- Ryan Gosling performed the original song "I'm Just Ken" in Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" movie.
- As the Oscars get closer, many efforts are being made to get the track nominated for best original song.
Ryan Gosling, we've had Kenough.
On Saturday, paparazzi photos surfaced of Gosling and "Barbie" soundtrack producer Mark Ronson leaving a recording studio together with guitar cases in tow. Four days later, a music video for a Christmas-themed remix of "I'm Just Ken" hit the internet. It's the latest, thinly veiled attempt at Oscar glory for "I'm Just Ken," a soulful track from Greta Gerwig's summer smash, "Barbie."
But Ken has overstayed his welcome at Barbie's dreamhouse — it's time for Gosling to pack it up.
Gosling dropped an EP comprised of the original version of 'I'm Just Ken' plus 3 unnecessary variations
"Ken the EP," released on Wednesday, milks Ken's song about his insecurities and self-doubt to a gratuitous degree.
In addition to the standard recording of "I'm Just Ken," which has already amassed over 95 million Spotify streams and charted on the Billboard Hot 100, the EP contains three new, needless versions: "I'm Just Ken – Merry Kristmas Barbie," "I'm Just Ken – In My Feelings Acoustic," and "I'm Just Ken – Purple Disco Machine Remix."
The holiday remix offers some more percussion, but it doesn't tweak any lyrics to make them more Christmassy, making it an obvious attempt at staying relevant through January when Oscars voting begins. Look, if Sabrina Carpenter (a real-life Barbie) can take her fan-favorite hit "Nonsense" and jollify it into a second "Chrismash," seven-time Grammy winner Ronson could've come up with something beyond "Merry Christmas Barbie, wherever you are" if he and Gosling insisted on decking the halls of "I'm Just Ken."
The other two versions are equally uncalled for.
Gosling's hilarious cover of Matchbox Twenty's "Push" already perfected the art of setting angst to acoustic music, and the "Purple Disco Machine Remix" is even lazier than the Christmas remix. The song is comprised solely of the lines "I'm just Ken" and "Can you feel the Kenergy?" repeated over a disco beat. No one asked for this.
The Oscars push for 'I'm Just Ken' contradicts the messaging of 'Barbie'
Gerwig's movie is centered on Margot Robbie's Barbie, and Ken is secondary to her narrative. He is, as Barbie says, "totally superfluous."
It's already more than enough that in a movie about Barbie, not Ken, Ken gets to take control of the screen for his own over-the-top musical number. But bringing "I'm Just Ken" further out of Barbie Land and into the Real World further posits Ken as the star while dimming the sparkle of the women his character is meant to uplift.
By vying for a spot in the Oscars' best original song race, "I'm Just Ken," cowritten by Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, could very well knock out another more deserving, female-led "Barbie" track from consideration.
Warner Bros. submitted three "Barbie" tracks for Oscars consideration for original song: Dua Lipa's "Dance the Night," Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For?" and Gosling's "I'm Just Ken." All three earned Golden Globes nominations this month and made the Oscars shortlist on Thursday.
But per official Oscars rules, only two tracks from one film can be nominated for best original song. This means that one of these "Barbie" soundtrack staples is going to be left behind when the final nominations are announced on January 23.
Eilish's poignant "What Was I Made For?" is a shoo-in to land a nomination, but that leaves room for only one other "Barbie" track in this category: Gosling's ballad or Lipa's infectious pop-disco hit.
It's obvious which is more deserving — "Dance the Night" has been synonymous with "Barbie" since it was included in the first teaser a year ago and, like Eilish's track, speaks directly to Barbie's journey of self-discovery.
Another awards show also already declared which two "Barbie" tunes transcend the soundtrack. Both Eilish and Lipa's recordings are nominated for song of the year at the upcoming Grammys. They each have established a larger cultural significance outside of the visual media they were written for.
"I'm Just Ken," however, cannot escape its affiliation with the movie it's from. Like the character it's about, the song only exists in connection with "Barbie." That's partly why the attempt at turning it into a holiday tune for a gimmicky EP fell flat. The song doesn't work in any other context.
And of the three songs, it's the only one that wasn't cowritten by a woman. If it was nominated for best original song — a songwriting award — the honor would be bestowed upon two men: Ronson and Wyatt. Plus, both of these guys worked on "Dance the Night," so they'd be honored either way. This just leaves Lipa and lyricist Caroline Ailin in the lurch. That's not really in the spirit of "Barbie."
While "I'm Just Ken" was entertaining when it came out with the movie in July, Gosling's song should take a back seat to the Barbies.
After all, he is just Ken.