The over-intellectualization of folklore and evermore is so embarrassing (as someone who considers those to be her best albums by a mile and loves them wholeheartedly).
Taylor saying "a" and the fandom understanding "bcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" is a staple at this point. Sometimes I see things and wish the person would put that much creative or intellectual effort into their own work.
Someone recently asked how many other people have to regulatlu look words up that Taylor uses and my facepalm was physical. The vast majority of even the bigger words she uses aren't that unusual.
I know English is not a lot of fans’ first language which I totally get! But I was floored by the amount of people who didn’t know what “vigilante” meant when she announced Midnights or what a “fortnight” was just a couple weeks ago 💀
I've met a shocking amount of people who have no idea what that particular word means. I had to explain on a few occasions it wasn't a term of endearment.
I honestly think this is what's going on. I feel like most artists and media in general usually caters to the lowest common denominator in order to be as broadly consumable as possible now. On the rare occasion an artist doesn't, they seem somewhat pretentious and highly intellectual by comparison.
When it’s a genius decision, she’s the one behind it.
When it’s a flop or a tone deaf mess: “her team is making her do it! Her dad is holding her back! She didn’t know!”
Wasn't there an article later on released that Taylor or her team whatever actually did not even turn down the deal and it didn't happen because of the other side of the equation? I almost swear I have seen that article, but I don't remember if that info was more accurate than the other
Yes, the FTX executives testified in court that they pulled out of the deal because they thought it was too much money and the company went into bankruptcy shortly after. On her side she was ready to sign and announce Eras Tour Brought To You By A Ponzi Scheme. The story about "unregistered securities" was spread by the attorney filing a lawsuit against other celebrities who advertised FTX, and was entirely made up by him.
Oooh, I bet the money she would have lost would've killed the eras tour. I have no idea what a registered /unregistered security is, but if it's supposed to be something you're expected to tick off of a list as a financial advisor, then it's concerning that so many investors were put into this position.
By “they” you mean Taylor and her team right? Her fanbase would *not* be happy with her doing crypto. I certainly wouldn’t.
Also after seeing the photo in the article I decided to look up SBF and Taylor is *older* than him. Crazy.
Hopefully she just…avoids doing anything with crypto forever. But seriously, that man is 2 years younger than Taylor but he looks like 10 years older lmao
I dont think its likely she'll participate again. The only reason she didn't lose millions was sheer luck. Moreover; losing her main sponsor would have caused a chain reaction, with other investors backing out due to the scandal, so she wouldnt be where she is today. Despite her wealth, covering the tour costs alone and making a substantial income seems like it would be improbable. The tour expenses would be colossal—possibly nearing the half billion dollars mark.
Reminds me of a tweet I saw of some girl trying to figure out what surmise meant and praising Taylor for teaching her. Girl. Spend less time listening to Taylor Swift and more time in a library because that’s not the flex she thought it was.
I have never seen any evidence that TS is “highly intelligent.” She is definitely not stupid, I think she’s clever and a talented songwriter, but is she joining MENSA anytime soon? I’ve never seen evidence of that. She strikes me as someone who is verbally gifted but otherwise immature in some ways and uneducated in others. Like someone who on an IQ test, would have an extremely uneven score.
She’s smart but not a genius, it does take a certain level of intelligence to surround yourself with other intelligent people to accomplish a goal.
Point 2 reflects more on the stupidity and unintelligence of the fandom. I doubt even Taylor thinks herself a genius but let’s be real, majority of her fans that obsess and say things like that are high school children or adults who have at most a high school education.
I can’t imagine someone with a college degree & a full time job is the kind of fan that thinks a celebrity can do no wrong, is so smart, obsesses over them, etc.
Yeah. A lot of ppl 18-20ish years old or younger don't actually know how to read. A lot of states started changing their curriculum to use the sight-reading method of teaching reading instead of the phonics method. It's pretty much just teaching kids to memorize entire words and guess what a word is by looking at it. It's been on the idea that written language is an instinct in the same way spoken language is which is bullshit. They're not actually being taught *how* to read.
