Taylor Swift

[ChiefEverythingOfficer]

Please can somebody explain the hype?

I have friends (I am 50) who were seriously sad when they didn't get concert tickets (not in UK) and others who did, who were practically celebrating.

I don't get it. Don't want to ask for fear of looking like a twit.

For context, I have a 16yo DD and she just rolls her eyes and says wouldn't be caught dead at a TS concert. So no help there.

Funny how her flying back to the US is only now got folk talking about her jet use for the superbowl. Celebrities use jets all the time. So do the wealthy. We have private helicopters overhead daily too and from a pretty posh hotel nearby. It’s not a new thing, it’s not just Taylor Swift or Prince Harry that does it.

Oh you have proved my first paragraph so well

You do know quote marks are to represent what someone said and what you have put around quite marks is not what I said at all

But you knew that didn’t you…

How is he stalking her?

Well the flight logs are public on specific websites - I'm presuming FlightRadar etc.
However people who go on these websites tend to have an interest in aviation (there's been threads over the years about this niche interest)
The majority of people aren't really interested in this kind of stuff but putting it all on X (Twitter) is not just showing TS & others carbon footprints it's telling millions of people where these people have been or are.
And you can bet your bottom dollar that there are shedload more weirdos/stalkers on X then there are on FlightRadar etc.

Although lots of celebs are mentioned it seems that it's mainly Taylor that's being singled out.
I can understand why she's pissed off & not just about the stalking issue.

Yes she's the pinnacle example of an extremely high-masking and highly successful ND person. She will slip up from time to time, and announcing her album at the Grammys way probably a worse faux-pas than the Celine Dion interaction. Despite all her success, you still get the vibe she's treated a bit like an outsider. She ends up in the same type of socially awkward moments that ND people have to deal with especially when you need to process so many social cues at the same time and there are cameras recording your every single move and facial expression.

There was also an interview with her mum Andrea about the bullying and ostracism she went through during her school years. The way she answered those questions absolutely convinces me that they knew TS was ND and all those issues were textbook examples of what ND kids go through. It also explains why so many of her earlier songs dealt with feeling left out, being the outsider, and understandably drew skeptics because she clearly "looks" like the type of popular blonde cheerleader that's always depicted as the antagonist in her songs. But I absolutely believe that in real life, kids can sense neurodivergence or masking (the uncanny valley theory) and it makes zero difference how pretty you are.

Interestingly, there was another piece (couldn't find firm proof though) that Travis Kelce has ADHD. If so, that might explain why the relationship works so well as there is no longer the need to mask with each other.

I’m with you (and your daughter). Just don’t get it. Fair play to her though.

If you have Netflix you can watch the Reputation tour and and also Miss Americana TS's documentary included in your subscription. Those two will help you understand her, her values, her performance style and quality. If you are prepared to part with £15 you can watch the Eras tour on Amazon Prime.

Find out about her for yourself! I bet you learn a lot and enjoy it.

I knew not much about her at all, and one night a few months ago unexpectedly had a babysitter so I grabbed a friend and went to the local cinema to watch whatever was on. I would have watched a movie about paint drying I think just for the night out. Well it was the Eras tour! I am now a born again massive Swiftie. I love her.

@PlayDohDots that's really interesting and something I hadn't considered before but I think you might be right.
For all her drjve and professionalism and being stunning and successful, she's also awkward and goofy and shows it.
She's like an overexcited puppy, enthusiastic and not totally socially aware at times.

I imagine she will be feeling mortified about the Celine thing going by how she generally behaves with people and especially other women.

She champions other women, she wants to bring them along with her which I really like. She would massively respect an artist like Celine.

Her public show of support for Sophie Turner when Joe Jonas was really working to create a shitty narrative around her is a good example of that. She didn't need to but I guess she knew what he was like and saw what was playing out.

I'm 62 and I've been to hundreds and hundreds of concerts, from Queen to Aretha Franklin and Taylor's Era's show (I've seen the film) is the most incredible stadium production I've ever seen. Usually stadium gig are just bunch of blokes (usually dressed in black so you can't see them very well), down one end of the stadium.
Taylor does three hours. Her stage pretty much takes up the whole pitch and there are dozens of singers and dancers. She sings live also, which a lot of other people don't. I would love to go to one of the Wembley gigs.

