Oscars 2024: Billie Eilish wins ‘Best Original Song’ for ‘What Was I Made For?’
At the 96th Academy Awards, Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell won ‘Best Original Song’ for their contribution to the Barbie soundtrack, ‘What Was I Made For?’.
Greta Gerwig’s film, which stars Margot Robbie as the titular Mattel doll, sees Barbie and Ken (played by Ryan Gosling) leave Barbie Land to discover the comparative horrors of the real world. The highest-grossing movie of 2023, Barbie earned $1.4billion at the global box office, with the release of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer on the very same day helping to boost ticket sales of both much-hyped films.
A journey of self-discovery, feminism, and the dangers of the patriarchy ensues, with plenty of iconic musical moments occurring throughout. From Gosling’s performance of ‘I’m Just Ken’ to a choreographed group routine to Dua Lipa’s ‘Dance the Night’, the movie’s soundtrack is jam-packed with original songs from some of pop’s biggest names.
However, it is Eilish’s song that has taken home an Oscar, beating competition from the likes of Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, who penned ‘I’m Just Ken’, as well as tracks from American Symphony, Killers of the Flower Moon and Flamin’ Hot.
This is Eilish and her brother’s second Oscar win, coming two years after they earned the same prize for the song ‘No Time To Die’ from the film of the same name. They also recently won two Grammys for ‘What Was I Made For?’, including ‘Song of the Year’ and ‘Best Song for Visual Media’.
The song enjoyed viral success on TikTok last year, with users posting videos that aligned with Eilish’s melancholic delivery of lyrics, such as “When did it end? All the enjoyment.”
In a four-star review of Barbie, Far Out argued that “Gerwig has struck gold,” adding, “By using the famed toy as the central allure, Gerwig is able to tell us ‘brainwashed’ cinemagoers of Barbie’s actual meaning and her relation to our actual human lives.”
Is Barbie a musical?
Not entirely. Gerwig’s movie is a comedy-drama with several musical numbers and performances, which sit alongside a star-studded soundtrack, including tracks from Lizzo, Charli XCX, Tame Impala and Nicki Minaj.
Gosling and the other Kens perform ‘I’m Just Ken’ in typical musical fashion, breaking out into song in front of the other Barbies with an overtly camp sensibility. However, Eilish’s track is simply used on the soundtrack as a montage of real women from home movie clips plays out.
The scene which uses Eilish’s song is the crescendo of the movie, with Robbie’s title character learning of the significance of her existence to so many children and adults across the world. Indeed, the scene has become Barbie’s most defining aspect, with this emotional core mixed with the slick comedic edge, making the film such an enjoyable watch.
Listen to Eilish’s Oscar-winning song, ‘What Was I Made For?’ below.
