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pettyandprettyblog-blog · 7 years

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Let’s Talk About Taylor Swift

It’s about time we talked about the fake, money-grubbing, white supremacist, anti-feminist, Katy-Kim-Kanye-Clavin-John-Jake-Nicki-Spotify-Apple fighting, man-eating, snake, sheep, selfish bitch, (did I miss any descriptors?) that is more commonly known as Taylor Swift. What’s that, you say? You’re sick of hearing about her? You’re tired of seeing her fake face all over social media? Oh, honey. I’m sorry, but she is just getting started and I am so here for it. Allow me tell you exactly why.

Personally, I was never a huge Swiftie or “stan” (I literally just Googled what “stan” meant. It means overly obsessive fan if you wanted to know), but I always listened to her music. In eighth grade, when the Fearless album came out, of course I listened! “You Belong With Me”, “Love Story”, “Fifteen”--those songs spoke to me as a fresh adolescent, ready to embrace the world of social mayhem one mismatched converse shoe at a time. The boy you liked but never liked you back, the boy you loved and knew you were going to marry, the blind hope that your freshmen year of high school would be charming and romantic and pure and lovely and not just awkward and disappointing (SURPRISE!! No one escapes the fresh hell that is the first year of high school).

But I digress.

The Old Taylor Swift, I guess that’s what people are calling her now, could tap into your soul. She somehow knew what you were suffering through and could sense your deepest dreams and desires. Even those of us who weren’t “stans” could be caught singing along to “Mine” during the car ride to the movie theater with the girls and Kayla’s mom in the big, black suburban. We all knew every word. I had friends who went to her performance in Maine at a church after finishing her filming of a music video. It started raining and she kept singing. It was a whole thing with the rain and such. I had other friends who went to each one of her tours from the flagship Taylor Swift Tour to the new and improved 1989 Tour. I personally attended the 1989 Tour in Massachusetts. Gillette Stadium was filled to capacity with tens of thousands of screaming and crying men, women, and children. Even I shed a tear during her throwback to “Fifteen”, standing with my best friend since sixth grade who had seen me through the good, the bad, and the ugly (not necessarily in that order). Taylor would stop and look around the stadium in awe. Her face, projected on the massive LED screen, would make direct eye contact with every one of us and then she’d transition into her next banger. She made you feel like she knew you. She’s talented, I’ll giver her that. It was certainly an experience.

Along the way, I feel like I always noticed people clapping back at her but it never really registered. I always brushed it off as another celebrity feud, another meaningless piece of exploitation or mindless positioning by the media. When the whole thing about Taylor and Kanye’s “Famous-gate” happened, I remember thinking it was funny. I, too, called her a snake. Better her than me #taylorswiftexposedparty (hiss, hiss). I thought Kanye and Kim were being kind of mean, but I didn’t care. Not that much.

Not until now.

After the drama with Kanye, she disappeared. Radio silence followed for approx. three whole years until the $1 Lawsuit. Maybe some people kept track of her movements or her rare appearances in public places, but I didn’t. I listened to 1989 just like a lot of people, a slightly bigger fan than I once was, thinking it was her best work to date and wondering what kind of music she would do next, IF she would do anything else. I also wondered what kind of scandal she would be apart of this time, what version of Ms. Swift would be revealed in the chaos. Then, just a few weeks ago, she deleted EVERYTHING. Website? Gone. Instagram? Gone. Twitter? Tumblr? Gone, all gone. “IT’S ALIVE!!!” The world screamed. The words of Lord Baelish from GoT echoed in my ears, “Chaos is a ladder” and Taylor Swift is scrambling up that shit. She stirred from her hibernation. What was she going to do now? Was she hacked? And she’s back on Spotify?!

Then came the snake. An actual, bonafide snake video that Taylor posted on Instagram. People were taken aback to say the least. General excitement, theories, awkward laughs, shrugs, silence, and comments about how the snake-dragon was kind of scary, followed her posts. I, on the other hand, was jacked. I sent updates to like all my friends and would sit and refresh Taylor’s Instagram for a few minutes at a time just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. After all, time makes the heart grow fonder. Or is it distance? Idk same thing. The album art popped up with Taylor looking edgy in black and white. The classic New York Times-I Feel Like Pablo-esc font and color scheme graced the cover’s presence. “Wow,” I thought.“ Reputation. She’s going after Kanye with this one.” The too-tight choker, the ripped sweater, the dark makeup, slicked-back hair, this Taylor looks different. Unprecedented. Badass.

Taylor Swift released her newest single, “Look What You Made Me Do”, last Friday. A few friends and I stayed up until late Thursday night to get a first listen. We drank wine and streamed Ye Olde Taylor Swift while we waited for the single. When it dropped, the universe lost its collective shit, Spotify kept cutting out, and we listened to the song four times in a row. Two of my buddies didn’t like it. They said that the New Taylor was bad, that they missed the Old Taylor Swift. Her music was better. I disagreed. This is Taylor Swift. What’s to differentiate Old from New? She just is who she is.

