"I can’t believe BARBIE didn’t win production design and costume design": Fans outraged by Greta Gerwig's movie snub at Oscars 2024

Barbie, the first live-action movie of the franchise directed by Greta Gerwig in 2023, had won viewers over with not only its concept but also its intricately designed and decorated set as well as the costumes of all characters, especially Margot Robbie.

The fans of the movie highly appreciated the attention to detail that went into designing the movie’s sets and costumes and were understandably expecting it to win after it was nominated at the Oscars for Best Product Design, Makeup & Hairstyling, and Costume Design.

However, on the night of the Oscars, it was revealed that Emma Stone’s Poor Thing won the award instead, beating other nominations, including Barbie, Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Napoleon. The production set of Poor Things was designed by James Price and Shona Heath and decorated by Zsuzsa Mihalek.

Following the announcement, many of the fans have taken to X to express their disbelief at the movie not winning any awards at the Oscars.

---

Netizens outraged by Barbie being “robbed for costumes”

Margot Robbie at the movie's premiere in Mexico, 2023 (Image via Getty/Hector Vivas)

Jimmy Kimmel, the fourth-time host at the Oscars 2024, who is infamous for “poking fun at several Hollywood hot topics” during the award ceremony, also targeted Greta Gerwig for not receiving the Best Director Award for the movie, according to Variety. The host said:

“Now, Barbie is a feminist icon, thanks to Greta Gerwig, who many believed deserved to be nominated for the best director tonight. Hold on a second. I know you’re clapping, but you’re the ones who didn’t vote for her, by the way. Don’t act like you had nothing to do with it.”

Meanwhile, the announcement of Poor Thing as the winner of the Best Product Design, Makeup & Hairstyling, and Costume Design at the Oscars left many netizens outraged. Some of them claimed the movie was “robbed for costumes,” while others called the awards “rigged.”

Here are some of the X reactions about the same:

The production set of the Margot Robbie starrer movie was designed by Sarah Greenwood and decorated by Katie Spencer. Greenwood and Spencer drew inspiration from Palm Springs’ mid-modernist architecture to design the Barbie Dreamhouse. Peter Weir, the director of Dead Poets Society, was also consulted by Gerwig to help create the Barbieland as an “interior soundstage world.”

Jacqueline Durran was the costume designer for the movie, having previously collaborated with Greta Gerwig on Little Women. The designer noted the Barbie dolls as "a very useful way to look at different ideas of femininity: what that means, who owns it and who it's aimed at" and reflected the idea in dressing the movie characters.

Durran and her team crafted 15 color combinations to build the costumes to match the preferred setting. She also adapted them closely with certain past iterations of such dolls, including the 1993 Western Stampin’ and the 1194 Hot Skatin’ dolls.