Wonder Woman 1984: Kristen Wiig Did Not Deserve That Razzie Nomination

What's your favorite season? In the immortal words of Schitt's Creek's Moira Rose: "Awards!"... It's that time of year again when the biggest movies of the previous year get recognized at the Golden Globes, Academy Awards, and everything in-between. Of course, not everything is a celebration. Since 1981, the Golden Raspberry Awards AKA The Razzies have been the season's "anti-Oscars." Sure, it can be fun to watch the worst movies of the year get knocked down (we're all guilty of a little schadenfreude now and then), but the mean-spiritedness of the Razzies would be an easier pill to swallow if they weren't constantly getting things wrong. There are many questionable nominees in their latest line-up, but one that personally offends me is the inclusion of Kristen Wiig as Barbara Ann Minerva/Cheetah in Wonder Woman 1984 for "Worst Supporting Actress." In honor of my outrage, here's a little look into DC's Razzie history and why I believe Wiig is being treated unfairly...

Let me start off by saying that I did not care for Wonder Woman 1984. The movie is also nominated for "Worst Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel" and I take no issue with that (although, it's a bit odd that The New Mutants isn't on that list, especially when you factor in its 35% Rotten Tomatoes score compared to Wonder Woman 1984's 59%). However, Wiig's performance was one of the only redeemable things about the otherwise clunky and (dare I say) boring movie. Yes, her portrayal is over-the-top and borderline silly, but isn't that exactly what makes a good DC villain? Didn't Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix win Oscars for doing the same thing? (For the record, I don't think Wiig gave an Oscar-worthy performance. In fact, I don't think Phoenix gave an Oscar-worthy performance, either.) Also, why is Wiig the only actor from Wonder Woman 1984 to be nominated for a Razzie? While I don't think Pedro Pascal (Maxwell Lord) deserves to be on the list either, his absence implies that his villainous performance was somehow better than Wiig's and that's simply not true.

The Razzies have a history of going after talented women, and this isn't the first time they took shots at DC actors. Uma Thurman was nominated for playing Poison Ivy in Batman and Robin but was beaten by Alicia Silverstone for playing Batgirl in... Batman and Robin. Did that movie deserve Razzie nominations? Of course! (Although, its delightfully bad energy makes it my favorite Batman movie. I'm literally staring at a poster in my room as I write this.) But why not nominate George Clooney? Out of 11 nominations, Silverstone was the only "win," which seems suspect when Chris O'Donnell was RIGHT THERE (O'Donnell and Arnold Schwarzenegger both "lost" to Dennis Rodman in Double Team, which is another delightfully bad movie that I would absolutely recommend to anyone who enjoys a good time.)

The Razzies seem to equate bad movies with bad performances, which is not always the case. Thurman and Wiig deserve to join the ranks of Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman in Batman Returns (now THAT was an Oscar-worthy performance) and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey as iconic DC movie villains. It's not their fault how the movies turned out!

While the Razzies do tend to be harsher towards women, one of the most egregious DC nominations was for Danny DeVito's Penguin performance in Batman Returns. What movie were these people watching?! Do they not understand nuance? Do they not understand fun? Please, Razzie voters, tell me what kind of performance you wanted from a sewer-dwelling bird-man in a Tim Burton movie? Wiig, DeVito, and Thurman all had a mesmerizing theatricality to their performances that deserved to be praised, which isn't the case for all DC Razzie nominees. Case in point: Jared Leto.

Leto's "Worst Supporting Actor" Razzie nomination for playing Joker in The Suicide Squad was more than earned. There's a line between going a little over the top with a fun performance and taking something too far. Leto was the opposite of fun in that movie. It was like watching an acid-soaked train wreck. He did not deserve to "lose" to Jesse Eisenberg in Batman vs. Superman. I can barely remember Eisenberg's portrayal of Lex Luther, but Leto as the Joker will haunt me forever.

It's been a couple of months since Wonder Woman 1984 was released, and I only really remember two things: The completely nonsensical body-swap storyline (why?!) and Kristen Wiig eating up every scene. Her character transformation from timid nobody to confident wildcat is not only fun and engaging, but her connection to Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) is the only relationship in the movie that's compelling. They want you to care about Diana and Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), but I left that film thinking I would have preferred 2.5 whole hours of Diana and Barbara on a lunch date to that neverending plane/fireworks scene with Diana and Steve. Wiig already has a Razzie for her performance in Zoolander 2 (fine, fair) and I would hate to see her take home another one for a role that was so well-liked, there are already talks of bringing her in for Wonder Woman 3.

It's also worth noting how hilarious it is that Wiig is up against Glenn Close for Hillbilly Elegy. That movie has been panned by most critics, but Close did manage to score nominations at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards for the same performance. If she ends up getting the Oscar nomination, she will join the ranks of many that have been nominated for both Razzies and Oscars. However, it's proof that everything during awards season is subjective and the Razzies only exist to make suckers like me mad. In the end, Kristen Wiig is an immense talent and a national treasure, and if you don't think her performance is worth the Wonder Woman 1984 rewatch, you should at least go watch her in Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar ASAP.

Wonder Woman 1984 will be available to own on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on March 30th.