#8220;joyful connection,” instead of the lone wolf archetype. From ages 15 to 24, men look for films with nurturing and emotionally available men, demonstrating &#8220;positive models of masculinity.”
In a culture that says holding a door open for a woman is “toxic masculinity,” young men are confused and frustrated. Gosling is helping them understand their struggles and pointing to a better path. He gives an example of masculinity in his films that is healthy, nurturing, and vulnerable. No wonder so many guys say, &#8220;He&#8217;s literally me.&#8221;
***
This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

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The Secret Behind Ryan Gosling’s Grip On Young Men

Ryan Gosling

Recording artist <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">Shakira</a> had some critical thoughts about the Greta Gerwig-directed summer blockbuster, “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/movies">Barbie</a>.”
The 47-year-old star recently discussed the movie touted as having girl-power messaging, saying she doesn’t believe women should become <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/feminism">powerful</a> by taking power away from men.
“My sons absolutely hated it,” the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer said during a newly published <a href="https://www.allure.com/story/shakira-cover">interview</a> with Allure. “They felt that it was emasculating. And I agree, to a certain extent. I&#8217;m raising two boys. I want &#8217;em to feel powerful too [while] respecting women.”
“I like pop culture when it attempts to empower women without robbing men of their possibility to be men, to also protect and provide,” Shakira continued. “I believe in giving women all the tools and the trust that we can do it all without losing our essence, without losing our femininity. I think that men have a purpose in society and women have another purpose as well. We complement each other, and that complement should not be lost.”
She added, “Why not share the load with people who deserve to carry it, who have a duty to carry it as well?”
Shakira made headlines last year after her very public split from her longtime boyfriend, former professional soccer player Gerard Piqué. The couple was together for 11 years and had two children together, but they were never married. They broke up amid allegations of Piqué cheating on Shakira.
The “Barbie” movie was a smash hit but received mixed reviews from many critics, especially for sending messaging that feels outdated. Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ben-shapiro-and-brett-cooper-debate-merits-of-barbie-movie">called the film</a> “a flaming piece of dog s*** piled atop an entire dumpster on fire piled atop a landfill filled with dog s***.”
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“The politics of the film are completely askew,” Shapiro said while debating Daily Wire host Brett Cooper over the merits of the movie. “Because the entire basis of the film is that the real world is a complete patriarchy, so magically patriarchal that Ken learns from it and goes back to Barbie Land where he then applies the patriarchal standards of the real world … and that the only solution to create paradise is that men and women must be separated from one another.”
Shapiro called the storyline and overall messaging “lazy.”

Celebrity Sightings In New York City – March 26, 2024

Shakira Agrees With Her Sons Calling ‘Barbie’ Movie ‘Emasculating’

Shakira Agrees With Her Sons Calling 'Barbie' Movie 'Emasculating'

Celebrities

Entertainment

U.S.

