I have yet to fully listen to Oliva Rodrigo’s GUTS album (I have album anxiety), but videos of her on tour have been flooding my For You Page (FYP) and I’ve literally never been so excited to open TikTok. Will I go to the concert? Absolutely not. Will I wish I was there? Probably every day until the videos stop showing up on my feed, and maybe even a week or two after that.
The artist just turned 21. She celebrated her birthday by purchasing cigarettes and beer at a gas station simply because she could, which, frankly, is so iconic. With this change alone, it’s abundantly clear that Rodrigo is not the same performer she was at the beginning of her career (obviously) and that her audience is intended to have aged up with her (again, makes sense).
The problem with this is that people, parents to younger children especially, seem to be confused about what kind of music Olivia Rodrigo makes and what her performances are going to be like based on those songs.
I haven’t seen any videos from the parents myself, but I’ve seen TikTok Stitches and other people’s commentaries talking about the responsibility parents face to do their research and not just assume that because someone is relatively young and a Disney Channel alum, their show or music will be child-friendly. Some parents were asking for a clean version of the tour, and others were just upset that they spent money on the tickets when they found it “inappropriate” for their children to see.
Based on my heavily conducted research (a couple of hours on TikTok), I’ve been able to piece together what the parents probably have the most issues with, besides the curse words. There are a couple of moments during one of the shows where Rodrigo is performing her song “Obsessed” and the choreography gets a little sensual, and again when she sings “Brutal,” but it’s not crazy or inappropriate at all. Unless of course, you’re nine. Then maybe it is.
There’s also a super slay bra reveal done during “Get Him Back,” which honestly, I will be recreating when I perform in my room for my pretend audience. Her whole performance is giving bedroom performance with a hairbrush, and I can fully get behind that.
All the comments are along the lines of “she’s 21 now and it shows,” and “she’s so hot” (true). Nothing about the album (from what I’ve heard) screams “This is for children,” so I kind of see where the mix-up occurred, and I kind of don’t.
Yeah, Rodrigo’s young, but also not that young. Also, she isn’t affiliated with Disney Channel as a performer anymore, so is she really responsible for making her shows kid-friendly? Would anyone be asking this of her if she wasn’t a former Disney Channel star? Is this what happened to Miley Cyrus all over again (“Wrecking Ball” was very controversial with parents in its time)?
I don’t think her music isn’t family-friendly, but I’m also not a parent, and maybe stuff changes when you’re older. Is it G-rated? Oh no, absolutely not. That might be too much to ask of an artist who is coming into herself as a performer and making a giant name for herself.
Would I let my hypothetical nine-year-old go to this concert? Probably. But my nine-year-old is going to be super cool, so it’ll be fine. I don’t really see anything inappropriate about the show, but I’m almost 21 and grew up on Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and Kesha, so what do I know?
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