papershields

[papershields]

I just want to say that amidst all the wonderful theories and references everyone has found in the #LWYMMD video, I think I've found what the ravens/crows at the beginning are doing when they fly over the graveyard: Those birds represent the media, who scavenge for meat alike crows and ravens, pick apart artists like Taylor till all that's left is the corpse of the now dead "Old Taylor". They cruelly pick her apart; skin and flesh, sinew and bone and what's left in the world are thousands of buried identities of many struggling artists murdered by the harsh reviews from the media. Aside from saying that Taylor has "slayed" and that she's a queen, (which she totally is btw), what I think Taylor wants us to understand the most is that apart from being able to recognize all the references she makes, sometimes by taking things apart, we fail to see the bigger picture which in this case is clearly what the media has done because of the way they reviewed her video as "immature" for trying to bring up feuds. LWYMMD shows us the *sheer arrogance* of the media to think that they know Taylor just by taking lyrics of her songs out of context and trying to draw references to other situations. We know this from the last scene where some Taylor stands out of focus behind the 15 other Taylor personas. When I see the media "calling her out" for using references, its just sad. Why criticize Taylor for using samples and drawing inspiration from a variety of artists out there? Isn't pastiche one of the most flattering things an artist can do? From what I know, Taylor is one of the few artists who doesn't conform to what's "trendy" right now but continues to sing heartfelt songs and what more can we ask from her? We've seen and grown together with Taylor and I'd gladly relate to one of her songs rather than the majority of songs streamed on the radio today which can be summed up with one word: indulgence. Indulgence in drugs, sex, alcohol and partying. What better role model could we ask for? (: I think this is too heavy for a place like tumblr but I take Taylor's music SUPER SERIOUSLY and that's all... @taylorswift , thank you for everything. It's an absolute privilege to experience the art you produce. With Love, a Swiftie. <3