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-never-quit-eva-mendes-says-shes-shifting-the-narrative-that-she-left-hollywood" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eva Mendes</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ryan-gosling-recalls-weird-sign-he-was-meant-to-play-ken-in-barbie-movie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ryan Gosling</a> reportedly decided to leave Hollywood and raise their kids elsewhere because they preferred not to have their daughters growing up around &#8220;celebrity&#8221; children.
A source close to the &#8220;Barbie” star and &#8220;Hitch&#8221; star said that the superstar couple have moved &#8220;a bit further north&#8221; outside of Tinseltown for the benefit of their girls Esmerelda, 9, and Amanda, 7, <a href="https://people.com/why-eva-mendes-and-ryan-gosling-moved-their-kids-out-of-los-angeles-8607294">People magazine</a> reported.
&#8220;For them, the most important job is their girls,&#8221; the source told the outlet. &#8220;Everything else comes second. And their girls are thriving. They left L.A. to live a bit further north, away from Hollywood.&#8221;
&#8220;They didn&#8217;t want the girls to grow up around other celebrity kids,&#8221; the source added. &#8220;Eva and Ryan love their life. It&#8217;s admirable how they&#8217;ve been able to create balance and boundaries. They care so much about their marriage and just want their girls to live a happy life.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes leave LA, didn’t want girls to &#8216;grow up around other celebrity kids&#8217;: report <a href="https://t.co/4ZmFpbStb7">https://t.co/4ZmFpbStb7</a>
— Fox News (@FoxNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/1767328376459497971?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
In August, a <a href="https://people.com/ryan-gosling-eva-mendes-enjoy-family-trips-with-their-daughters-exclusive-7570755">source told the outlet</a> that Gosling and Mendes are &#8220;hands-on parents and have little help.”
&#8220;When they are not working, they are all about their girls,&#8221; the source told the outlet. &#8220;Ryan is such a fun dad. He is goofy and his girls love it.&#8221;
&#8220;He takes them out by himself for various activities,&#8221; the source added. &#8220;As a family, they enjoy visiting the desert and the beach. They are a very active family. Eva and Ryan seem happy. They tend to be flirty and hold hands. It&#8217;s cute.&#8221;
The couple famously has kept their relationship and their lives very private. It has even been fodder for tabloids whether the two stars, who have been together for more than a decade, are married.
In 2022, Mendes sparked rumors when she called Gosling her husband, appearing to confirm longtime speculation that she and &#8220;The Notebook&#8221; actor had secretly wed, as previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/actress-eva-mendes-appears-to-confirm-she-and-ryan-gosling-secretly-wed">reported</a>.
During the actress&#8217; appearance on Channel Nine&#8217;s &#8220;Today&#8221; in Australia, Mendes discussed the warm welcome she and Gosling received in that country and called Ryan her &#8220;husband,&#8221; <a href="https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a42015507/eva-mendes-ryan-gosling-confirmed-married/">Elle</a> magazine reported.
&#8220;Everyone is so welcoming here and my husband Ryan is here and we are having the best time,&#8221; Mendes told the hosts Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon.
Mendes and Gosling started dating in 2011.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/actress-eva-mendes-appears-to-confirm-she-and-ryan-gosling-secretly-wed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Actress Eva Mendes Appears To Confirm She And Ryan Gosling Secretly Wed</a>

Little White Lies – Premiere: The 5th International Rome Film Festival

Eva Mendes, Ryan Gosling Leave Hollywood Because They Don’t Want Their Kids Around ‘Celebrity Kids’: Report

Eva Mendes, Ryan Gosling Leave Hollywood, ‘Didn’t Want’ Their Kids Around ‘Celebrity Kids’: Report

Eva Mendes

Hollywood

kids

&#8216;Oppenheimer&#8217; movie scored big at the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday, taking home seven Oscars from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.
Jimmy Kimmel hosted the annual awards show, and the Christopher Nolan-directed film took home seven out of 13 nominations. Those included Best Picture of the Year, which beat out the likes of Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Poor Things.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oppenheimer-review-the-amazing-christopher-nolan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8216;Oppenheimer&#8217;</a> also won Best Director, Cinematography, Film Editing, and Best Music (Original Score). Cillian Murphy won Best Actor for his performance in the thriller/mystery, and Robert Downey Jr. won Best Supporting Actor.
During his acceptance speech, <a href="https://x.com/ABC/status/1767008486167056837?s=20">Murphy</a> said making the film was the &#8220;wildest, most exhilarating, most creatively satisfying journey&#8221; he&#8217;s had &#8220;over the last twenty years.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscar</a> winners only. <a href="https://t.co/gR0tVKZlY6">pic.twitter.com/gR0tVKZlY6</a>
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) <a href="https://twitter.com/etnow/status/1767024100915151080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
&#8220;Every single crew member, every single cast member on OPPENHEIMER, you guys carried me through,&#8221; he added. &#8220;All my fellow nominees, I remain in awe of you guys. Truly.&#8221;
Murphy thanked his &#8220;incredible team&#8221; and then his wife, Yvonne McGuinness, who he said is his &#8220;partner in life.&#8221; He also thanked their two boys, Malachy and Aran.
&#8220;So, you know, we made a film &#8212; we made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb,&#8221; Murphy continued. &#8220;And for better or for worse, we&#8217;re all living in Oppenheimer&#8217;s world. So I would really like to dedicate this to the peacemakers everywhere.&#8221;
Yorgos Lanthimos-directed &#8220;Poor Things,&#8221; a film about a sex-crazed woman with a child’s brain, took home the next highest number of honors, bringing home four out of 11 nominations. Those included Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, along with<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/emma-stones-new-movie-about-sex-crazed-woman-with-a-childs-brain-generates-oscar-buzz"> Emma Stone</a> taking home the Oscar for Best Actress,
&#8220;The other night I was panicking &#8212; as you can kind of see, it happens a lot &#8212; that maybe something like this could happen,&#8221; Stone <a href="https://x.com/THR/status/1767012706651910513?s=20">said</a> during her acceptance speech. &#8220;And Yorgos said to me, &#8216;Please take yourself out of it.&#8217; And he was right, because it&#8217;s not about me. It&#8217;s about a team that came together to make something greater than the sum of its parts.&#8221;
&#8220;And that is the best part about making movies,&#8221; she added. &#8220;It&#8217;s all of us together. And I am so deeply honored to share this with every cast member, with every crew member, with every single person who poured their love and their care and their brilliance into the making of this film.&#8221;
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She closed out her acceptance speech by thanking her family, her husband, and their 3-year-old daughter, who she said &#8220;has turned our lives technicolor.&#8221;
&#8220;The Holdovers&#8221; star <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-holdovers-star-davine-joy-randolph-praises-god-in-oscars-acceptance-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Da’Vine Randolph</a> praised God during her acceptance speech when she received the award for Best Supporting Actress, her first Oscar and first nomination.
Greta Gerwig&#8217;s &#8220;Barbie&#8221; received eight nominations, including Best Picture, Costume Design, and Production Design. However, the film only won one award for Best Original Song: &#8220;What Was I Made For?&#8221; by Billie Eilish and brother Finneas O’Connell.
One of the highlights of the night had to be when &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/barbie-banned-in-kuwait-and-lebanon-could-be-next-as-govt-official-says-it-promotes-homosexuality" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barbie</a>&#8221; star Ryan Gosling took the stage to perform &#8220;<a href="https://x.com/DEADLINE/status/1767002189770227823?s=20">I’m Just Ken</a>.&#8221; It is fair to say it brought the house down and led to the star getting a standing ovation.
&nbsp;

