The British Phonographic Industry hosted their annual BRIT Awards, featuring artists like Charli XCX, Billie Eilish and beabadoobee on March 1. Pop princess Sabrina Carpenter opened the show with a mashup of her hit songs “Espresso” and “Bed Chem,” with bits and pieces of “Rule Britannia” played in the background.
Her performance was incredible, from outfits, to vocals, to dance moves. Carpenter has become a global sensation following the release of her sixth studio album, “Short n’ Sweet,” which won Best Pop Vocal Album at this year’s Grammys.
However, many viewers were taken aback by her performance, with a total of “825 complaints to media watchdog Ofcom, with the majority involving Sabrina Carpenter’s pre-watershed opening performance…” according to the BBC.
I find these complaints to be completely unnecessary and outright stupid. Carpenter’s music is known to be a bit raunchy and she is known to embrace her sexuality. What else did the audience expect? If they were that turned off by it, they could have physically turned off the television. It’s that simple.
Most of the “Short n’ Sweet” album is flirtatious and contains sexual innuendos — I mean one song is literally named “Juno,” a nod to the 2007 film of the same name about a pregnant teenager.
Audiences should not have been shocked by her suggestive show given these factors, and I also don’t see why she is under so much heat for it — Madonna and Britney Spears did these same kinds of performances years ago.
I understand that this type of music or show is not for everybody, but that is why we have the ability to control our media consumption. As mentioned earlier, if you don’t like the performance, turn it off.
We also live in an age where we are able to research topics so fast and with such ease that it shouldn’t be a surprise that her performance would be provocative.
I found this same issue following the “Barbie” movie. Parents brought their children to see it expecting a simple movie about a doll, but left upset about the content it explored. An effortless search would have revealed the film to not be exclusively for kids — but that’s Hollywood’s fault, right?
Expecting an artist whose brand involves a lot of sex to change their image to suit personal tastes is entirely unrealistic. Carpenter has always been like this and I commend her for sticking to that — getting mad about that now just because you let your kid watch it is ridiculous.
ajones11@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @sabrinaaccess, X
