FROM THE DEPUTY EDITOR

If there’s a theme for this week’s Canvas, it could well be never judge a book by its cover. It might seem like a dated metaphorical refrain trotted out by parents and teachers to get us to be less judgmental (and kinder) to others — which we should be, because never judging a book by its cover — or, in this day and age, a person by one social media post or photo — is truer than ever. Just ask the two Billie/billys featured here. That’s Billie Eilish, the 17-year-old who’s the biggest thing in music right now (trust me on this as a parent who tried to get tickets to her Auckland concerts) and Billy Porter, the nearly-50 African American LGBTI+ star of stage and screen. Despite the gap in their years and life experiences, the message they want heard loud and clear is: don’t judge, define or pigeonhole us — or anybody else — by one look, one utterance or one outfit.