The Averageness of Taylor Swift

So, I don't generally dig Taylor Swift - I'm a middle-aged dude - but there's something to be said here for her hands-on approach.

The article can make fun of the "Shake It Off" chorus, but the meaning of a song is rarely found in the chorus itself, the meaning is found in the verse. In this case, the verses are effectively about how she does a whole lot of things all by herself - songwriting, singing, dancing - that other pop stars don't, and she doesn't get credit for working through the whole package.

It's not a joke - compared with most other pop acts, which are largely corporate creations, Taylor Swift seems to be actively trying to take control to make sure that her music, videos, tours, the whole deal, is her creation. That's in no way average these days.

You don't have to like it, but it's real hard to criticize someone who is clearly trying to keep control as an author and, at the same time, clearly moves so many people. I'm not a fan, but shit, I admire it.

National Review really doesn't like Taylor Swift!

As well as this article, it reccommends another that's unhinged:

> https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/06/taylor-swift-is-comin...

> Fact is, at 5 feet, 11 inches, Swift joins the lineup of the criminal cultural avatars Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama, who personify the envious ambition of the masses, earning recognition through dubious accomplishment. Her stilted manner recalls a high-school valedictorian with RBF.

I believe RBF here stands for Resting Bitch Face.