Also, the jet thing. Yes it's an issue and massively polluting but I read she's not even in the top 30 private jet users but she's a target people will get behind.

I'm not sure if she even could fly commercial now. Partly because her tour is massive and they'd use a whole plane anyway I expect but also the privacy aspect. She has had lots of stalkers, people camped outside all her homes and having her own plane is a way to avoid that.

Whether people doing huge world tours is environmentally ok and sustainable is a separate issue but I can't see it changing any time soon.

And what's wrong with being a middle-aged woman? Bloody hell, the ageism on this board sometimes...

Eras is £3.49 to rent on Amazon! (I was a bit out of date in my PP sorry)

Watch it and find out for yourselves!

I don't know anyone female who likes Led Zeppelin, does that make them shit also?

I don't know anyone female who likes Led Zeppelin, does that make them shit also?

Oooh, I like Led Zeppelin and I'm female! Am I alone? They might even be shit for all I know. But I don't care. Because I don't need anyone's approval to like something.

Lol at people thinking her act is genuine. About as real as her titties.

Total "Emperor's New Clothes" in my view. My teen also can't stand her. We were actually at her last concert in London a few years ago (my daughter was much younger then and liked her) and it was nothing special whatsoever. Total hype for no reason (similar to Adele).

I’m in awe of anyone who can cope with a life so exposed.. She has some tropes that she uses in her lyrics - taking a commonly used analogy and expanding it, threading several together. The scattering of clues feels like a similar thing - she likes patterns and to weave threads. I’m not a big fan of the “some kind of congressman” part of the lyric quoted above, that feels like a bit of a slack ending to that particular line but I think the imagery of a song like Seven is lovely. I particularly like the way the chorus has a cadence and lyricism that echos a playground rhyme but the minor key tethers it to the melancholic vibe of the song. I think it’s really clever.

I think it’s interesting that people want to see her as part of their gang. Because she’s been around since she was a teenager and she sings songs that (as has been endlessly discussed) are both very specific in terms of the detail of the pictures painted but universal and therefore highly relatable in terms of the underlying theme, there’s something to connect to for a wide range of people. I read somewhere that her appeal is to be seen as a best friend. My 14 year old DD I’m sure sees her as a teenage girl not a 34 year old woman as that’s what resonates the most for her. My DCs have very different musical tastes but they both like Taylor Swift.

Incel?

do you think her act is AI and that she doesn't spend 3.5 hours on stage?

if you're talking about a "persona", I for one do not give a shit. I'm not convinced posters would be commenting on male singers and their personas.

If she starts lecturing everyone about pollution I’ll be fucked off. If she stops touring and decides as she sits and counts her money then that’s the time for everyone else to scrap their one return flight in the summer then she’d be a massive hypocrite but she doesn’t seem to be doing that.

Don't worry, that wont happen because she never comes down on any side of anything that could be remotely controversial.

I never mentioned her talent or her shows. I actually enjoyed the Eras concert movie. Also been around long enough to remember all the times the veil has slipped.

As for male singers/celebrities and their personas, my god you just have to look at a 'what celebrity have you met' thread on here to know people comment and speculate on them all the time!

I love how aggressive you are defending her, it's kind of cringe.

I find this absolutely fascinating, and fairly depressing that a woman should be held
to account over the behaviour of someone she briefly dated.

The ‘little miss perfect’ trope and general attacks on her morals are widespread and (IMO) significantly more than other artists of similar fame and wealth. It seems that because she has publicly used her money and platform to make some positive ethical decisions and actions she can then be legitimately criticised for everything else she hasn’t done. It’s hard not to conclude that artists come in for an easier ride if they do nothing rather than if they do a few things imperfectly.

@LunaMay "I never mentioned her talent or her shows"

my interpretation of your reference to her "act" is the shows IYSWIM.

i've never read those threads. I'm a "music on all day" person, it keeps me going. I don't really know what my favourite musicians are doing otherwise.

it is always oddly disappointing to me when women talk disparagingly about "titties" etc and we do get a lot of incels on MN.

@EmmaEmerald yeah, i get that. I forget i'm not on a different website where the titty thing was a long running joke.

I find her frustrating but there are worse people for kids to look up to

@LunaMay I forget I'm on MN where someone for the kids to look up to is important.

anyway, I'm glad so many people are enjoying the music and lyrics and shows now.