Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry

I am a 56 year old mom and have been captivated by Billie since I first heard Ocean Eye's. I watched this because I wanted to know more about her. I wound up seeing my own daughter's struggles reflected in Billie's. I teared up more than once. This documentary (aside from watching this amazing artist) showed me that as parents we need to be more in touch. Our children are dealing with a lot these days, and it's so important to validate their feelings and individualism. Their mental health is at stake. I'm so thankful for Billie's willingness to share her vulnerability with us.

Billie Eilish is navigating life as a superstar. She's a BRILLIANT performer, writer and director. She's infinitely compassionate and completely dedicated to her craft, fans, and family. She's also an INCREDIBLY complex, insecure young woman enduring tremendous physical and emotional pain. She also happens to still live at home with her Mom and Dad, JUST like a "normal" teenager. Aside from touring the globe and being pursued by paparazzi and flocked fans to whom she is SO generous, on any given day, she could be just another Justin Bieber adoring fan, BUT she isn't, and this glimpse into how she handles this life is BRILLIANT. A must see look at an AMAZING young woman and her family.

I'm equal parts too old to empathize with this personally and yet 100% convinced that Billie rules. Much like her music, this is an endlessly compelling documentary whose intimacy makes you feel like you're watching a friend. It's a cliched comparison in pop music, but there's a Cobain-esque quality to her, particularly in her wrestling with pop iconography. That comparison is unsettling (seeing how Cobain's life ended), but this immersive everyday epic is far too committed to the moment to be that pessimistic.

My husband and I learned tonight watching this documentary that we need to to let go of judgment, let go of frustration, let go of all of it and just love our kids and support our kids. This was an amazing journey, Billie's, Finneas', her parents', and ours. We will be forever grateful, things change now. Aside from that, it was really a great documentary.

It's refreshing to find an artist that is truly authentic, has genuine talent, and despite reluctance, fatigue, and the pressure of having to go on in spite of how she may feel, goes on and on. I always been impressed by how much of herself is on display. She has near total control of her image. She isn't being pushed into a corner by style gurus and managers, and when she does get pushed she pushes back and they listen.

What we have here is an unapologetic eye on her world, the creative process, the ups, the downs, and all the bits in the middle. She's unapologetic about her openness, and that she doesn't have a team of songwriters makes her music all the more special. And it is special, Finneas and Billie O'Connell represent a serious threat to homogeny that is modern pop music, and I'm not sure this is all pop music anyway. Baring one's soul is not in keeping with today's twee world of obvious party lyrics. There's a depth to the lyrics that makes them accessible in a number of ways.

The documentary was well done, and every bit as informative as any we've seen without the need for a narrator or a narrative. It's just Billie and Finneas, raw and mostly unedited. The support they both receive from their parents is lovely to see. I only recently learned that Billie is two weeks older than my daughter, and it was then that I could see some of the parallels of what she is going through. Her mother said it best. It's easy to ignore or write off what our kids are saying, but we can never know their difficulties or their pain points. They're growing up in a totally different world to the one I experienced at that age. It's always going to be difficult, but there's a lot more exposure to everything now. Maybe it's a part of evolution, too. I don't know. I just saw some spooky parallels and heard Billie saying some stuff that I recognize from being around my own kid.

Nevertheless, while I'm not what you would call a fan, as someone who dabbles with music, music production, and understands a fair bit about the process of songwriting and production, I take my hat off to these two. They make it seem effortless.