Me v. Taylor Swift v. The World

Those of you who know me a bit have experienced my waves of anti-Taylor Swift posts and pictures. And I'm asked many times, "why do you hate her?"


The answer is simple: I don't! Really! But I do hate on her, which I think is a profoundly different thing. Since it's her birthday and she is once again older than me, I feel like it's my duty to clear the air.

Lemme 'splain to you. 

When T. Swift first burst onto the scene, I liked her stuff. Her first album, Taylor Swift, came out in 2006. I think the first song I heard was "Tim McGraw," and I watched the video on Great American County that summer, between World Cup soccer games. 

That was the summer before my junior year of high school, and coincidentally I began teaching myself guitar that year. In my search for simple songs to play, I found many Taylor Swift songs that were in my skill set and vocal range -- "Tim McGraw," "Teardrops on My Guitar," "Our Song," etc. 

When I found out that she is a mere eight months older than me, I felt a little miffed. Here I was, dragging my awkward self through high school, and this girl with her simple lyrics and chords was a hell of a lot richer than me. Taylor, of course, rose to fame before Bieber and Gomez and Lovato and 1D/The Wanted, so I think it's safe to say she was one of the first artists around my age that I really listened to. Thus, this was one of the first times I realized that people my age and my skill level are richer than me. 

Back in those days, I was a better singer. And I've gotten lazy in my guitar skills, so there's no real excuse. BUT I couldn't help be a little jealous.

Also, as a kid I listened to some great 90s country. Reba. Faith. Shania. Dixie Chicks. In high school, I loved Gretchen Wilson and Miranda Lambert and Garth Brooks. So as much as I liked Taylor's first album...well...it didn't really feel country to me.

It especially didn't feel country when "Love Story," her first single off of her sophomore album Fearless, was remixed for pop radio. Gross, Taylor. Really? And what was with the Romeo and Juliet metaphors? EVERYONE KNOWS THEY DIED AT THE END.

I began getting annoyed with Taylor around the second album. The sappy lyrics. The pop remixes. The advertisement deals. The famous boyfriends. People said she was a great role model for little girls. I thought, why? All her songs are about relationships and needing men and being lost in fairy tales. Women don't need to hear sappy love songs or sad breakup songs. They don't need Romeo and Juliet to compare themselves to. They definitely don't need any queerphobic lyrics (they're in the first verse). 

They need to hear that they're powerful. They need to hear that they're beautiful. They need to be independent.

When Kanye West stole that microphone from her in 2009, her career really took off. She won country awards at the Grammys and at the CMAs, I think, because people felt sorry for her. People defended her, and Kanye still hasn't lived down the moment where he insulted America's pop princess. It was rude, absolutely. But everyone rushed to Taylor's defense and it landed her a ton of awards. My personal favorite, Miranda Lambert, got snubbed in favor of someone who was crossing over into the pop realm.
So, I wrote a column for my college newspaper (it's on page 6). Here's an excerpt:

"...it is my firm belief that if girls 10 years younger than you come and scream at your concerts and request that your music be played at their grade school dances, you become dangerously close to losing your place in any real genre. Add in the fact that your music videos are played constantly on MTV and VH1 and that your songs have been remixed for Top 40 stations, and you have lost your country crown. You have now been shoveled into the cliché, synthesized, bubble gum, and dangerously addictive brand of music we like to call "pop."Other poppish country artists are come to mind, but none of them are as widely worshiped as Taylor. It's like she's Miley Cyrus, only better and more prolific.Taylor cleverly tried to prove that she was a country artist by writing a song reminiscing about her life as a younger girl at the age of "Fifteen." Country artists live in the past. They thrive on their breakups and the innocence of their childhoods. Plenty of other country artists have written the proverbial adolescence song: Brad Paisley with "Letter to Me," Carrie Underwood with "Don't Forget to Remember Me," Jason Aldean with "Laughed Until We Cried," Miranda Lambert with "The House That Built Me." All respectable country artists.Taylor, I hate to break it to you, but writing a song about when you're 15 is only cool when you actually are 15 or when you're 35 and reminiscing about it. Not when you're 20."

