“Another Simple Favor” has teens talking, lots of young people are turning the volume down to zero, and it’s Mother’s Day, but are moms… okay? To hear Kate’s pitch for rebranding motherhood, check out our Roundtable podcast, available now! But first:
Song of the Week: “Ribs” by Lorde
While Lorde is busy promoting her new album Virgin, it’s one of the songs from her 2013 album Pure Heroine that has been gaining popularity. Lorde helped define the melodramatic and understated genre of indie pop we hear from the likes of Phoebe Bridgers and Lizzy McAlpine—so teens in 2025 will recognize her sound. The song “Ribs” is a haunting lament about losing the innocence of adolescence in the transition to adulthood, a sadness many teens might be feeling as the school year ends and those transitions begin to feel more real. For the lyrics, you can click here.
And now for our three conversations…
1. #blessed
What it is: As Mother’s Day approaches, Ashley Hales reflects in Christianity Today on the commodification of motherhood through social media.
Why moms will resonate: Some in our culture say motherhood is a prison, or a trap set by the patriarchy. Pop singer Chappell Roan, for example, recently said she didn’t know any people who have kids and are happy. Others say it’s a paradise—with “momfluencers” online making it look like having kids is a nonstop joyride where the lighting is always perfect and nobody ever cries. When “prison” and “perfection” are presented as the only two options, it’s no wonder U.S. birth rates are declining. One way to honor mothers this year is to admit that motherhood is work—albeit spirit-forming, richly rewarding work—and that we can’t expect to see all the fruit of that labor within our lifetime. Hales writes, “Christian parenting is about continually pointing to Jesus as the author and perfecter of our faith, clinging to the reminder that he who began a good work in us and our children will complete it.”
Continue the conversation: What’s the best thing about your own mom?
2. Yet Another Simple Favor
What it is: Another Simple Favor, starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, centers around a villainess named Emily’s fake wedding in Capri—and involves a deeply uncomfortable character arc about incest and assault.
Why it’s raising eyebrows: Another Simple Favor is the sequel to 2018’s A Simple Favor, in which Emily (played by Blake Lively) faked her death, killed her twin, and turned suburban mommy drama into a murder mystery with elevated fashion and cocktails. In this film, it comes out that Emily had a secret triplet sister named Charity who (trigger warning) believes Emily to be her soulmate, drugs her, and assaults her. Later, Emily kisses Charity to manipulate her into taking the fall for murder. This storyline is treated with a wink as Stephanie (played by Anna Kendrick) and Emily casually mock the situation and move right along. Teens (and adults) might be drawn in by the fashion and soapy surprises, but the content recklessly crosses lines that deserve serious discussion (not that we recommend watching it).
Continue the conversation: How do you feel when a show or movie normalizes something that’s actually really harmful?
3. Please Don’t Stop the Music
What it is: Some young people are taking a break from listening to music.
Why it’s happening: There was a time when hearing music required access to an actual musician. Now, the infinite availability of music on apps like Spotify can lead to a paradox of choice, and to a desire to find the “perfect” soundtrack for every moment. Some young people are finding that the ability to completely control every sound they hear is turning into an unhealthy coping mechanism—a way of managing their thoughts and feelings into submission, instead of truly sitting with them. Others find that constantly filling their space with music is making it harder to think clearly. Music is an incredible gift from God; yet as Dazed puts it, “The rise of algorithmically generated playlists and near-constant headphone use means music has often become background noise, something to fill space, not deepen experiences.”
Let’s translate this one further…
There are two kinds of music listeners.
There are those who skip song after song until they land on the one that feels exactly right for the moment—and there are those who push play and then let the algorithm serve up whatever it will (much like the users of that ancient technology known as “the radio”).
These two groups, it could be argued, value music for different reasons. For those in the first group, music becomes a way of trying to control their experience. The primary purpose of music is not to enter into a musician’s interpretation of the world, but to find a sound appropriate to their own current mood. These listeners parse the vast catalogues of creativity on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube to build their own personal soundtrack.
For those in the second group, music becomes more of a thing to surrender to—or an adventure to go on. Maybe a song comes on that isn’t exactly what they would have chosen, or that doesn’t perfectly match their state of mind—but it’s alright, because they’re letting the algorithm (or the album) take them on a journey.
Young people who told Dazed they were giving up music seem to be pushing back against the temptation to use music as continual background noise instead of really listening to it. They recognize music as powerful, and want to treat it as such.
And in that regard, maybe these kids are on to something. Part of what King Solomon did with his God-given wisdom was to write music—1,005 songs, to be exact. If albums have an average of 12 songs, that’s the equivalent of 84 albums from Israel’s wisest king. 1 Samuel 16:23 even suggests that beautiful music can drive away evil spirits. Scripture testifies to music as a powerful, potentially beautiful force in our lives—something worth making, celebrating, and taking seriously. The question is, are we treating it that way?
For more context and nuance, check out our Roundtable podcast on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. In the meantime, here are three questions to spark conversation with your teens:
- How do you think taking a break from music would affect you?
- How can we keep from taking music for granted?
- Do you agree with this description of the two types of music listeners? Is there a third type?
Parenting together,
Evan Barber and the Axis Team
PS: Know someone who could use our conversation starters with their teens? Share the CT with a friend!