Oppenheimer

‘Oppenheimer’ Sweeps 96th Academy Awards

Academy Awards

Christopher Nolan

Jimmy Kimmel

The 2024 People&#8217;s Choice Awards were handed out on Sunday in Los Angeles, with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/taylor-swift-makes-history-at-grammys-announces-new-album" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taylor Swift</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/travis-kelce-speculates-on-why-people-are-so-fascinated-by-his-relationship-with-taylor-swift" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Travis Kelce</a>, and &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/barbie-banned-in-kuwait-and-lebanon-could-be-next-as-govt-official-says-it-promotes-homosexuality" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barbie&#8221;</a> being named big winners of the night.
Hosted by actor Simu Liu, the fan-voted awards show handed out honors to some of the biggest stars of the year, which included Greta Gerwig&#8217;s &#8220;Barbie&#8221; taking home movie of the year and comedy movie of the year, The <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/peoples-choice-awards-2024-winners-list-1235818481/">Hollywood Reporter</a> reported.
&#8220;Barbie&#8221; stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling took home awards for female and male movie star of the year for their part in the hit 2023 film, beating out Hollywood heavyweights such as Tom Cruise, Chris Pratt, and Julia Roberts for their respective films. America Ferrera also won for &#8220;The Movie Performance of the Year&#8221; for her part in &#8220;Barbie.&#8221;
Jennifer Lawrence won &#8220;The Comedy Movie Star of the Year&#8221; award for her role in &#8220;No Hard Feelings,&#8221; with actress Jenna Ortega getting the honor of &#8220;The Drama Movie Star of the Year&#8221; for &#8220;Scream VI.&#8221;
The prequel &#8220;Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes&#8221; won the &#8220;Action Movie of the Year&#8221; award, with actress Rachel Zegler being honored as &#8220;The Action Movie Star of the Year.&#8221;
&#8220;Oppenheimer&#8221; scored the award for &#8220;The Drama of the Year,&#8221; beating out nominees like &#8220;Killers of the Flower Moon,&#8221; &#8220;Leave the World Behind,&#8221; and &#8220;The Color Purple.&#8221;
Lenny Kravitz was honored with the Music Icon Award, and actor/comedian <a href="https://people.com/peoples-choice-awards-2024-jennifer-aniston-presents-adam-sandler-with-peoples-icon-award-8583849" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adam Sandler</a> was celebrated with the People&#8217;s Icon Award, which was presented to him by his pal Jennifer Aniston.
On the TV side, &#8220;Only Murders in the Building,&#8221; &#8220;Grey&#8217;s Anatomy,&#8221; and &#8220;The Last of Us&#8221; took home honors in their categories, with &#8220;Loki&#8221; taking home an award for &#8220;Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show of the Year.&#8221;
Pedra Pescal and Selena Gomez scored male and female TV Star of the Year with the &#8220;Comedy TV Star of the Year&#8221; given to Jeremy Allen White for &#8220;The Bear.&#8221; Jennifer Aniston took home &#8220;The Drama TV Star of the Year&#8221; for &#8220;The Morning Show&#8221; and singer Billie Eilish for &#8220;The TV Performance of the Year.&#8221;
&#8220;The Kardashians&#8221; were honored with being the winners of &#8220;The Reality Show of the Year&#8221; award, and &#8220;The Voice&#8221; won &#8220;The Competition Show of the Year,&#8221; with &#8220;The Summer I Turned Pretty&#8221; taking home honor for &#8220;The Bingeworthy Show of the Year.&#8221;
Khloe Kardashian was the Reality TV Star winner, with Ariana Madix honored as &#8220;The Competition Contestant of the Year&#8221; for &#8220;Dancing with the Stars.&#8221;
&#8220;The Kelly Clarkson Show&#8221; won the &#8220;Daytime Talk Show of the Year&#8221; award, with &#8220;The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon&#8221; being named the winner of &#8220;The Nighttime Talk Show of the Year,&#8221; and Jimmy Kimmel winning &#8220;The Host of the Year&#8221; for &#8220;That&#8217;s My Jam.&#8221;
Taking a look at the music winners, Taylor Swift won several awards, one for &#8220;Female Artist of the Year,&#8221; another for &#8220;Pop Artist of the Year,&#8221; &#8220;The Concert Tour of the Year,&#8221; followed by winning &#8220;The Social Celebrity of the Year&#8221; award.
&#8220;Hip-Hop Artist of the Year&#8221; was given to Nicki Minaj, while Beyonce won &#8220;The R&amp;B Artist of the Year&#8221; and Ice Spice was named &#8220;The New Artist of the Year.&#8221; The &#8220;Collaboration Song of the Year&#8221; award went to &#8220;Barbie World&#8221; by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice with Aqua. 
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Lainey Wilson and Jelly Roll took home the honors for female and male country artists of the year, and male and female Latin artist of the year winners were Bad Bunny and Shakira. 
&#8220;Male Artist of the Year&#8221; went to K-Pop star Jung Kook, with &#8220;Group/Duo of the Year&#8221; given to &#8220;Stray Kids.&#8221; Olivia Rodrigo won two awards, one for the &#8220;Song of the Year&#8221; award for &#8220;Vampir and   another for &#8220;The Album of the Year&#8221; for &#8220;Guts.&#8221;
Chris Rock won &#8220;The Comedy Act of the Year,&#8221; and Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce won &#8220;The Athlete of the Year.&#8221;