AND OH, THE HATE I GOT. I went from upset to amused in the span of several minutes as people ripped apart my post. Called me dumb, called me wrong, told me I sucked, defended Taylor, etc.  I thought it was fun! I put the same blog on The Huffington Post, and got plenty of other comments on how bad my writing style was, etc. And again, I was a bit upset at first and then I realized how fun it was to criticize someone whom everyone else adores.

 And oh, how they adored her. Boyfriends and fans and awards committees. Speak Now, her third album, featured songs that were very clearly about several of her exes. People thought it was cute and clever that she would be so bold to call out John Mayer.

 I just thought it was bitchy.

 But she kept on winning awards. Billboard Woman of the Year in 2012. A Grammy for Best Country Performance (really?!) and Best Country Song (...REALLY?!) in 2012. She was Entertainer of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards this year (......). On and on, more awards, more honors, and she still acts like she's so damn surprised every time. 

Now, though, I think people are getting a little sick of her serial dating behavior and her kitschy little melodies. Two of her most recent, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble" are just awful, horrifically repetitive and whiny songs. People are starting to make fun of her for dating everything that moves. And you know what? That's good. Because every public figure deserves some criticism. It makes them humble. Keeps them on their toes. As for Taylor, I will continue to let the critical words flow. For one, it's fun. For another, I don't think her songs are very "country" or, frankly, very good. For another, I'm kind of jealous. And for the last, there are so many good artists out there. Like, SO many. And they don't just rely on bad breakups to make their money. They write lyrics that empower women, and lyrics that are certainly a lot smarter than the ones you find on a Taylor Swift album.

POC and LGBT in shows I watch (or lack thereof)

I'm having an interesting conversation on FB about how few black or gay people there are in the video games and shows I watch. I think I've said this before...but for real, Hollywood? UNDER-REPRESENTED. There are hardly any other ethnicities, either. These are the things I do.

• The Walking Dead - zero gay, multiple of like two or three black people alive at all times.
• The Vampire Diaries - one dead evil gay dad, light-skinned black people who usually die because they are all witches.
• Glee - don't get me started, there are hardly any black people and they all have terrible story lines. The writers only pay attention to one group of gay people.
• Rizzoli & Isles - one of the main protagonists is black, and they have one minor black character (who is pretty much a stereotype). Aside from the subtext, not too much gayness. 
• Buffy - a groundbreaking lesbian couple, BUT ALSO a ton of white folks. Except for Principal Wood, who is a badass.
• Sherlock - everyone is white, no gayness except when they mention ALL THE TIME that people think Watson and Holmes are a couple.
• Resident Evil series - no gay people, the only main black protagonist in RE5 is basically a sex symbol...
• Assassin's Creed series- Leonardo Da Vinci is the only gay person I know of. I can cut this series some slack because many events take place hundreds of years ago. But, on the other hand, the main group of present-day protagonists are all white folk.
• Dead Island - two of the main protags are black, but there isn't really much of a back story to 'em. No gay people that I know of.

Artsy fartsy awesome things

Check out Let's Go Lesco Photos!

We all love small businesses, eh? A friend of mine who lives in South Wales has been developing a collection of paintings and photos, and she's having a special deal for the holidays! A portion of all her sales go to charity this month.

She has photos of nature (and also of beautiful humans) from around the world, and has also designed a few cute cards. Her shop is on Etsy, so you know it's good. :) Find Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/whatever cards at a great price.

Plus, she is 100 percent LGBT friendly. Gotta love it!

For the lesbians. :)

For the gay dudes. :)

Britney Spears IS America: The Femme Fatale and the land of the free

Original published 7 April 2011

Updated 2 December 2012

With the release of her seventh album, “Femme Fatale,” in 2011 and her successful stint as an “X Factor” judge, Britney Spears has once again proven her worth to any dissenters. Many wrote the pop princess off as another failed teen star, as her personal struggles from 2004-2007 made her the subject of tabloid news. But Britney’s journey -- no matter how many children, shaved heads and marriages it has taken – has picked back up again (for the record, I think that count is 2-1-2, with a third marriage planned).

