Ryan Gosling’s Puzzled Look at the 2024 Critics Choice Awards Became a Meme

Ryan Gosling didn't have to give a speech to become one of the talking points of the 2024 Critics Choice Awards. When I'm Just Ken won Best Song, the camera found him in the audience wearing a puzzled-looking expression. The reaction soon became a meme.

The ceremony took place on January 14, 2024, at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California. Gosling had performed the song as Ken in Barbie, released the previous summer. He stayed at his table while songwriters Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt went onstage to accept the award.

His expression invited plenty of interpretations online. It didn't tell viewers exactly what he was thinking.

A Category With Three Barbie Songs

Barbie had three entries in the Best Song category. Alongside I'm Just Ken were Billie Eilish's What Was I Made For? and Dua Lipa's Dance the Night.

The other nominees were Peaches from The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Road to Freedom from Rustin and This Wish from Wish. Ronson and Wyatt wrote the winning number, which Gosling performed as Ken in the film.

The song award was one of six Barbie collected that evening. It also won Best Comedy and Best Original Screenplay. Gosling's reaction became a story within that successful night for the movie.

Ronson Shared the Credit

Onstage, Ronson made a point of thanking the actor who had stayed in the audience. He told Gosling, “This is as much your award as ours,” and credited his performance with helping audiences connect with the song.

Ronson also thanked director Greta Gerwig for making room for the elaborate musical sequence. He described the space she had given the song and its choreography, acknowledging that the moment depended on more than the writers alone.

While the acceptance speech explained the collaboration, the camera's shot of Gosling offered a much shorter image for people to pass around. The two moments became part of the same story.

A Reaction Built for Captions

Posts about the reaction compared Gosling's face to a raised-eyebrow emoji and to the feeling of suddenly hearing your own name during a conversation. Others debated whether the song should have won.

Those were viewers' jokes and opinions, rather than an explanation from Gosling. A few seconds of footage can suggest surprise or confusion without establishing either one.

The award itself was clear: I'm Just Ken won Best Song. What made the clip travel was the gap between that announcement and the expression caught on camera, a moment people could attach to situations far beyond an awards show.