Ryan Gosling's surprise reaction steals the show at Critics' Choice Awards 2024

We've seen several significant film industry events, such as the Golden Globes. However, the highlight, the Oscars, doesn't take place until mid-March. As is typical every year, there's a pool of similar nominees, and the individual titles usually "exchange" symbolic figurines among themselves.

The 29th Critics' Choice Awards ceremony occurred on Sunday, January 14, 2024. Among the winners were "Oppenheimer" by Christopher Nolan for best film, Paul Giamatti for best actor in "Winter Solstice", Emma Stone for best actress in "Poor Creatures", Robert Downey Jr. for best supporting actor in "Oppenheimer", and Da'Vine Joy Randolph for best supporting actress in "Winter Solstice". However, the award for best song generated the most excitement.

The song "I'm just Ken" from Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" was announced as the winner, and the camera immediately swung to the face of Ryan Gosling, the star of the film and performer of the winning song. Known for his restrained facial expressions, Gosling portrayed a sense of pretended perplexity. The Canadian actor furrowed his eyebrows and, without moving his head, subtly shifted his serious gaze from right to left.

Shortly after, Billie Eilish, the composer of another song for "Barbie" entitled "What Was I Made For?", appeared on the screen. She embraced Mark Ronson, who collected the award on stage together with Andrew Wyatt as the lyricist.

Footage of Gosling's reaction quickly dispersed around the internet, becoming a viral sensation. Fans found his confused expression an excellent source for creating humorous memes, divorcee of the original context. The digital platform 9gag posted one such meme on its Instagram profile.