Ever since I could remember I have known who Taylor Swift is. Every girl I’ve known in school is absolutely obsessed with her and would be considered a “Swiftie.” However, I’ve never really listened to her. Even if I have been asked to listen to that 10-minute song over a million times. Spoiler alert: I’m never going to listen to it.
I walked into the movie theater with an open mind when I went to watch “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.” I like to study very famous people and see what’s different about them from me. I probably should’ve done some more research before I went to this film though. Considering nobody told me I was entering a two-and-a-half-hour-long concert of songs I’d never heard.
This was an experience that I didn’t think I would ever have. I knew it was going to be weird when I was the only guy in the theater surrounded by girls that had glitter on them like they just left a 2nd-grade classroom. As the concert begins, people cheer in the theater and immediately start singing along. It’s cool that the rules of the theater didn’t apply so it felt like an actual concert, but I just felt so awkward.
As I looked around the cinema, I noticed everybody around me had on merch from the tour. This is when I realized most of the people here went to the concert in real life, they just came to watch this for another experience of it. Taylor Swift knows how strong her fan base is and knows they will all pay more money to see the concert again. Honestly, it’s smart business and explains why she is so successful.
This led me to question what makes her so famous with such a big fanbase.
To me, it feels like Swift has been famous forever and there is no true starting point to her success. One reason she has such a wide fan base is because she’s had a song in pretty much every genre of music possible. This allows people who wouldn’t really listen to her to still like some of her songs and become fans. She also just seems like a normal person who just happens to be famous. I think for many people she seems more realistic than a lot of famous people and somebody you can actually relate to.
Even though I didn’t know most of the songs in the concert I could tell how people would relate to a lot of the lyrics. I even found myself finding a few metaphors that I thought were very clever. So I could see how you can transfer into a fan very quickly.
Occasionally, a song would play that I knew when I was a little kid and only listened to radio music. It was a little moment of nostalgia but besides those being good karaoke songs, I had no interest in hearing them again.
I could see how any “Swiftie” would love to watch this film, but anybody else would dread watching it. I would be lying if I said I was always paying attention and not bored out of my mind. I tried to learn something about Swift I didn’t already know, but I didn’t feel like I really got anything personal from her.
After the show, I called some people who watched it elsewhere to hear some different opinions. They all had the same thing to say: “It was such an amazing concert.”
This film is great for her fans and is going to make her a lot of money. Personally, it didn’t make me a fan of her music or change the way I look at her. I’m going to stick with watching actual movies in the cinema and listening to Taylor Swift when I’m out for a karaoke night.
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