Lauding Hollywood actor Ryan Gosling for taking a stand on the Academy Award nominations that included him but not his colleagues – the director and the main lead – of the blockbuster film Barbie, Kerala actor Parvathy Thiruvothu said she was happy that at least some women know what it is like to have allies. Parvathy, an actor who has been facing cyber attacks for years for often openly expressing her opinions, wrote on her social media page that “there are no Ryan Goslings here”, alluding to the lack of support from the industry.
Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken in the hugely popular movie that released last year, said that “there is no Ken without Barbie and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig (the director) and Margot Robbie (playing the title character), the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film.” He also expressed how disappointed he was that both of them were not nominated in their respective categories.
Parvathy, sharing his post, said that it made her ache, since there were no such allies in the industries she worked in ‘to use their power and voice to elevate those who are truly deserving’. She added, “Here, no matter the talent, no matter the contribution - women who speak up and know their value will be avoided like plague. Replaced with ‘less problematic’ people. Problematic for them, because how else can they benefit from the inequality if challenged, eh!”
Parvathy has been a key member of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), formed in the aftermath of the sexual assault on her fellow actor in Kochi in 2017. The WCC has often been at odds with the Artists of Malayalam Movie Artistes (A.M.M.A.), for demanding rights for women artistes and action against those who violated it.