I have not always been a Taylor Swift fan Okay, scratch that, I've somehow acquired each of her albums as they've come out and enjoyed them, so maybe that's not entirely true. I suppose what I mean to say is that I haven't always been open or comfortable with liking her. This was especially true when she said she wasn't a feminist, and is still a little true because even though she's embraced feminism now, she's still definitely a classic White Feminist and is problematic in many areas.
Still, I've got to say that I really, really enjoy her music. I like her newer albums a lot better, particularly Red and 1989 (Red is still my favorite thus far though). I will happily listen to her songs if they come up when I put my iPhone to shuffle, and will even seek out her albums to play to sing along to in the car.
So, naturally, I'm excited for Reputation, which drops in November. There's been a lot of hubub about this album, and people really want her to address things like her celebrity feuds and her silence during the 2016 election. A lot of people seem to expect her to apologize for all these things, but to me, that makes little sense because she doesn't owe the public anything and she's going to put out what's going to sell and be popular, if we want to get really cynical/realistic.
I'm not embarrassed or ashamed to be excited for Reputation because I don't care about all the stuff I just talked about. I don't feel like celebrities need to get involved in politics because I don't really care what they have to say, since it's not their area. It's different when it comes to feminism I suppose, but other than that, I could care less about a celebrity's social agenda. When it comes to musicians, I'm there for the music, and that's really what matters most. I still listen to Lana Del Rey even though she says feminism doesn't "interest" her, because I just like the music. I think it's okay sometimes to separate an artist from their personal beliefs if you like their work, and I don't think people have to be ashamed to like something even if they don't agree with an artist's views or the general public consensus about the artist.
Basically, I just don't think that celebrity opinions on things matter that much. I'd rather hear opinions from real people who don't live lives that are so outside of the norm that they probably don't understand the impact certain issues have on real people. Plus, I couldn't care less about celebrity feuds. People don't like each other in real life, and people who are celebrities don't have to like everyone either.
In short, I'm excited for Reputation because I like Taylor Swift's music, and I'm going to be judging whether I like it or not based on if the actual music is good, not all the nonsense around it. Sure, it might be important to understand the context around art, but when it comes to pop music, I just want to be entertained and have fun listening to it. So, when November rolls around and Reputation drops, I'm going to have fun blasting it in the car on the way to work, singing it in the shower, and not care about the haters and just shake it off.
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