I love the fan phenomenon. Really good. I not only love it but I am a fan, a big fan, of many things and I enjoy it very much. Like, right now, I’m writing this while listening to (and singing along to) Taylor Swift songs I know by heart. Not even that English was my first language, how well I recite them to you.
Come on, I know more about the life of Taylor, Harry Styles or Ed Sheeran than some of my friends. And a Harry Potter or Friends Trivia is my happy place. Truly, a fan of being a fan. However, this wonderful phenomenon – and reviled for being something considered “women’s” – has its dark side. And Taylor Swift has been experiencing it firsthand for a few weeks.
Her fans (some of them), the same ones who have supported her in the re-recording and re-release of her old albums in “Taylor’s Version” are turning against her now that she has a boyfriend they don’t like. Come on, it’s like they’re asking her to leave her as if they had power over the artist’s life. I don’t think even Taylor’s parents are having such a paternalistic attitude towards a person whose birthday is 31 years oldlike the one their fans are having.
From the good boy to the “bad” boy causing horror
To put some context: Taylor Swift was dating British actor Joe Alwyn for almost seven years and it seemed like the perfect relationship. What’s more, he seemed like the perfect boyfriend for “Tay Tay.” After dating some guys who really hurt her – John Mayer and Jake Gyllenhaal I look at you – it seemed like Taylor had finally found The Guy. In uppercase.
It is true that their relationship was very private since, in Swift’s words, it was so valuable that they wanted to protect it from others. but my favorite blonde he wrote three albums telling how in love he was with him and how happy he made him. At last! The fans could not be more plethoric. Come on, like the song to my first dance with my new husband was “Lover.”
The song that Taylor dedicated to Joe telling him that she chose him as her love forever (I swear that, while I was writing this sentence, the Spotify shuffle and the miracles of coincidences made the song start playing).
So you can imagine that our hearts broke when, a few months ago, it became known that they had left him. But even worse was when we found out that he was dating Matty Healy, the singer of the British band ‘1975’. At first, it was all laughs because people were a bit freaked out by the change and because they played at throwing love messages at each other. Apparently.
But the laughs ended soon when the multiple controversies in which Matty has been involved began to emerge: racist, misogynistic and anti-Semitic comments. He has apologized for some of these things, and in the case of others, they seem more like very bad jokes than his actual opinion. Which, beware, does not excuse him nor is it my intention to defend him. But I also don’t believe that I have the right to tell Taylor Swift what to do with her life. So far she seems to have known how to take care of herself.
The fact is that Matty does not like Taylor’s fans and they are taking it upon themselves to make it clear. to the point of release statements to ask Swift to leave him or even call for a boycott against the artist.
Open letter from her fans to Taylor Swift: “disappointed by recent events”
Indeed, some Taylor fans released an open letter to the artist a few days ago using the hashtag #Speakupnow in reference to one of the artist’s best-known songs. In it they expressed her disappointment at some recent events. Which is it? That she’s dating Matty Healy.
In the letter they indicate that we each have the right to maintain sentimental relationships with whom we want, but that it is essential for people, especially those in the public eye, reflect on their behaviors and those of the people with whom they associate and use their platform to fight discrimination and point out offensive behaviors and attitudes.
Something that, according to these fans, Taylor would not be doing, being an accomplice to Matty without his silence and thus damaging his female, racialized fans and members of the LGTBIQ+ community. They don’t say it but basically they want me to stop dating Matty Healy. They are very angry and threaten to stop supporting her. Of course, the “Eras Tour” of the singer continues to the brim. Boycott, but little.
Do I like Matty? not especially. Do I think he’s as bad as he seems? Probably not, but I guess the bad boy marketing has served him well. Until now. Because he is now dating, in theory, with “Miss Americana”, and the image of him is affecting both of them. That, yes, although you can understand the disappointment of some Taylor fans, do they have the right to make demands on his life just because they are his followers? You will tell me.
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Images | Gtres