After listening to the song about five-thousand, three-hundred, and twenty-six more times and then watching the following music video nine-hundred times more, I realized this: a lot of people were super upset about this “New Taylor Swift”. I know. Groundbreaking. But then I thought about why, just like my liberal arts education wants me to, and I came to a conclusion. People dislike change. Especially those who feel as though they have a personal stake in whatever or whoever is changing. People loved the Taylor that tapped into their souls and understood their plight of loving people who love them or don’t love them or kind of love them. In “Look What You Made Me Do”, Taylor Swift focuses on other people in a completely different way and she mostly does it for herself, to build herself up. That selfish bitch! But wait. Doesn’t Nicki Minaj do the same thing in Monster? What about Katy Perry in Swish Swish? How about all the countless male artists like Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Drake, etc. who do the same thing? All of them are different stylistically but they all tend to put across the same message, don’t they? That message being: Fuck. You. Taylor would hide little tidbits like that in the past, but her current one has neon arrow signs, black leather, chainsaws, whips, and Grammy’s that get that message across like a flaming garbage fire. She is finished with everyone’s bullshit and she will do whatever the hell she wants.

I also have my own theories. I don’t believe in a “New” or “Old” Taylor Swift. I believe in Taylor Swift. Each one of us changes and develops in different ways as we get older. Our viewpoints can/should change, our personalities shift, we move places, we meet people and lose old friends, and, hell, we can develop allergies to gluten and lactose. So what if I said one day, “No, sorry. The old me is dead. She wasn’t allergic to anything before but now she can’t eat ice cream without getting the shits, so new, shit-stained me is here to stay.” Charming, I know, but ultimately untrue. I’m still who I was in literally every aspect. I’ve grown. I look older. I have different opinions and thoughts. But I’m still me. My image is simply what I choose to put forward to other people. I exist on a continuum. I didn’t just stop one day and become a whole different version of myself.

Going along with the whole image theme, let me enlighten your asses about a little thing called business acumen. Taylor Swift is a BRILLIANT businesswoman. She times her music and tour releases for optimal moneymaking and can extend her reign for up to three years worth of Taylor tomfoolery. There is also something to be said about musicians and their use of imagery to create hype and gain followers (much like a cult leader tbh). But this is why I’m so into her right now at this moment like never before. The whole premise of “Look What You Made Me Do” is how imagery and bad press (although Taylor Swift takes bad press and turns it into record breaking hit singles) has driven her to her peak of success. “Oh look what you made me do! I’ve won Grammy’s and lawsuits. I have millions of dollars, loyal fans, a squad of friends, and two lovely cats.”

Since she was a mere fifteen year old girl, singin’ in Nashville, people have been all over her for one thing or another saying she can’t be that nice, or look that surprised all the time, or date that many people, etc. “Look What You Made Me Do” is her way of saying “you know what? I’m never going to be perfect in your eyes so why should I try? I’m a product of what you all think of me and that will never change so I will become the stereotype and throw you all for a loop.” In “Look What You Made Me Do”, she quite literally just BECAME the headlines. I know this is a very different artist who operated with a totally different message but I’m going to do it anyway. An 80’s pop star/model/actress/general badass and current goddess named Grace Jones had/has a similar plan of attack. If you don’t know who she is, you should Google her ass immediately. She pushed the boundaries of stereotypes and what people thought of her to the point where she became the stereotype and that was her whole thing as an artist. Sounds familiar right? (*cough* Madonna *cough* Lady Gaga *cough* Nicki Minaj and so many others *cough*).

We saw the start of this “Become the Stereotype: Grace Jone’s Method for Financial Success” in 1989. “Blank Space” portrayed Taylor as a man-hungry, black-widow queen who lured unsuspecting males to her massive mansion only to chew them up and spit them out like a piece of Juicy Fruit Gum after five minutes. And again, we saw it in “Shake It Off”: the girl can’t dance for shit (although it seems like she been taking lessons because she busts a fuckin’ MOVE in the LWYMMD music video) but she can sure mom-shimmy with the best of em and she does what she wants.

I’ve taken up too much space, but the moral of the story is this: don’t judge someone by what they did when they were younger or what you think they should be. If I were judged that way, people would forever see a pockmarked sack of hormones with little talent but above average hand-eye coordination. Let Taylor be. She said that the Old Taylor couldn’t come to the phone right now because she’s dead, but she is certainly, very much alive. We criticized her for not being “country” enough. Then we judged her for not being “pop” enough. Now we’re judging her for being a “snake” and presenting a different set of thoughts and sounds. Just because she was young once doesn’t erase everything she’s said, or done, or sung, but she’s evolving. We’ve been telling her to change her whole life. Let her do it now.

It’s what we all wanted her to do anyway.

Wasn’t it?

-A

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