being in your early 20s is crazy bc there’s people who are literally married and people who’ve never even dated and people who are trapped in their childhood bedrooms waiting to get out and people who are trying to live out romanticized dream lives and people who are completely on their own and people with multi tiered support systems and we’re all supposedly peers and none of us think we’re doing it right at all
I’ve noticed something when watching the midnights set from one of the LA shows (disclaimer, I’ve not actually been to a live show of this tour yet so all my observations are from other people’s videos).
Before going into her final song, Taylor ends her performance of Anti Hero with this pose which was immediately familiar to me as the famous Matilda pose from the poster for Matilda the Musical. The head position and even the light from the back…? I’ve seen that musical a ton of times but even if you haven’t I’d say it’s quite the resemblance.
So if Taylor is in fact referencing Matilda here, what is she saying? If you haven’t seen the show (or the film), this pose is from a song called ‘Naughty’ where Matilda tells the audience that even when you’re a child you can change your story by taking charge of your narrative and not playing by the rules. She ends the song in this pose while she sings the final lines which are:
‘But nobody else is gonna put it right for me,
Nobody but me is gonna change my story,
Sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty.’
So, if this is a deliberate Matilda pose, my interpretation would be that, like Matilda, Taylor is taking charge of her public narrative and is changing her story to show herself authentically. No more perfect princess stories. Naughty also references Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella, both also mentioned in Taylor’s songs, and emphasises how they were just victims of their ‘stupid fate’ and if they’d changed their story maybe they would have lived happily. So bottom line: the people in the story can take charge and change the ending. You don’t need a fairy godmother, you can be your own hero. Very Taylor to end a song called Anti Hero with such a defiant hero pose 😉
Another thing I noticed that solidified that thought for me, is that the giant Taylor on the screen visuals balls her hands into fists and yells at where Taylor is standing performing before she turns and screams at the audience.
I’ve never actually seen a video of the full screen visuals during this number, because people tend to film Taylor walking around on stage which is ironic, because I think it is exactly the point she’s trying to make that we’re all too distracted by the glittery performance to notice the giant screaming in the background.
That’s my (rather long) rambling on the Anti Hero performance. And that was just one song, I swear, when I get to see the full show, I’ll have pages of notes! Sorry (not sorry) 🤭
ur first and last recent emojis are ur gender now. mine is 🅱👨❤💋👨
September will be filled with happiness.
September will be filled with blessings.
September will be filled with positivity.
September will be filled with progress.
September will be filled with kindness.
September will be filled with opportunity.
September will be filled with love.
Stealing this outfit for the summer
(Also... has she been wearing the same bag?)
this is how i dress when i want people to speculate on my sexuality
The 11th emoji in your history is now your cutie mark 👁️
slut era (just trying to make new friends)
To those who insist Taylor is referring to herself when she says "argumentative antithetical dream girl"…. in what universe would she be so egotistical as to proclaim herself a dream girl, especially when: 1. She already clearly referred to her muse just three lines earlier when she said "dreams of your hair and your stare and sense of belief"
2. She already clearly referred to herself as "an asshole outlaw" in the previous verse