Say what you will about Taylor Swift – she sure knows how to get people talking.
The clip for her latest single, the Right Said Fred-aping ‘Look What You Made Me Do‘, certainly had everyone scrutinising, deconstructing, conspiracy-theorising and throwing shade at the newly-reinvented pop star.
Some of the weightiest criticism has been that Swift is creating drama for drama’s sake (or more accurately, for the sake of selling a bunch of records and concert tickets) – resurrecting a ton of old beefs, sniping at rivals with a pointed video, and generally being calculating and catty.
Well, the director of the ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ clip, industry veteran Joseph Kahn, has some choice words for those critics: that they’re big ol’ sexist meanies.
https://twitter.com/JosephKahn/status/902982023295279104
The response to Kahn’s defence has been mixed. Some people reckon he’s right on the money:
Just had this argument with someone the other day. It’s so true or a man can write a song about his ex & no big deal, but TS does it and…😡
— Christy (@chris_krismutt) August 30, 2017
Spill dat tea 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/19gxFhXqHB
— Khadija Rah (@khadijahrah95) August 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/longliveswift16/status/902985891831877632
But others are suggesting that the invocation of gendered discrimination is just the same old deflection from a woman who’s regularly pulled the white-damsel-in-distress move to avoid criticism.
Taylor has planned a lot of stuff throughout her career and met with praise and acclaim. She’s been hailed a genius before
— Chris Lambert (narrative expert) (@ChrisJHLambert) August 31, 2017
I don’t have a horse in this race, but it seems like ppl always cry feminism/patriarchal system when legitimate dissent is thrown her way
— Yall Not Tired? (@I_said_Uhh) August 31, 2017
https://twitter.com/jennia_adeleine/status/903121368023089152
In the end, of course, it absolutely doesn’t matter. The game has been rigged from the start. Whoever’s right, Taylor Swift still wins.