She celebrated her 31^st birthday today, and I honestly think she’s just going to keep getting stronger and stronger. And Britney’s triumphs and failures parallel that of another young superstar -- the United States. Yes, the land of the free itself: once a young upstart, now the most powerful country in the world. The past 13 years have been instrumental for Spears and for the US, and it’s a bit strange how closely the two stories are connected.

The 90s were when Brit-Brit burst into the scene. “...Baby One More Time” was released in 1999. It was a sexual album, something unique. And the American people love getting sexual...after all, it was in 1998 when Bill Clinton was charged with the Lewinsky scandal. 2000 brought some more controversy. Bush v. Gore, of course, and the question of how the Florida voting system got so badly screwed up. But also that sneaky Britney wearing lewd clothing, grinding around and corrupting the minds of our young children. For shame!

Of course, 2004 was when all the shit hit the fan. The American people started to think the war in Iraq was an unnecessary campaign started by a war-hungry president. Popular sentiment about the war and the government began to take a turn for the worse. And in Britney’s world, things weren’t going well. 2004 was the year she married her childhood friend Jason Alexander in Las Vegas, annulled the marriage 55 hours later and got engaged to Kevin Federline three months after that. Yikes.

Those following years weren’t very good, either.  Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. The economy went into a decline as the housing bubble collapsed, and the Great Recession began in 2007. Britney had kids, checked into rehab and shaved her head. In this time of tumult, economic uncertainty and attacks on the paparazzi, how would America and its pop princess pull themselves out of a deep rut? Change was needed.

And change came.

Barack Obama won the 2008 election on a campaign of hope and, yes, change. He seemed like just the right person to steer America out of the recession and get troops home

.

Also in 2008, Britney Spears released “Circus,” one of the fastest-selling albums that year, to much critical acclaim. It seemed as if everything on both sides of the spectrum would be all right. The next few years were indeed a circus for all parties involved. A media circus took place around the Obama family and everything they did, from Barack’s controversial healthcare bill to what school Sasha and Malia picked to Michelle’s clothes and right down to what they would name that cute little dog.

Britney’s circus was on her 2009 “Circus Starring Britney Spears” tour. With a gross of U.S. $131.8 million, it became the fifth highest-grossing tour of the year. She was also a part of the hit television show “Glee.” An entire episode was focused on her music and her influences in the American pop scene (they attributed another one to her in 2012).

Through 2010 and 2011, the circus was still in full swing, but it shifted a bit. Obama wasn’t the most popular guy on campus anymore, and new Republican senators and congressmen began to make some changes of their own. The media is still as aggressive as ever.

And Britney? She released “Femme Fatale,” an album with a different sound than her past projects. “Hold it Against Me” gave Spears her fourth number-one single on the chart, and made her only the second artist in history to have two consecutive singles debut at number one (Mariah Carey was the first).

 

There were also plenty of changes this year. Brit has been in the spotlight most recently for her work on “X Factor” with Simon Cowell, Demi Lovato and LA Reid. And she is very happily engaged to her former manager, Jason Trawick, whom she seems to have a very happy and healthy relationship with.

The US, of course, wrapped up a presidential election – no matter who wins the presidency, there are always some big changes nationwide. But we decided to continue our own relationship with Barack Obama – that, or he is our own personal “X Factor” winner. You can pick how you want the extended metaphor to go for that one.

There are a lot of things in the works for B. Spears. She still has some trouble shaking off her past, of course. Critics won’t let her forget those marriages or her paparazzi attack, and there are a few lingering court cases or custody battles that we seem to hear about every now and then. But she seems to be on the up-and-up lately and getting her career back in the swing of things.

A lot is in store for the US, too, as we head into Obama’s second term. The economy is still struggling a bit, and the government has a lot on its big ol’ plate. But jobs are returning, slowly but surely, and I think there is still some hope for this country to get back on its feet.

It sure has been a wild time for Britney, and for the country she calls home. And to be honest, who really knows what the next few years will bring? A new president? A new marriage? Some more racy clothes? We can only wonder. And, of course, we can only hope...hope that two of the biggest young celebrities in the world will keep entertaining us for years to come.