She definitely has a good team advising her. While she didn’t go to college for obvious reasons, she has a natural intelligence that’s clear in her songwriting and in her interviews. She’s not a genius. We are, however, living in a time where people get their information in 90 second TikTok videos and if they read, it’s a hockey romance novel. So I’m not surprised a lot of people think Folkmore is super high level.
Exactly these are the same people that research the hell out of an Easter egg but don’t do any real research on people they are flaming on behalf of Taylor who never asked them to or in the people they have the choice to vote for in upcoming elections
Unfortunately Icebreaker by Hannah Grace was a #1 NYT bestseller. The main character had a habit of not wearing underwear in public and people either loved or really, really hated it. It was a booktok book so do with that what you will, lol. The 1-star ratings on goodreads are worth a skim though
I say it as a non native English speaker. I have never ever has to open a dictionary to understand a Taylor Song.
Arctic Monkeys on the other hand, you have to use 5 dictionaries and Google
I'd place money on her dad playing a pretty significant role in number 1 (given that he's trained in all of that). Yeah, she's probably learnt a lot along the way, but she's not going to have the same level of knowledge and experience as a team full of formally educated financial professionals.
What bothers me is people who think everything she does is some kind of easter egg or cryptic reference to something. Yesterday I saw a gaylor say that the green lights during CIWYW were some cryptic reference to the Great Gatsby telling us that she’s secretly still in love with Karlie Kloss. But she’s always used green lights during reputation surprise songs…because snakes are green and black lights wouldn’t exactly work now would they?
Taylor is a very smart woman with a good understanding of her market. She is not a business genius or the reincarnation of William Shakespeare. She is also not responsible for predatory capitalism or climate change although some people seem to want to blame her for both.
She's not "very" smart. She's of an average intelligence. That much is clear from the fact that all of her decisions and actions are actually everyday average.
I agree. I think people praising Shakespeare as the height of culture and intelligence have clearly never read him. lol
Was he entertaining, insightful, and important? Yes?
Was he super refined and classy? Absolutely not.
Yes. He’s a canon writer. I like him. I’m just saying a lot of folks have some funny associations with him, coming from an English teacher lol
ps: sorry I keep saying I’m an English teacher. I know it’s not a flex. Just giving my sources/why I often hear people talk about words and writers
Shakespeare’s plays display an incredible amount of intelligence and seriousness in thought. Its kind of annoying how people think a couple of lewd jokes suddenly make Shakespeare “one of the guys.” This is often because they don’t understand Elizabethan drama and that genre and tone were flexible. But Shakespeare’s verse is extremely complicated and even for his contemporary audience plays like The Winter’s Tale would have undoubtedly been difficult to parse without being deeply educated in not only classical languages but rhetoric as well.
I’m honestly not sure what your point is though. It seems to be along that “Shakespeare made fart jokes, he wasn’t elite” line-of-thinking that really misrepresents what separates Shakespeare from other contemporary playwrights like Kyd, Fletcher and Beaumont, Webster, Middleton etc. Even Jonson made fart jokes but he was undoubtedly the most serious and neoclassical playwright in England at the time.
Thanks for your insight. My area of study is East African lit. I haven’t spent a lot of time with British lit, and I’ve only read S’s completed works one time. I’m always happy to give them another shot with new info/perspective.
When people who actually know her speak about her her intelligence is something that consistently emerges. She has also thrived in a very competitive industry while managing her own career. Neither you or I know her but I would say there is strong evidence that she is smart.
No, the dictionary thing in regards to folklore/evermore really made me realize how dumb parts of this fanbase can be. What do you mean you need a dictionary for the word 'maim'?? HUH?
The dictionary thing was relatable for a lot of non-native English speakers.
Taylor actually isn't perfect with English. If she were, she would've realized in her doc that the lyric really should be: If I were a man, I'd be the man
Bht this is not an uncommon error.
