No one was more confused than actor Ryan Gosling when it was announced at the recent Critics' Choice Awards that his song "I'm Just Ken" had won the Best Song award for 2024.
The song, which was sung by Gosling's character Ken, was full of deliberately overdramatized pathos. Gosling stole the show singing about the emotional plight of the Ken doll, historically a mediocre character who existed solely to highlight Barbie's accomplishments.
The movie was a huge hit over the summer, and Gosling's song became almost instantly viral. So, too, has his reaction to the song winning the Best Song award. Gosling's puzzled face was immediately front and center after the award announcement, so audiences saw as he processed the win in real time, albeit confused and slowly.
People immediately got to work making a reaction gif out of the moment.
Folks were waiting for the memes to drop as soon as the clip aired and went viral.
Some added pre-existing reaction gifs as comparison.
Really, he was in such confused shock that it had to become a meme.
Maybe he thought it was a prank, or he was still remembering the La La Land/Moonlight mixup from years ago?
Or maybe, many people argued, he realized he would have to perform "I'm Just Ken" again at the Academy Awards.
Folks came up with some reasons he might be confused, mostly because everyone thought singer Dua Lipa would win for her song from the same movie, which was also nominated.
Gosling winning kind of missed the point of the movie.
Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, who took to the stage to accept the award for best song, thanked Gosling in their speech.