Phoebe Bridgers was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live this weekend. At the end of her performance of "I Know the End," she smashed her guitar. And it was beautiful and cathartic.
Bridgers' salute to ~rock 'n' roll~ instantly became a meme. First, because her guitar put up a good fight trying not to get smashed.
Phoebe Bridgers trying to break her guitar on SNL
guitar: 1 phoebe bridgers: 0
And then, and mostly, because people were cheering her on. And feeling as if they needed to watch her smash that guitar for their own healing.
me watching phoebe bridgers destroy her guitar #SNL
no thoughts just phoebe bridgers smashing her guitar on snl
Phoebe bridgers breaking her guitar on stage made me feel some things 😰
phoebe bridgers tonight ❤️
The performance did cause some friction online after one person openly questioned why Bridgers would break her guitar onstage. "I mean, I didn't care much for the song either, but that seemed extra," user BrooklynDad_Defiant! said.
People on Twitter responded swiftly and came to Bridgers' defense. Many people pointed out that the guitar smash has been venerated as a rock 'n' roll tradition for decades — when male musicians do it, anyway.
Dudes have gotten very unsure of how to rock https://t.co/L7uij53mBF
so if a man destroys a guitar on stage he's a great rockstar, but if a woman does the same thing she's extra. interesting https://t.co/40FRy8cEn0
One person simply responded, "cause its fuckin cool!!!!!"
cause its fuckin cool!!!!!!! https://t.co/DiemCIOVV1
And the verdict stands: It is fucking cool. Thank you, Phoebe, for smashing that guitar.
Phoebe Bridgers with some big guitar smashing screaming pandemic energy. #snl