Dear Taylor Swift,
Now Taylor, I like you just fine. I think it’s sweet that you started writing songs and then realized somebody else was going to be singing them and had a (very nice and polite I’m sure) hissy fit about it and insisted on singing them yourself. You also tend to act your age– bravo!– you stay out of the media limelight, and you consistently wear clothes. Pants and all. Unlike some starlets we know. Yay!
You also write songs about age-appropriate subjects, you don’t straighten your hair, and you are seriously pulling off that red lipstick. You’re a romantic in an age of cynics and pop-psychotherapy and I personally know lots of people who cannot change the station when you come on the radio and buy your music. One friend after a break-up kept trying to get everyone we know to recognize how truly deep and honest your music is. These are all good things. These are all great things. You should be proud of yourself (I’m sure you are).
I’m sorry Kanye West went all madman on you last night at the VMAs (I wasn’t watching, but Facebook status updates kept me informed, thank god because otherwise I might have missed it and what would I have done then besides brushed my teeth and gone to bed like normal and not wasted extra time on Facebook…). As one friend captured it so succinctly, “Kanye = not classy. Beyonce = classy.” I’ll throw in here that Kanye is also a nutjob, an egomaniac, and incapable of believing he has to play by the normal rules of polite society because he’s super-rich and has a God/Tupac complex. I bet he and Tom Cruise are besties.
But you, Taylor Swift, you won last night! Best Female Video of the year award. Over the beautiful B, who then was lauded with Best Video of the year, and I didn’t watch so I’m going to stop talking about things I know nothing about.
I did go online this morning to this YouTube thing (have you heard of it?) and watched your video that won, “You Belong With Me.” Now girls…all of you out there…did this ever happen? Did you ever exchange notes with the football hero that lived next door late at night, and then magically have him fall in love with you at prom? In fact– did that guy you had a crush on in high school who never really talked to you ever turn out to be worth your time/attention?
Here’s a bigger question. This one’s a toughie. Are you ready? If you looked like Taylor Swift and all you ever had to do was take off your glasses, wash your hair, and put on a dress to be a princess…would you have waited until prom to do it? How many of you felt transformed at prom? Like all your dreams came true? How many of you even liked prom once you got there?
Here’s the next question. How much harm is Taylor Swift doing to young girls by encouraging them in these dreams? Or are we all going to have them anyway and they’re part of going through high school, and in fact they form some sort of helpful delusional armor that shields us?
I believe, Taylor, that you weren’t cool in high school. In fact, I believe that you mostly missed out on high school, being a megahit superstar that travels a lot. A lot of celebrities or very successful people weren’t appreciated in high school, and it probably helped them get going as they looked for recognition from other sources besides seventeen-year-old boys (or girls).
However– you were and are incredibly beautiful. And that has definitely not gone unnoticed at your high school or elsewhere. And now you have incredible clothes (and you always did have that body). I bet you are nerdy, I bet you are smart, I bet you are quirky and weren’t a cheerleader and spent more time with your head in books with your headphones on than you did drinking before pep rallies. But– but! You are one of the princesses. Amazingly handsome men (and millions of teenage boys) say your name on a daily basis, photographers give you the best light and angle, and everybody is indulging your romantic fantasies. You are working your butt off, it’s true, and hustling like nobody’s business, but it’s fairy tale time. Which means I’m having a little trouble buying the gigantic glasses in the video that do nothing to hide your flawless skin and gigantic eyes (sigh). Though I do like the oversized T-shirt from middle school and baggy-butt pj bottoms.
And I should probably also admit that I’ve yet to change the radio station when “You Belong With Me” comes on. And I still feel like I’m in high school sometimes, so maybe I shouldn’t expect you to move on and get over it so quickly.
I don’t think I have a point. Congratulations on your win. Best of luck with your career. I’m not buying that unpopular thing, given your popularity.
Stay nice. We actually do like the nice ones.
Best,
MM
