The Daily Tar Heel
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893.
Thursday, March 28, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue

We keep you informed.

Help us keep going. Donate Today.
The Daily Tar Heel

Taylor Swift circles the drain in her new music video

Taylor Swift has taken a dark turn while still attempting, to an extent, to play the victim.

Swift’s new video for her single, “Look What You Made Me Do,” was released Sunday night during the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards. 

The video starts with Swift as a zombie crawling out of her grave, which reads, “Here Lies Taylor Swift’s Reputation" (very subtle).

In the next scene, we find Swift laying in a diamond-filled bathtub while donning “Blank Space” era hair and makeup — complete with long red nails that perfectly match her trademark red lipstick.

Subsequent scenes find Swift drinking tea served to her by a snake, robbing a streaming service, wearing an orange jumpsuit while being held in a bird cage and leading an army of robot women.

The best part is unquestionably the end where several Swifts from various eras (“You Belong With Me,” the 2009 VMAs, zombie Swift, young country Swift, etc.) fight with each other, saying things like, “Stop making that surprised face. It’s so annoying,” “What’s with that bitch?” “Stop acting like you’re all nice. You are so fake!” and, “There she goes, playing the victim again.”

The video concludes with Swift saying, “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative,” an excerpt from her infamous Instagram post about the Kimye drama of summer 2016 — when Swift’s reputation took its biggest hits.

The video as a whole is a lot to take in and hard to swallow. It also comes with controversy, due to the uncanny resemblance to one of the scenes from Beyoncé’s “Formation.” 

“Look What You Made Me Do” is a lot to make sense of, both musically and visually, and one can’t help but wonder if Swift has finally lost it. 

What is she trying to say in the video? 

She’s mocking herself, clearly, but she’s still blaming everyone else and singing things like, “Maybe I got mine, but you’ll all get yours.”

Swift comes across as a 27-year-old child continuing the narrative she “never asked to be a part of.”

"Reputation" is a golden opportunity to turn the tables, stop playing the victim, admit some blame — real or not — and finally grow up. 

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like it's an opportunity Swift is taking. 

At least the music video makes for fun (yet painful) viewing. Watch your one-time favorite pop star go down the drain.


@leah_moore1

arts@dailytarheel.com

To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.