Billie Eilish unveiled her powerful short film, Not My Responsibility. The video originally debuted during the singer’s Where Do We Go? World Tour, which was postponed in March due to the COVID-19 crisis.
In the affecting clip produced and written by Eilish, the singer is seen alone in the dark wearing a black hoodie. As she recites her vulnerable, revealing words that slam body shaming and judgmental behavior, she slowly disrobes before sinking into water. She starts by saying, “Do you know me?” and asks a series of questions about how people perceive her and may want her to be and act. “Would you like me to be smaller? Weaker? Softer? Taller? Would you like me to be quiet? Do my shoulders provoke you?”
“We make assumptions about people based on their size. We decide who they are. We decide what they’re worth,” she concludes in the clip. “If I wear more, if I wear less — who decides what that makes me? What that means? Is my value based only on your perception? Or is your opinion of me not my responsibility?”
On Tuesday, Eilish commemorated Peggy Lee’s 100th birthday during a panel alongside k.d. lang and Black Pumas’ Eric Burton, as part of the Grammy Museum’s virtual exhibit and events surrounding the late artist’s centennial birthday.
