Should songs written for motion pictures be severe? Each and every 12 months the Oscar for Highest Unique Track nominations over-index on hushed ballads and motivational anthems—track that’s constructed sturdily, predictably, for utilitarian functions. “I’m Simply Ken,” the Barbie observe carried out through the actor Ryan Gosling, takes that custom and skews it. Phase piano confessional and section prog-metal rockout, it’s a deeply foolish track about self-seriousness. Final night time’s rendition of it was once an irony-meets-sincerity cyclone of the best possible order, making for probably the most adorable Oscars track second in years.

Starting his act whilst seated within the target audience, with a cowboy hat obscuring his impossibly angled options, Gosling was once in personality because the woebegone Ken, a macho hunk doomed to play beta within the toy netherworld of Barbie. He sang over the shoulder of his co-star Margot Robbie, who was once no longer in personality. She let loose a genuine-seeming snort, which set the tone for the quantity up to the fuchsia lights did. Barbie’s signature perception is that merchandise and other folks, the worlds we break out to and the arena we are living in, exist no longer in opposition however in discussion. So this was once going to be a super-performative efficiency—but additionally one through which the fourth wall could be again and again damaged. Gosling took off his hat, plopped it at the head of an target audience member (his sister), and sauntered as much as the degree.

From there, we were given a vintage movie-musical spectacle, populated totally through males. Mark Ronson, the track’s co-producer, performed bass guitar along with his blouse billowing open, and Slash of Weapons N’ Roses later seemed for a finale of shredding. On a red bandstand, tuxedoed dancers wore red sashes, and introduced red forums for Gosling to karate-chop. (This was once all an homage to “Diamonds Are a Lady’s Highest Pal,” apart from Marilyn Monroe’s model didn’t contain martial arts.) Barbie’s jokey tackle the male ego has been a lot mentioned, however Gosling’s mannerisms closing night time conveyed one thing extra poignant than mere satire. He moved slumpily, much less like a plastic doll than a rag doll. His Ken isn’t just an emblem onto which feminist concepts will also be projected, but additionally a personality suffering, in idiosyncratic tactics, to determine who he must be.

Learn: An overly customary Academy Awards. Whew.

The pace modified, the set modified, and Gosling saved shifting—shadowboxing, kissing the cameraperson’s hand, crowd-surfing a sea of Barbie-face cutouts. The power in-built a managed frenzy, reinforced through the grinning participation of Barbie’s different Kens, together with the actors Simu Liu and Kingsley Ben-Adir. Towards the tip, in a heat emotional prime level, Gosling introduced the microphone to the ladies within the target audience who made Barbie what it’s: Robbie, The usa Ferrera, and the director Greta Gerwig. “I’m sufficient / And I’m nice at doing stuff,” they sang in combination, an overly ridiculous lyric that took place to really feel, in that second, completely correct.