OPINION
I don't know how it was for you when you were 18-years old For me, I was searching, excited to be looking towards college, finally leaving high school. Young enough to be drafted to fight in a war in Vietnam, but not old enough to vote. So many emotions swirling inside, yet people viewed me as calm, serious and thoughtful. If they only knew.
That's why I could relate to Olivia Rodrigo. What? you say? A young pop star who mingles with the rich and famous and just got invited to the White House to meet President Biden. What in the world could we have in common?
That's why I could relate to Olivia Rodrigo. What? you say? A young pop star who mingles with the rich and famous and just got invited to the White House to meet President Biden. What in the world could we have in common?
READ the entire Teen Vogue article "Olivia Rodrigo at the Crossroads.'
Even if she wasn't a Filipino American, I still enjoy listening to her songs: the irony, the agony, the ecstasy, the angst of being 18 being on the cover of Teen Vogue. The article accompanying the cover revealed the serious of a young megastar int he making and the swirling emotions she has been able to channel into song writing.
Eventually, the writer asks Olivia about being Filipino American. It wasn't the first time she was asked this question and it most likely won't be the last. But at least, she doesn't try to skirt around the question as if it doesn't matter to her because clearly she has given it some thought.
Comedian Bowen Yang interviewed her for V Magazine and asked her how she views her career as an Asian artist.
“I sometimes get DMs from little girls being like, ‘I’ve never seen someone who looked like me in your position.’ And I’m literally going to cry," she answered Yang. "Like, just thinking about it. I feel like I grew up never seeing that. Also, it was always like, ‘pop star’ — that’s a white girl.”
"Olivia grew up in the late 2000s and early 2010s, when nonwhite pop stars like Beyoncé, Rihanna, and more not only existed but were taking over the charts. To many, her words felt at best confusing, at worst like erasure," said the article in Teen Vogue.
"Olivia has seen this discourse, and thinking about it makes something like anguish cross her face. 'That was really sad for me to see,' she says. “I really feel like my words were taken so out of context ... What I was saying is that it was cool to see girls of Filipino heritage DM me and be like, ‘Oh, it’s so cool to see someone that looks like me, and that’s really empowering.’”
The same question in a Guardian interview prompted a clearer answer:
“It’s hard for anyone to grow up in this media where it feels like if you don’t have European features and blonde hair and blue eyes, you’re not traditionally pretty,” she said then. She’s still figuring out how to talk about race, ethnicity, and having a platform beyond a statement she repeats twice: 'I think representation is all about adding. I don’t think it’s about taking anything away from anyone.'”
As a young girl, (and we have to remember she's only 18) she tries so hard to please the adults around her, the perfect daughter, the teacher's pet. Oh, how I remember that quest for perfection, a trait I'm sure many readers can relate to: trying so hard to get straight A's, being respectful and quite as you are introduced to your titas and lolas.
The Teen Vogue article delves into other aspects of life of the young girl/woman: social media, bullying, other people's expectations and her music.
Olivia -- like other 18-year olds -- is still searching, trying to stay grounded amid the glamor and attention showered on someone so young and talented. I can't wait to see the young woman she is becoming because clearly, she has plenty to say about race and ethnicity and being a woman in today's society.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, observations, wit and references, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd
Even if she wasn't a Filipino American, I still enjoy listening to her songs: the irony, the agony, the ecstasy, the angst of being 18 being on the cover of Teen Vogue. The article accompanying the cover revealed the serious of a young megastar int he making and the swirling emotions she has been able to channel into song writing.
Eventually, the writer asks Olivia about being Filipino American. It wasn't the first time she was asked this question and it most likely won't be the last. But at least, she doesn't try to skirt around the question as if it doesn't matter to her because clearly she has given it some thought.
Comedian Bowen Yang interviewed her for V Magazine and asked her how she views her career as an Asian artist.
“I sometimes get DMs from little girls being like, ‘I’ve never seen someone who looked like me in your position.’ And I’m literally going to cry," she answered Yang. "Like, just thinking about it. I feel like I grew up never seeing that. Also, it was always like, ‘pop star’ — that’s a white girl.”
"Olivia grew up in the late 2000s and early 2010s, when nonwhite pop stars like Beyoncé, Rihanna, and more not only existed but were taking over the charts. To many, her words felt at best confusing, at worst like erasure," said the article in Teen Vogue.
"Olivia has seen this discourse, and thinking about it makes something like anguish cross her face. 'That was really sad for me to see,' she says. “I really feel like my words were taken so out of context ... What I was saying is that it was cool to see girls of Filipino heritage DM me and be like, ‘Oh, it’s so cool to see someone that looks like me, and that’s really empowering.’”
The same question in a Guardian interview prompted a clearer answer:
“It’s hard for anyone to grow up in this media where it feels like if you don’t have European features and blonde hair and blue eyes, you’re not traditionally pretty,” she said then. She’s still figuring out how to talk about race, ethnicity, and having a platform beyond a statement she repeats twice: 'I think representation is all about adding. I don’t think it’s about taking anything away from anyone.'”
As a young girl, (and we have to remember she's only 18) she tries so hard to please the adults around her, the perfect daughter, the teacher's pet. Oh, how I remember that quest for perfection, a trait I'm sure many readers can relate to: trying so hard to get straight A's, being respectful and quite as you are introduced to your titas and lolas.
The Teen Vogue article delves into other aspects of life of the young girl/woman: social media, bullying, other people's expectations and her music.
Olivia -- like other 18-year olds -- is still searching, trying to stay grounded amid the glamor and attention showered on someone so young and talented. I can't wait to see the young woman she is becoming because clearly, she has plenty to say about race and ethnicity and being a woman in today's society.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, observations, wit and references, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd
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