I'm Just Ryan Gosling: A Ken-worthy Performance at the 2024 Oscars

Emma Bodnar '25

Award shows, to me, have always lacked excitement. The most intriguing instances are when something goes wrong, when internet memes are birthed from awkward or cringe-worthy moments. I expected nothing less from the 2024 Oscars, even if it was stacked with huge names and even bigger nominations.

What I did not expect, however, was for Canadian-born Ryan Gosling to steal the show with his performance of “I’m Just Ken”. Before his role in Barbie, I wasn’t sure how fit he’d be for the role of Ken. As much as I’ve liked him, he’s never struck me as the type to not take himself too seriously, the type to unabashedly embarrass himself publicly. His Oscar performance, however, was possibly one of the most fantastic performances I’ve seen in a while. 

It begins with Gosling sitting among the crowd, right beside a hysterical Margot Robbie as he begins to belt his character’s ballad. Placing his cowboy hat on Finneas O’Connell, Gosling makes his way up to the stage, dressed head to toe in a stunning pink suit as he recreates Marilyn Monroe’s “A Diamond is a Girl’s Best Friend” from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

With a full orchestra and choreographed backup dancing from the rest of the Kens, one couldn’t think the performance could get better - that is, until Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash materializes beside Gosling. After parading through the audience, handing the microphone to his co-stars and to Emma Stone, Gosling leads a cameraman onstage after kissing his hand and finishing his performance.

With the birth of “I’m Just Ken” comes the emergence of the Ryan Gosling that has been hiding all along - and the death of fragile masculinity. Ryan Gosling has single handedly proven that men should be able to embrace their less serious side comfortably without being ashamed.

Through his performance as Ken and everything that’s come out of it, he’s become an icon for all, a beacon of hope for future men to look up to. Ryan Gosling is proof that a man can be who he really is without shame - and is all the better for it.