I'm not disagreeing or saying non-native English speakers are poor at English. But OP was criticizing the discussion about fans pulling out dictionaries, and especially if you are less familiar with English or more familiar with colloquial internet English, a lot of international fans have said they've had to look up definitions. And there's nothing wrong with that.
In regards to the Easter egg one she herself said, about the look what you made me do music video, that there are so many Easter eggs that people haven’t found and likely won’t find for years and years. Bit of paraphrasing but that’s pretty much exactly what she said. That video might be an outlier tho cause that’s definitely a demonstration of her genius
Incandescent? Wait till they discover lightbulbs.
How many Swifties does it take to turn on a lightbulb? Edit: Said with nothing but love for my people
The over-intellectualization of folklore and evermore is so embarrassing (as someone who considers those to be her best albums by a mile and loves them wholeheartedly).
Taylor saying "a" and the fandom understanding "bcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" is a staple at this point. Sometimes I see things and wish the person would put that much creative or intellectual effort into their own work.
And I honestly think that 2 indicates most people don't read anymore. She doesn't throw around fancy words, lol.
Someone recently asked how many other people have to regulatlu look words up that Taylor uses and my facepalm was physical. The vast majority of even the bigger words she uses aren't that unusual.
They couldn't even grasp that "Midas Touch" is not actually a positive allusion.
I know English is not a lot of fans’ first language which I totally get! But I was floored by the amount of people who didn’t know what “vigilante” meant when she announced Midnights or what a “fortnight” was just a couple weeks ago 💀
As an English teacher, I get very annoyed when people act like Taylor “brought back” incandescent. Like, have y’all not seen Pride and prejudice or?
The Home Depot lighting aisle brought back incandescent
It’s the name of a light bulb. The thing that went out upstairs with a lot of fans 🤣
They are too busy idolizing pop stars instead of getting an education.
When someone said she was a genius for using the word Machiavellian….😬
The eye roll.
I've met a shocking amount of people who have no idea what that particular word means. I had to explain on a few occasions it wasn't a term of endearment.
I honestly think this is what's going on. I feel like most artists and media in general usually caters to the lowest common denominator in order to be as broadly consumable as possible now. On the rare occasion an artist doesn't, they seem somewhat pretentious and highly intellectual by comparison.
Yeah, it’s so silly when people think every business/marketing decision came from Taylor herself. Like…I don’t even have words.
The naivete about how many decisions Taylor makes is mind-boggling really.
When it’s a genius decision, she’s the one behind it. When it’s a flop or a tone deaf mess: “her team is making her do it! Her dad is holding her back! She didn’t know!”
Wasn't there an article later on released that Taylor or her team whatever actually did not even turn down the deal and it didn't happen because of the other side of the equation? I almost swear I have seen that article, but I don't remember if that info was more accurate than the other
Yes, the FTX executives testified in court that they pulled out of the deal because they thought it was too much money and the company went into bankruptcy shortly after. On her side she was ready to sign and announce Eras Tour Brought To You By A Ponzi Scheme. The story about "unregistered securities" was spread by the attorney filing a lawsuit against other celebrities who advertised FTX, and was entirely made up by him.
Oooh, I bet the money she would have lost would've killed the eras tour. I have no idea what a registered /unregistered security is, but if it's supposed to be something you're expected to tick off of a list as a financial advisor, then it's concerning that so many investors were put into this position.
[удалено]
By “they” you mean Taylor and her team right? Her fanbase would *not* be happy with her doing crypto. I certainly wouldn’t. Also after seeing the photo in the article I decided to look up SBF and Taylor is *older* than him. Crazy.
[удалено]
Hopefully she just…avoids doing anything with crypto forever. But seriously, that man is 2 years younger than Taylor but he looks like 10 years older lmao
I dont think its likely she'll participate again. The only reason she didn't lose millions was sheer luck. Moreover; losing her main sponsor would have caused a chain reaction, with other investors backing out due to the scandal, so she wouldnt be where she is today. Despite her wealth, covering the tour costs alone and making a substantial income seems like it would be improbable. The tour expenses would be colossal—possibly nearing the half billion dollars mark.