Adam Sandler

Check Out All The Winners From The 2024 People’s Choice Awards

Check Out All The Winners From The 2024 People's Choice Awards

Taylor Swift

Travis Kelce

The Academy Award nominations for 2023 were announced on Tuesday and Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro gleefully noted that the film “Barbie,” which centered on attacking the so-called “patriarchy,” was not nominated in the two most prominent female categories while the leading man in the film garnered a nomination.
“So in easily the funniest story of the day, &#8216;Barbie,&#8217; which, as you know, I loved,” he joked, “I thought it was an amazing film — by which I think it was absolutely overrated, trash, was unwatchable. I think that people who say they like it are lying.”
“Like Michael Moore&#8217;s movies, I think that this movie makes no sense. It has plot holes. It&#8217;s badly written, too,” he continued.
“Now, this is hilarious,” he laughed.  “It was nominated for Best Picture. I know what you guys are doing. The film made a ton of money and all the critics pretended they loved it because they had to. So it was nominated for Best Picture. Okay, fine. That&#8217;s stupid.”
He noted that while Ryan Gosling, who played Ken, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor and America Ferrera was nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category “for her garbage speech about how women have it so tough and ‘Oh my God, it&#8217;s so hard to be a woman,” “You know who wasn&#8217;t nominated? Barbie. Margot Robbie was not nominated. You know who else was not nominated? The greatest director of all time, Greta Gerwig.”
“Who&#8217;s the greatest?” he joked. “We all love all of her work because she&#8217;s the greatest director who’s ever directed and because everything she says is wise and brilliant and she&#8217;s so wise. She was not nominated either. “
“Oh, the patriarchy, the power of the patriarchy, even overcoming Barbie itself,” he quipped, adding, “The patriarchy will rule supreme. Because I&#8217;m gonna predict right here, right now, that Oppenheimer wins Best Picture. So in the Barbenheimer fight, Oppenheimer, which is an all-time great movie, is going to defeat Barbie, which is trash. And it should.”
“I&#8217;m rooting very, very hard for Ryan Gosling to win for Barbie because the funniest possible outcome for the movie Barbie would be for Ken to win the only award. I&#8217;m there for it. I love that the Academy accidentally did this and even more, I want only Ken from the Barbie movie to win. Those are my demands. I want it to lose every other category but only the men win. Not even because I care, but because it would be hilarious. It&#8217;d be super hilarious if the patriarchy ends up winning in a movie made about how terrible the patriarchy supposedly is,” he concluded.

