Since I have maybe 3 people that read my blog, I can honestly say I’m not writing this post for “Taylor attention.” For those of you that might be reading this, have an open mind. I’m not going to try to turn you into a Swiftie, I promise.
It’s been almost a week since Taylor Swift released her 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department: the Anthology. Yes, I have listened to it all. No, I have not listened to it a hundred times. I am not the fan that tries to analyze every word of each song and dissect them down to specific moments in time or the possible people they may be referencing. I have never listened to any other Swift album in its entirety. I know the words to a few of her songs and a handful of songs have made it on my streaming collections.
I have seen many mixed reviews on different social media platforms, and online publications from the smallest publisher to the most well known. One article referred to Swifties as a “different breed of stan army.” I guess you either love, hate, or don’t care about the album or Swift. People’s indifference to TTPD or Swift doesn’t bother me. There’s music/artists that I don’t listen to, and quite frankly don’t care to listen to for a multitude of reasons. Here is what bothers me, the hate, the degradation, the belittling, the hostility…… and it comes from both side, Pro-Taylor and Anti-Taylor.
The hate I witnessed from NFL fans was ridiculous. This woman is going to watch her boyfriend play football. She didn’t ask to be put on camera. Grown ass men complaining about seeing seconds of her on camera. The sad part of this, many (I didn’t say all) of those men probably have daughters that love Taylor, and they had to hear their dads complaining about her. Instead of taking the opportunity to watch a football game with their daughter, teach her about the game, sportsmanship, maybe catch a glimpse of Taylor, and ask their daughter why they like Taylor, they chose to complain and say nasty things. It’s sad really.
I think both sides need to open their eyes and learn a thing or two. Taylor Swift is a great songwriter, performer, business woman, and role model. Taylor is not a God. The people who have wronged her do not deserve death threats. The trials she has gone through are real, just different from what us normal Joes have to endure. She is a person. She is goofy sometimes. She bakes and spends time with her cats. She dances in her living room with friends. She loves her family. She has a job. She is just out there for the world to love, hate, criticize, or praise.
My suggestion to all the haters, the non-fans and the super-fans: to the non-fans, change the channel, swipe past the reel on social media, press skip on your streaming music, turn the page in the magazine. To the super-fans, if someone doesn’t like Taylor’s music or Taylor, just ignore it. Both sides need to stop giving away their energy to people who don’t deserve it.
Kindness doesn’t cost anything. Kindness won’t raise your blood pressure. Kindness doesn’t cause you to waste your time on the unnecessary. If anyone wants to intelligently debate why she is the best or the worst, that’s fine. Your name calling and ugliness only show your ignorance.
“No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.”
-Taylor Swift
Sweet Peas In Summer 