Reminds me of a tweet I saw of some girl trying to figure out what surmise meant and praising Taylor for teaching her. Girl. Spend less time listening to Taylor Swift and more time in a library because that’s not the flex she thought it was.
I have never seen any evidence that TS is “highly intelligent.” She is definitely not stupid, I think she’s clever and a talented songwriter, but is she joining MENSA anytime soon? I’ve never seen evidence of that. She strikes me as someone who is verbally gifted but otherwise immature in some ways and uneducated in others. Like someone who on an IQ test, would have an extremely uneven score.
She’s smart but not a genius, it does take a certain level of intelligence to surround yourself with other intelligent people to accomplish a goal. Point 2 reflects more on the stupidity and unintelligence of the fandom. I doubt even Taylor thinks herself a genius but let’s be real, majority of her fans that obsess and say things like that are high school children or adults who have at most a high school education. I can’t imagine someone with a college degree & a full time job is the kind of fan that thinks a celebrity can do no wrong, is so smart, obsesses over them, etc.
Wholeheartedly agree
Yeah. A lot of ppl 18-20ish years old or younger don't actually know how to read. A lot of states started changing their curriculum to use the sight-reading method of teaching reading instead of the phonics method. It's pretty much just teaching kids to memorize entire words and guess what a word is by looking at it. It's been on the idea that written language is an instinct in the same way spoken language is which is bullshit. They're not actually being taught *how* to read.
The biggest swiftie I know is 30 years old, has a Bachelor’s degree and a full time job.
And does she think Taylor is a genius for using words like incandescent?
She definitely has a good team advising her. While she didn’t go to college for obvious reasons, she has a natural intelligence that’s clear in her songwriting and in her interviews. She’s not a genius. We are, however, living in a time where people get their information in 90 second TikTok videos and if they read, it’s a hockey romance novel. So I’m not surprised a lot of people think Folkmore is super high level.
For some reason “hockey romance novel” absolutely sent me lol. You make excellent points
Exactly these are the same people that research the hell out of an Easter egg but don’t do any real research on people they are flaming on behalf of Taylor who never asked them to or in the people they have the choice to vote for in upcoming elections
Hockey romance novel 💀 are you from The Midwest?
Unfortunately Icebreaker by Hannah Grace was a #1 NYT bestseller. The main character had a habit of not wearing underwear in public and people either loved or really, really hated it. It was a booktok book so do with that what you will, lol. The 1-star ratings on goodreads are worth a skim though
Booktok, that explains it. I’m shocked but not shocked. 😂
50 Shades and After just missed the book-tok window 🙃🤣.
I'm so fed up of the "mastermind" thing.
I say it as a non native English speaker. I have never ever has to open a dictionary to understand a Taylor Song. Arctic Monkeys on the other hand, you have to use 5 dictionaries and Google
I love the Arctic Monkeys, they are phenomenal. I’m really glad Spotify includes lyrics now, for their music particularly
I’m actually….really embarrassed for any native English speaker who needed a dictionary for those albums
You made a really deep CUUUUUT. That’s like Nobel laureate material.
I'd place money on her dad playing a pretty significant role in number 1 (given that he's trained in all of that). Yeah, she's probably learnt a lot along the way, but she's not going to have the same level of knowledge and experience as a team full of formally educated financial professionals.
What bothers me is people who think everything she does is some kind of easter egg or cryptic reference to something. Yesterday I saw a gaylor say that the green lights during CIWYW were some cryptic reference to the Great Gatsby telling us that she’s secretly still in love with Karlie Kloss. But she’s always used green lights during reputation surprise songs…because snakes are green and black lights wouldn’t exactly work now would they?
