Billie Eilish is Not the Bad Guy [OPINION]

Since the release of Don’t Smile at Me in 2017, Billie Eilish has continued to make headlines. Earlier this month, the young star announced her first arena world tour and it sold out almost immediately. Eilish is also being predicted as a top contender for the 2020 Grammys. Yet, despite her massive success, the 17-year-old has received some backlash for not only her music but her looks and behavior as well.

“If you hate yourself, this song is for you.” This is how Billie introduces “idontwannabeyouanymore,” at her shows. The song comes from the singer’s first EP, Don’t Smile at Me, which is responsible for catapulting the young teenager into international stardom. If you’ve ever been a teen, you might be familiar with the looming self-deprecation that rings throughout the song. It’s about comparing yourself to Instagram models and picking at your flaws. “idontwannabeyouanymore” was only Eilish’s first attempt at capturing the dark side of an entire generation.

Because of her out-of-the-ordinary fashion choices and willingness to let a tarantula crawl out her mouth for the sake of a music video, adults tend to dismiss Eilish as either an industry plant, the product of a seemingly spoiled generation, a teenaged brat or all of the above. They fail to see past the grandiose diversions that are oversized t-shirts and music videos that could actually be horror films. They fail to do the one thing young people actually need from them; they fail to listen.

As perhaps the biggest child star the music industry has produced since Justin Bieber (who also happens to be one of Eilish’s biggest inspirations), Billie has become the newest face of Generation Z – who are up against Millennials for the title of America’s “loneliest generation,” – a generation manufactured by its own harshest critics.

Eilish is the rebellious teenager who refuses to fit into a box and encourages everyone else to resist along side her. The singer is known for wearing gothic accessories and baggy clothing, which she attributes to avoiding sexual objectification by the media. She frequently dyes her hair crazy colors such as blue, purple and neon green. She’s vegan. She is the physical embodiment of the current youth culture that most people born before 1985 just can’t wrap their minds around. Forget that the girl can actually sing, she’s got green hair and is killing the dairy industry!

Billie is authentically and unapologetically herself, which resonates with her peers and fans. Instead of repressing her feelings and sulking in silence, or as Baby Boomers would say, “pulling herself up by the bootstraps,” Eilish uncovers the anxiety, depression and fears her generation experiences.

On her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, Billie took a deeper, darker dive inside the mind of a Gen Z’er with a child-like imagination. The song “bury a friend” is written from the perspective of the monster under her bed, but it’s later revealed in the song that she herself is the monster (read: her own worst enemy). The track “listen before i go” is an ode to suicidal ideation while songs such as “you should see me in a crown” and “bad guy” ooze ego. “all the good girls go to hell” is about climate change. It’s easy to miss the true meanings behind Eilish’s biggest hits as they’re disguised as upbeat pop songs – a reflection of the paradoxical manner in which Gen Z’ers use social media to express their concerns on global issues yet present their lives as otherwise flawless. Although she’s young, Eilish seems to have a mature understanding of the political economy behind one-upping strangers on the Internet.

To today’s young people, Billie Eilish is everything they want to be. They don’t want to conform. They don’t want to “suck it up” and do as they’re told. They want to be taken seriously. Young people love Billie because when they listen to her music they feel heard and acknowledged. Eilish’s music is a haven to the misunderstood, the chronically lonely and the frustratingly fed up. She is only one of the many teenagers pioneering for social, cultural and political change on a global stage (see Greta Thunberg) by resisting the status quo. Adults should watch out.