Taylor Swift’s The Eras Film: Is It Time to Shake It Off?
Photo courtesy of Wikicommons.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour hit international cinemas last weekend, reaffirming her position as the leading popstar of the moment. There is no denying her power in the music industry today. With nine albums (six of which being re-recorded in an attempt to reclaim her master copies), the ongoing global Eras Tour, and now a concert film for fans who did not get tickets (of which there are many due to the highly controversial Ticketmaster saga); Swift undeniably works hard to maintain her position as a leading figure in the industry.
The film, directed by Sam Wrench, has a run time of 2 hours and 48 minutes (some fan favourites from the original setlist were cut) and is a true celebration of her artistic versatility and the breadth of her repertoire. Swift released the film in record time through bypassing Hollywood studio negotiations and directly partnering with cinema theatres. This did not go unnoticed, with acclaimed director Christopher Nolan recently commenting that it showed that “if [the studios] don’t want it, somebody else will”. Swift’s move paid off, with The Hollywood Reporter reporting that the film made $92.8 million domestically and $123.5 million globally over its international release over the 13th- 15th October weekend.
Swift is undoubtedly at the top of her game right now. And as a huge Swiftie myself, in no way is this article an attempt to tear her success apart. But when, if ever, will this media obsession with her (fuelled by fans who want to analyse her every move) abate? There’s a fine line between appreciation and obsession. With some Swifties, they tend to conform to the latter. The parasocial relationship Swift’s personal life and music has with her devoted fans is an extraordinary phenomenon. Her lyrics are heavily deciphered to draw links between her past and current relationships, and paparazzi shots of her (staged, of course) are widely filtered through social media and analysed.
Considering Swift as the woman who has built such an extensive catalogue of successful music, I don’t care for her dating life. At least, I try not to, but the information filters its way to me anyway: any conversation with a Swiftie will invariably turn to the gossip of her personal life.
Now, following her split with actor Joe Alwyn (hesitant as I am to contribute to the speculation of her love life), we see a marked departure from her previous guarded privacy within her relationships. Her current romance with NFL tight end Travis Kelce is so widely discussed that most broadcasters, including BBC News, quickly published a breakdown of their first public outing. Swiftmania is, seemingly, inescapable.
I wonder when the conversation surrounding her will simply surround her music because surely the music is what we should be focussing on. The cultural relevance of Swift, who has been in the spotlight since the release of her debut album Taylor Swift at the age of 14, has arguably reached stratospheric heights that seem practically impossible. But surely the joy of an artist’s music comes from listening to it without speculation, as this in itself impacts the way in which the art is consumed.
Swift herself has been vocal about the distinction between her work and personal life: songs across her albums reference her taut relationship with the media: Sweet Nothing (from 2022’s Midnights), Peace (from 2020’s Folklore), The Lucky One (from 2021’s Red [Taylor’s Version]) and most notably, Blank Space (from 2014’s 1989), all point to the struggles she has faced with the media, and how fame has impacted her private relationships. That being said, following the release of her 2022 album Midnights and the launch of her Eras Tour, there appears to be a significant departure from this privacy and an increase in her publicity. She certainly doesn’t need it: everyone knows who she is.
In any case, any music she releases in the future will undoubtedly be greeted with great acclaim, and Swifties, both obsessive and not, are Ready For It. And they won’t have to wait long: the highly anticipated rerecording 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is scheduled for release on the 27th October.