Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” music video is crushing records left and right, but it’s also stirred up more than its share of controversy.
Despite the song’s indisputable popularity, some people have taken aim at the singer herself over the video. Among other, less repeatable things, Taylor has been called “manipulative.”
The video’s director is responding to those criticisms, and he’s pointing out something that we, at least, hadn’t considered. …
First and foremost, let’s be clear about why some people don’t like “Look What You Made Me Do.”
It’s because, for the most part, those people don’t like Taylor Swift.
Part of that is overexposure. Taylor was absolutely everywhere from late 2014 until Spring of 2016.
The saying “familiarity breeds contempt” is truer for no one than it is for celebrities. Especially female celebrities.
(Just look at how young Americans viewed Hillary Clinton during the “Texts From Hillary” meme era, and compare that to how some of them had turned on her by 2016 — though, to be fair, Hillary had a lot more going after her than some Kim Kardashian Snapchats and some angry tweets by Calvin Harris)
But, of course, Taylor got hit with some social suckerpunches — from Calvin Harris, tweeting in a way meant to “expose” her.
For some reason, people who should have known better took an embittered ex, one who now regrets those tweets, at his word.
And then Kim Kardashian shared some shadily recorded and conspicuously edited Snapchat videos of a phone call between Taylor and Kanye, that made it appear that Taylor hadn’t told the whole truth.
Countless fake fans turned on her, calling her a “snake.” Taylor retreated from the spotlight until very, very recently.
She even experienced fallout with members of her squad, some of whom had divided loyalties.
The “Look What You Made Me Do” music video is filled with symbolic commentary.
Joseph Kahn directed the absolutely stunning “Look What You Made Me Do” music video.
He also ran the show on “Blank Space,” “Bad Blood,” and “Wildest Dreams.”
We’d point out that, on top of being a frequent collaborator of Taylor’s and clearly knowing what he was doing, he was a perfect choice for “Look What You Made Me Do.”
This song is, conceptually, a combination of “Blank Space” (commentary on Taylor’s perception in the media) and “Bad Blood” (Taylor laying out her feuds and reveling in the support of her squad).
Kahn is aware of how polarizing Taylor’s song is and of the criticisms and insults that have been lobbed at Taylor Swift herself.
And he’s not having it.
Yesterday, Joseph Kahn took to Twitter to point out the sexist lens through which people view the singer:
“If I plan something as a man I’m a ‘genius.’ If Taylor as a woman plans something she is ‘manipulative.’ Double standards. This is wrong.”
People want to see Taylor Swift as some sort of villain.
And maybe she is — but, if so, she’s one of those intriguing Disney villains that you rooted for as a child because they were both more interesting and relatable than the protagonists.
There could definitely be a powerful element of sexism to this.
(In fact, we’d be surprised if there isn’t — dating back to how people leapt to Calvin Harris’ defense after the two fo them broke up)
There’s more to it, though. Some people think that, by standing up for herself and coming back for revenge (through artistic expression), Taylor is doing the wrong thing.
Fortunately, Taylor Swift — by releasing such polarizing material that will be talked about no matter what — has played the system in such a way that she wins whether people love her or hate her.
Gotta love a woman with a Xanatos Complex like that.
