BROADCAST DATE Sun., 01/21/24 | 11:05 p.m. | The first
It explodes all dimensions. “She’s not very successful,” says Howard Carpendale. “She’s extraordinarily successful. It’s unbelievable. She has around two billion streams. That’s a quarter of the entire world’s population.” 151 stadiums: sold out. Your concert film: a blockbuster. Your albums: at number 1 longer than Elvis. Taylor Swift is the first pop musician to be named Time magazine’s Person of the Year. Reason: no one has changed the world like she did.
The artist in times of uncertainty
“Look at America right now,” says Carpendale. “It’s pure chaos. You can’t believe in anything anymore. The truth isn’t being told. And I think Taylor Swift was obviously, with her very normal appearance, basically very human. And she was there at exactly the right moment. “
Taylor Swift. The artist in times of uncertainty. Virus, war, inflation, grief, fear of life. “Personally, I read it more as home,” says Philipp Ruch from the Center for Political Beauty. “As someone who builds something stabilizing like an oasis of well-being or a home in a world in which a lot of things are unstable and in flux.”
Fans camp for weeks for good concert spots
Taylor Swift likes to dance through fairytale worlds in her videos. In reality, she is a strong person who sets boundaries where they are necessary. “I like that she takes a very clear stance where necessary, that she doesn’t answer interview questions that she finds sexist,” says Collien Ulmen-Fernandes.
“She was asked in an interview whether, now that she’s turning 30, she might want to retire and have children. And she said, ‘That’s a very sexist question. I’m not answering.'”
Swifties: a global sisterhood
Sao Paulo. Before the stadium concert. Their fans, the Swifties, camp out for weeks to get a front row seat or, like 70,000 in Seattle, cause an earthquake by jumping around. “I’ve been a big fan of Taylor for a long time,” says one girl happily. “She has always been an inspiration to me and I see her as a second mother. But my mother is the best,” she says, hugging her own mother.
Another young woman is also euphoric: “Taylor Swift has accompanied every part of my life. Each of her songs has a different meaning for me. I am totally touched to be here today with the person I love.” A Swiftie ritual: swapping friendship bracelets. The letters form words from songs, record titles or the names of Taylor’s cats. A global sisterhood.
Classic, almost old-fashioned storytelling
“She is a great role model for many women, precisely because she makes herself independent of exploitative circumstances,” says performance artist Philipp Ruch. She got her songs back from the music industry. Through which? She simply recorded them again. Taylor Swift tells her life and her songs like a series.
“How do you deal with love when it passes. How does it feel when you go back home to the class reunion,” is how cultural journalist Joachim Hentschel describes her song themes. “Simply a classic, almost old-fashioned story.”
Your song lines stick
She presents herself as an anti-heroine. Lively, in love, approachable. And: She writes her songs herself. A sharp pen and thin skin are all she needs. “I think that’s her strongest lyric: ‘Have you heard that I hide my underlying narcissism through altruism?'” says Collien Ulmen-Fernandes about the song “Anti Hero”: “Did you hear my covered narcissism I disguise as altruism.”
Collien Ulmen-Fernandes explains why: “I find that an incredibly exciting idea because that’s something that she’s been accused of. That she’s only the ‘Good Girl’ because she’s actually totally narcissistic and because it’s from a narcissism “It’s because she wants to be liked by everyone. I feel like a lot of her lines make you get stuck on them and think about them.”
The best friend of two billion people
In 2006, Taylor Swift started doing country music. Conservative politicians tried to co-opt them. A misunderstanding. “When she positioned herself against Marsha Blackburn in the Tennessee election, there was this statement from Trump where he said he liked Taylor Swift’s music 25 percent less,” says Collien Ulmen-Fernandes. “And you could feel how happy she was about it. She was taken over by the other side for years, didn’t comment on it, but was positioned more on the Trump side. In that sense, it was of course an even bigger statement because she said it very clearly : ‘Guys, I’m on the other side.'”
Taylor Swift pokes fun at rednecks and celebrates the LGBTQ community by starring queer stars. “It’s political. I think that’s great,” says Howard Carpendale. Taylor Swift is like everyone’s diary. She is the best friend. Of two billion people.
MOVIE TIP
“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour”
USA 2023, Regie: Sam Wrench
AMC Int / LUF Kino
Author: Andreas Krieger
As of: January 21, 2024 7:58 p.m
2024-01-21 22:07:13
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