2Ben Shapiro Editorial Series 08 copy

‘The Power Of The Patriarchy’: Shapiro Laughs As Anti-Patriarchy ‘Barbie’ Gets Shut Out Of Two Key Female Oscar Nominations

Ben Shapiro

Oscars

Patriarchy

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hillary-clinton">Hillary Clinton</a> is being mocked on social media for comparing herself to Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, who both were not <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/movies">nominated</a> for individual Academy Awards for their work on “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/barbie">Barbie</a>.”
“Greta &amp; Margot, While it can sting to win the box office but not take home the gold, your millions of fans love you. You’re both so much more than Kenough. #HillaryBarbie,” the former Democratic presidential candidate shared on X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Greta &amp; Margot,
While it can sting to win the box office but not take home the gold, your millions of fans love you.  
You’re both so much more than Kenough.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HillaryBarbie?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HillaryBarbie</a>
&mdash; Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) <a href="https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/1750185844219015517?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Clinton’s replies were flooded with people deriding her for making the comparison and reminding the 76-year-old politician about the massive error she made by not campaigning in Wisconsin ahead of the 2016 election, which many analysts believe is a major reason she lost to Donald Trump.
“Margot really should’ve visited Wisconsin,” one popular <a href="https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/status/1750190955544666316">reply</a> says.
“How dare those other women get nominated. This is just more proof of sexism in the entertainment industry,” another <a href="https://twitter.com/Quipple/status/1750192708843368692">says</a>.
“Barbie was a bad movie. Just because it made a lot of money doesn’t make it good or a winner. Similarly, just because Hillary Clinton got a lot of votes doesn’t make her good or President of the United States,” another comment said. “Oppenheimer was a much better film. And Trump a better candidate.”
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“Oppenheimer” had the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oppenheimer-leads-2024-oscars-nominations-with-13-see-the-full-list">most Oscar nominations</a> this year with 13 total, including Best Picture and Best Director. The second most-nominated film was “Poor Things” with 11. “Barbie” received eight, including the coveted Best Picture, but fans were annoyed that the film’s lead actress, Robbie, didn’t get put in the running for Best Actress and that Gerwig wasn’t a contender for Best Director.
Meanwhile, the film’s male lead, Ryan Gosling, did get chosen as a nominee for Best Supporting Actor. “Barbie” actress America Ferrara was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
This news comes after “Barbie” filmmakers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oscars-committee-determines-barbie-is-an-adapted-screenplay-not-original">fought</a> to have it submitted into the “Original Screenplay” category but failed. Since it was classified as an Adapted Screenplay, the film will compete against impressive contenders, including both “Poor Things” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” making it much harder to score a win.
The Oscars is set to air on Sunday, March 10, and will again be hosted by late-night star Jimmy Kimmel.

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton Trashed For Making ‘Barbie’ Oscars Snubs About Herself

