The Misinterpretation Of Olivia Rodrigo

By Julia Stitely
LinkedIn

In her recent interview with Rolling Stone, Olivia Rodrigo praised Michelle Zauner’s memoir Crying in H Mart as one of her favorite books, calling the book “fantastic” and stating it “fucking destroyed” her. A part of the book discusses the complexity of being Asian in America and especially being Half Asian, Half White, which Olivia is, and not fitting into a binary of either White or Asian. 

Rodrigo’s discography has always connected to teenage girls but especially girls of color. On her first album, SOUR, songs like “Jealously Jealously,” “Drivers License,” and “enough for you” have lyrics that emphasize Rodrigo and other women of color’s pressures of the Euro ethnic beauty standard. 

In Madison Foote’s in-depth article, “Olivia Rodrigo Is Filipino, and Why It’s a Big Deal,” she examines these lyrics through the lens of being a woman of color and the comparison between white counterparts. Specifically, in Rodrigo’s breakout hit, “Drivers License,” the lyrics “And you’re probably with that blonde girl/Who always made me doubt/She’s so much older than me/She’s everything I’m insecure about” propels the comparison that Rodrigo is making to her ex’s current girlfriend who is White. However, the media made assumptions that the song was about the “Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter and Joshua Bassett” love triangle, taking away from the focus of Rodrigo’s heartbreaking lyrics. Sadly, the rumor took front and center of her debut album instead of just focusing on Rodrigo’s insecurities. 

This steams into her second album, GUTS, which has already garnered critical acclaim. When asked about who her song “Lacy” on her sophomore album is about, Olivia Rodrigo answered that “Just all my songs are about me and just how I feel. I don’t know.” 

In response, Zoe, the Twitter user, @adorkablyswift wrote: “Olivia Rodrigo is a half Filipino girl who grew up in a predominantly white area of the US where the beauty standard has been blonde hair blue eyes. Lacy is most likely about her feelings of not fitting into that beauty standard.”  

The song “Lacy” is about Rodrigo comparing herself to “Lacy,” who has “skin like puff pastry.” The emphasization of her white skin tone and Rodrigo’s choice of words like “worship you” and “you poison every little that I do” creates a jealous tone of not fitting the standard. However, many White viewers have taken this song to queerwash and assume Olivia’s sexuality. Not only is it dangerous to assume someone’s sexuality and feel like that information is entitled to anyone except the person themself, it is careless to erase the racism that people of color, especially women of color, have to face due to White beauty standards but also the beauty standards of being a woman. 

“Pretty isn’t Pretty” could be said to be Jealously, Jealously’s cousin. In “Jealously, Jealously,” Rodrigo directly compares herself to people she sees on the internet: 

All your friends are so cool, you go out every night

In your daddy's nice car, yeah, you're living the life

Got a pretty face, a pretty boyfriend too

I wanna be you so bad, and I don't even know you

All I see is what I should be

Happier, prettier, jealousy, jealousy.

However, with “Pretty isn’t Pretty,” it’s more about the world around and those standards that are created. The chorus of the song is: 

When pretty isn't pretty enough, what do you do? 

And everybody's keepin' it up, so you think it's you

I could change up my body and change up my face

I could try every lipstick in every shade

But I'd always feel the same

'Cause pretty isn't pretty enough.

There’s still a comparison between the expectations but moreso, Rodrigo blames those expectations more than the people that showcase those thoughts. 

The ways we relate and interpret songs can be different from each other. That’s the beauty of interpretation. However, sometimes interpretations can take away from the main message from its lyrics of the song and allow for assumptions of the artist.