"Don't Think About It": Olivia Rodrigo's Serena Joy

Rodrigo’s newest single Serena Joy, released ahead of her first annual Daisy Chain Fields Festival, satirises the contemporary rise of conservatism amongst cishet, white women by drawing upon the figure of Serena Joy from Atwood’s modern classic The Handmaid’s Tale. 

The song opens with Rodrigo’s ‘Serena Joy’ figure announcing that “Yeah, it’s all for the cause”, asserting this idea that these women are blinded by the end goal of their beliefs that they are willing to turn on their own (marginalised women, such as queer women and non-men, disabled women and women of colour) “for the good of us all” and for “the life of [their] dreams”; for a ‘greater good’ that doesn’t actually exist. 

In The Handmaid’s Tale, Serena Joy was a Commander’s Wife, which was the most privileged role attainable for women in Atwood’s dystopia. Throughout the novel, which follows her handmaid, June, she is presented as an antagonist who physically, emotionally and sexually abuses June to further the regime of Gilead. Rodrigo’s Serena Joy gives the listener an alternative interpretation of the character to June’s perspective, which is, obviously and understandably, through the lens of the abuse she suffered. Instead, we are invited to consider Serena Joy’s own motivations, beliefs and dreams, separate from Gilead’s regime. Her privileged position as Commander’s Wife affords her a more forgiving view of the government, as she is not an indentured servant, like a Martha, or a non-consenting surrogate, like a Handmaid. It affords her the ability to turn a blind eye to Gilead’s atrocities; pretend these women deserve what they get; and be grateful that her situation isn’t worse.

But, as Rodrigo states in her song, “If they do it to them, /They’ll do it to you”, ensuring that listeners don’t forget that the position of ‘Serena Joy’ figures in our society is unsustainable. Once the right wing are satisfied with their restrictions on the rights of queer women and non-men, disabled women and women of colour, they will turn on the ‘Serena Joy’s of the world. The truth is – and Rodrigo spells it out for us – that no-one is safe.

The second verse takes a turn, blurring the line between these diametrically opposed groups of women as the distortion in her voice seems to echo and create the impression that this is being shouted by a crowd: “we’ll never give up, /And we’ll never submit”. This could be talking about the ‘Serena Joy’ figure, or, more likely, these could be the voices of all these marginalised women. While conservative women act complicit in their own subjugation, it is these other women who refuse to submit to the patriarchy. The sudden influence of these voices overtaking Rodrigo’s ‘Serena Joy’s narrative represents all these real women in our society fighting back against oppression; including Rodrigo herself.

The end of this new single ironically encourages that the listeners “Don’t think about it” and keep the comfort that their privileged position awards them. The haunting last three lines are the same four words, repeated. “Everything is just fine.” We know that it isn’t, but Rodrigo cleverly constructs this song from the perspective of her own ‘Serena Joy’, who may never fully break free of the hold the patriarchy has on her, serving as a cautionary tale for the rest of us. I couldn’t think of a more fitting message ahead of Daisy Chain Fields, the first festival to feature an all-women lineup.