Hillary Clinton Trashed For Making 'Barbie' Oscars Snubs About Herself

The 81st <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/golden-globes">Golden Globes</a> aired Sunday night, and with that came some expected outcomes along with a few surprises.
Viewers expected “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/movies">Oppenheimer</a>” to own the night after the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">blockbuster</a> biopic was nominated in eight categories. The Christopher Nolan drama was indeed a <a href="https://goldenglobes.com/">big winner</a>, taking home five awards, including Best Drama and Best Director.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Yorgos Lanthimos’ science fantasy black <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hollywood">comedy</a> “Poor Things,” which was inspired by “Frankenstein,” was the surprise winner over “Barbie” in the Best Comedy or Musical category.
“Barbie” made more than $1.4 billion worldwide, but that didn’t translate into wins at the Globes. The Greta Gerwig-directed project was nominated in nine categories but only had two wins in minor categories: Cinematic and Box Office Achievement and Best Original Song for Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”
One of the biggest surprise upsets for “Barbie” was losing Best Screenplay to “Anatomy of a Fall.” This decision comes on the heels of the Academy ruling that “Barbie” must compete in the Oscars later this year under the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oscars-committee-determines-barbie-is-an-adapted-screenplay-not-original">Adapted Screenplay category</a> rather than as an Original Screenplay, which they petitioned for.
Because “Barbie” nabbed the Box Office Achievement award, it left Taylor Swift high and dry with zero wins. Her “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” film, which smashed records in the concert film genre, was only nominated in that single category. 
Other big success stories of the night included the HBO comedy-drama “Succession,” which earned four wins, including Best Drama. “Beef,” a Netflix limited series exploring the fallout of a road rage incident, also won in three categories.
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Lily Gladstone won Best Female Actor in a Drama for her portrayal of an Osage woman in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Emma Stone won Best Female Actor in a Comedy for “Poor Things.”
Paul Giamatti was named Best Actor in a Comedy for “The Holdovers” while Cillian Murphy won Best Actor in a Drama for “Oppenheimer.
“Succession” stars Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook won Best Male Actor and Best Female Actor in a TV Drama. Best Actor in a TV Musical or Comedy went to Jeremy Allen White for “The Bear” while Best Actress was awarded to Ayo Edibiri for her work on the same series.
The Globes had some drama several years ago pertaining to alleged sexism and racism. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association was dissolved in the wake of the crisis, which led to the new show moving from NBC to CBS as the production fought to reclaim its place as the third-biggest award show of the year following the Oscars and Grammys.

‘Oppenheimer’ Dominates Golden Globes, ‘Barbie’ Underperforms, And Taylor Swift Gets Snubbed

'Oppenheimer' Dominates Golden Globes, 'Barbie' And Taylor Swift Snubbed

Golden Globes

Movies

Television

The “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/barbie">Barbie</a>” movie has been ruled as an adapted screenplay by the Writers Branch executive committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, per a Variety <a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/awards/barbie-moved-adapted-screenplay-oscars-1235848136/">report</a>. This decision came after filmmakers Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach campaigned to have it classified as an original screenplay.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/movies">film</a> is expected to be nominated for Oscars in several categories, including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/oscars">Best Screenplay</a>, but will face much stiffer competition in the Adapted category as opposed to the Original category. Other shortlisted titles in the Adapted category include Martin Scoresese’s “Killers Of The Flower Moon” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.”
Expected contenders in the Best Original category include titles such as “The Holdovers,” “May December,” and Cannes winner “Anatomy Of A Fall.”
While many moviegoers believe that screenplays only count as “adapted” if they’re inspired by books or previous film versions of the same story, the fact is that movies are classified by the Academy as adapted if they’re based on pre-existing characters, such as Barbie dolls. 
A debate has been raging online over whether “Barbie” should be considered adapted or original. &#8220;The Lego Movie&#8221; writer and producer Christopher Miller said that the Academy’s decision is in line with how it had classified movies in the past.
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“FUN FACT: In 2014, the Academy deemed THE LEGO MOVIE an adapted screenplay even though we had already won the National Board of Review Best Original Screenplay award — because it was based on LEGO bricks and had a LEGO version of Batman as a character,” he <a href="https://twitter.com/chrizmillr/status/1742706013835563093">wrote</a> in an X post.
“I think this is the right move. not like it’s an insult to be nominated for original or adapted. At the end of the day, barbie is a character / product already invented by Ruth Handler. I think that’s basis enough for adapted,” another social media user <a href="https://twitter.com/EJ_Paras/status/1742652285954449544">chimed in</a>.
Despite the classification for the Oscars, “Barbie” was designated an original work by the Writers Guild of America and will compete in that category for the upcoming WGA Awards. However, its rules differ from the Academy’s when it comes to nominating films.
The fantasy comedy film “Barbie,” released in July 2023, has been popular ever since, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1401601/global-box-office-revenue-barbie-by-region-worldwide/">earning</a> more than $1.4 billion worldwide. 
Official Academy Award nominations for all categories will be announced on January 23.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ben-shapiro-shreds-barbie-in-epic-full-review">Ben Shapiro Shreds &#8216;Barbie&#8217; In Epic Full Review</a>

barbie

Oscars Committee Determines ‘Barbie’ Is An Adapted Screenplay, Not Original

Oscars Committee Determines 'Barbie' Is An Adapted Screenplay, Not Original 

CM Oppenheimer Picture1

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The Biggest Entertainment Stories Of 2023: From ‘Barbenheimer’ To ‘Rich Men North Of Richmond’

The Biggest Entertainment Stories Of 2023: From 'Barbenheimer' To 'Rich Men North Of Richmond'

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