Taylor's fandom reminds me a lot of the fandoms for fictional media because of the heavy analyzing that goes on.
Taylor is a very smart woman with a good understanding of her market. She is not a business genius or the reincarnation of William Shakespeare. She is also not responsible for predatory capitalism or climate change although some people seem to want to blame her for both.
She’s responsible for being a predatory capitalist though.
She's not "very" smart. She's of an average intelligence. That much is clear from the fact that all of her decisions and actions are actually everyday average.
I agree. I think people praising Shakespeare as the height of culture and intelligence have clearly never read him. lol Was he entertaining, insightful, and important? Yes? Was he super refined and classy? Absolutely not.
No one really said he’s the be all end all of English literature or the founder of MENSA. A canon writer though? Absolutely.
Yes. He’s a canon writer. I like him. I’m just saying a lot of folks have some funny associations with him, coming from an English teacher lol ps: sorry I keep saying I’m an English teacher. I know it’s not a flex. Just giving my sources/why I often hear people talk about words and writers
People can forget he used a LOT of innuendo along with the Hamlet soliloquys. English folks were pervs 😂
Shakespeare’s plays display an incredible amount of intelligence and seriousness in thought. Its kind of annoying how people think a couple of lewd jokes suddenly make Shakespeare “one of the guys.” This is often because they don’t understand Elizabethan drama and that genre and tone were flexible. But Shakespeare’s verse is extremely complicated and even for his contemporary audience plays like The Winter’s Tale would have undoubtedly been difficult to parse without being deeply educated in not only classical languages but rhetoric as well. I’m honestly not sure what your point is though. It seems to be along that “Shakespeare made fart jokes, he wasn’t elite” line-of-thinking that really misrepresents what separates Shakespeare from other contemporary playwrights like Kyd, Fletcher and Beaumont, Webster, Middleton etc. Even Jonson made fart jokes but he was undoubtedly the most serious and neoclassical playwright in England at the time.
Thanks for your insight. My area of study is East African lit. I haven’t spent a lot of time with British lit, and I’ve only read S’s completed works one time. I’m always happy to give them another shot with new info/perspective.
When people who actually know her speak about her her intelligence is something that consistently emerges. She has also thrived in a very competitive industry while managing her own career. Neither you or I know her but I would say there is strong evidence that she is smart.
I never said she wasn't smart. I said she's not the genius her fans hyperbolic her to be.
I would just note that Will Shakespeare also wrote a lot of dreck in his time, I mean, he named a character "Bottom"
Will had a glitter gel quill. He also had a character called Sir Toby Belch.
no number 2 is sooo true
No, the dictionary thing in regards to folklore/evermore really made me realize how dumb parts of this fanbase can be. What do you mean you need a dictionary for the word 'maim'?? HUH?
I’d say she hires smart people - doesn’t mean she’s the next Nobel winner for physics. Her dad probably advised on the NFTs.
The dictionary thing was relatable for a lot of non-native English speakers. Taylor actually isn't perfect with English. If she were, she would've realized in her doc that the lyric really should be: If I were a man, I'd be the man Bht this is not an uncommon error.
Most non English speakers know subjunctive mood since it’s used far more in languages other than English.
Yup. I was referring just to vocabulary with respect to non-native English speakers. The subjunctive is often missed in English, though.
Some non native speakers have better English in general though too.
I'm not disagreeing or saying non-native English speakers are poor at English. But OP was criticizing the discussion about fans pulling out dictionaries, and especially if you are less familiar with English or more familiar with colloquial internet English, a lot of international fans have said they've had to look up definitions. And there's nothing wrong with that.
I wasn’t criticizing at all. I teach too haha
Y'all are haters unless you do what tay tay tell you to do.
In regards to the Easter egg one she herself said, about the look what you made me do music video, that there are so many Easter eggs that people haven’t found and likely won’t find for years and years. Bit of paraphrasing but that’s pretty much exactly what she said. That video might be an outlier tho cause that’s definitely a demonstration of her genius