Sabrina Carpenter returned to Saturday Night Live this past weekend and turned heads with her performance of "Nobody's Son," and not just because of the insane breath control and enunciation the song requires.
The song was staged with a Japanese martial arts-inspired theme. The stage was set as a Japanese dojo with a backdrop of shoji, which are panels made from translucent paper, and on the floor were traditional-looking tatami, which are soft floor mats that a person is meant to either walk barefoot on or with special indoor slippers.
Carpenter's backup dancers could first be seen posing through the shoji, with backstage lighting shining through it, because they appeared on stage in martial arts uniforms.
Carpenter then appeared on stage in a short, sequined dress that was reminiscent of a kimono, with a black belt tied around her waist, which matched her signature black heels and jazz tights.
As Carpenter sang "Nobody's Son," her backup singers were dressed in similarly styled kimono-like dresses off stage-left, while her backup dancers performed martial arts-like moves.
Toward the end of the song, Carpenter was confronted by the dancers, and she broke several boards in half, feigned punching one of the dancers in the stomach, and kicked the other one away, all while still singing, which pulled a thrilled rise from the audience.
You can watch the performance here:
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Though viewers were entertained by Carpenter's live rendition of what's been deemed a challenging song, fellow singer Rina Sawayama, who is of Japanese and British descent, was more concerned about the misappropriation of Japanese culture that happened on stage.
In an Instagram story over the weekend, Sawayama shared a clip from the performance with the text:
"Big love to Sabrina, but fellow artists creative teams... if we are clearly referencing a culture, please can you do so with the research, respect, and care it deserves?"
To drive the point home, Sawayama specifically pointed out how the backup dancers were dressed:
"Shoes on tatami is jail."
Fans appreciated how respectfully Sawayama brought this issue to the attention of creative teams everywhere.
Though Carpenter meant no disrespect to Japanese culture with her performance, and her creative team may have been looking for a playful way to depict the song lyrics, a little research goes a long way in showing proper respect when borrowing from someone's culture.
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