Can't destroy us
We make our own luck in this world
We've got young blood
No one chose us
We make our own love in this world"
Young Blood - Bea Miller
As a self confessed reality TV watcher, the name Bea Miller was familiar to me when I happened across it in my twitter feed a few weeks ago. I remember her from the 2012 season of The X Factor USA - the one where Britney Spears was a judge and the competition spawmedy a fair bit of talent and some entertaining viewing. Bea Miller was just 13 when she came ninth on the season and has this year begun releasing her individual music.
During The X Factor competition Bea - or Beatrice as she was still known then - came across as a bit of a cutie. She had a school girl charm kind of thing going on and was generally a sweet, pretty girl. Well, fast forward just a year and a half and Bea Miller has a whole new look, a darker, edgier look to go with songs which are a little darker too. The YouTube comments section for Young Blood includes some hater comments about her look on The X Factor being preferable to her look now. But personally, I like her new look and it made one thing very clear for me: being cute gets you nowhere.
To be cute means to be pleasantly pretty or delightful in a dainty way. And who would want to be this when you can be so much more than non threatening nice. Cute is what I call red pandas at the zoo or grandparents still holding hands to cross the road. Cute is not what an aspiring singer should try to be - not when you can be a sexy badass singer. We've seen nearly every Disney or Nickelodeon starlet try to break away from the connotation of being cute because being cute is a waste of time. There's no strength or endearing about it, not like the fear in being beautiful or the desire in being sexy. Being cute makes you look innocent and uneducated, and to take on the world in such a manner is foolish.
A few days after I first heard this Bea Miller song I was in a bar dancing with some American girls I'd just met and one of them called me cute. I know she meant it in a nice, complimentary way but I still felt a bit let down. I guess it's because I've had enough courage and strength to make some big life changes and to be called cute feels a bit undermining. I, like Bea Miller, am in a new stage of life - making my own love and luck, not relying on being cute to go through this world.
