Taylor Swift dropped the music video for her song “The Man” off of Lover bright and early Thursday morning (February 27), after teasing it with a clip that showed what appeared to be a man looking out an office window.
Many fans surmised that the man was actually Swift—and they were right. Throughout the video, she portrays a male version of herself, Tyler Swift, a character walking through life with all the benefits afforded to men.
YouTube
The song is one of Swift’s most overtly feminist hits, with lyrics that dissect the double standards women face in the world—and in the music industry. Take the opening lines, for example: “I would be complex / I would be cool / They’d say I played the field before / I found someone to commit to / And that would be okay / For me to do / Every conquest I had made / Would make me more of a boss to you.”
Swift also directed the video, but this isn’t the first time she’s taken charge behind the camera. She co-directed the video for “Lover” and went solo for her holiday release, “Christmas Tree Farm.” It’s a pretty straightforward interpretation of the song, showing Taylor as Tyler being an angry boss but still receiving praise, manspreading, and smoking a cigar on the subway as if he owns the place.
LW: I thought that was so moving and brilliant, and I loved Taylor’s response to her, too. I thought what Nikki Glaser was saying made so much sense. She said, “This is Psych 101; I was projecting because I was struggling with an eating disorder at the time.” I thought that was a really brave and incredible thing to say. That made me think about if there’s ever been a time where I’ve made fun of someone, I was probably projecting my own insecurities on them as well, you know? We did notice when we were looking at that archival material that a lot of that stuff was coming from other women.
God, I almost tear up like thinking about some of the notes I’ve gotten from teenagers about how they look in the mirror and they hate their body and they hate the way they look. But now that they’ve seen that Taylor has struggled with some of these same things too, and she’s gotten through it and she’s stronger and happier as a result, and that inspires them to keep going. It’s just so moving.
What was the most unexpected thing about filming Taylor?
LW: The contrast between the extraordinary elements of her life and the ordinary elements. [There are] the very big and massive, spectacular, glittery times, but then these very mundane, normal moments. I really love the scene where she’s eating a burrito. I know people have really responded to this scene, and I think it’s because it’s just her putting a chip in a burrito for crunch. There’s something so great about when you get to a point when you’re filming someone and they can relax enough to eat lunch and shoot the shit with their friends in front of you.
When you can film the boring stuff and you have that comfort level with someone, then you know you have access. You know, at that point. It’s weird, but that was like a breakthrough moment for me because it feels like the camera isn’t there.
When did that moment come? How long had you been filming her before you felt like you broke through to that point?
LW: At least a few months. But I will say that the first interview we did was the first interview she’d done in three years, and we did that audio-only. I think that was the moment when we really got to know each other and when I really started to see what the story of the film was, that first audio-only interview. It was just me and her, in a room for hours with a recorder.
Did any of that audio make it into the film?
LW: Oh yeah. When she talks about the sexual assault trial, that’s from the audio interview.
Did Swift see the film at different points in the editing process, or did she not see it until it was finished?
LW: I wanted her to see it before it was finished because there’s stuff in here—like her talking about an eating disorder—that I think is really important for her to be comfortable with that kind of stuff going out into the world. It was great because when we showed her the first cut, she loved it immediately. She was never like, ‘No, I don’t want to go there.’ There was no off-limits area other than anything that would compromise her security.
Taylor’s feedback was great. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh no, we can’t do this.’ It was feedback from another storyteller. She’s such an extraordinary storyteller. So it made sense to me.
Netflix
Before I let you go, I have to ask: When InStyle asked you about a potential engagement ring you said, “I’ll have to watch the scene again.” Did you watch the scene again?
LW: I was confused by what that person was talking about. They said it’s the scene in the car where she was talking about her eating disorder, that there were flash frames of a ring. And I was like, I don’t remember that. There was definitely nothing like that there. I know that people on the internet are freaking out about this later scene where she’s wearing a ring. I don’t know anything about…I think she just wears a lot of rings. I think people are overreacting to it a little bit. As far as I could see she’s constantly just wearing lots of rings! [Laughs]
Taylor Swift’s long-anticipated documentary Miss Americana dropped on Netflix Friday, and several moments center around how the pop star has been portrayed in the media. One segment includes a few public figures saying unflattering things about the singer, including comedian Nikki Glaser, who joked about how Swift is “too skinny.” In an Instagram post on Friday, Glaser wrote out a long apology to Swift and explained that her comment was “an example of ‘projection’.”
The post includes a photo of Glaser who explains how big of a Swift fan she is. She also penned how hard it was to watch her joke play out in the film. “I love Taylor Swift. Unfortunately, I am featured in her new documentary as part of a montage of asshats saying mean things about her, which is used to explain why she felt the need to escape from the spotlight for a year,” she wrote. ” It’s insanely ironic because anyone who knows me knows I’m obnoxiously obsessed with her and her music.”
She continued, “I first heard myself in the trailer last week as I watched it alone in bed (as soon as it came out bc I was so excited!) and I was horrified to hear my own voice. The sound bite was from an interview I did 5 years ago and I say in SUCH a shitty tone, ‘she’s too skinny; it bothers me… all of her model friends, and it’s just like, c’mon! This quote should be used as an example of ‘projection’ in PSYCH101 textbooks. If you’re familiar with my ‘work’ at all, you know I talk openly about battling some kind of eating disorder for the past 17 years. I was probably ‘feeling fat’ that day and was jealous. Also, I’ve had people say the same shit about me being too skinny before and know how terrible it feels to hear that when you’re struggling. And I was only bothered by her model friends because I’d like to be her friend and I’m not a model.”
“I really have no need to post this other than to apologize to someone who seriously means SO much to me,” she added.
For Swift, it all seems to be water under the bridge. She commented on Glaser’s post shortly after, saying how grateful she was for her apology. “I appreciate this so much and one of the major themes about the doc is that we have the ability to change our opinions over time, to grow, to learn about ourselves,” she said. “I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve struggled with some of the same things I’ve struggled with. Sending a massive hug.
Is Taylor Swift about to become Taylor Swift-Alwyn? Some fans seem to think so after watching Miss Americana, the pop star’s new documentary that dropped on Netflix on January 31.
The scene that sparked a million fan theories takes place when Swift is describing her choice to start speaking out about her political views and be on “the right side of history.” Taking a look back, that jewelry the singer wears in the interview clip does look like it could be an engagement ring. (Not to mention, it is on her left hand.)
Netflix
But did Alwyn, Swift’s boyfriend of three years, propose? Miss Americana director Lana Wilson claims she is none the wiser on that particular subject. “Whoa. I’m going to have to revisit that scene,” she told InStyle.
Either way, some Swifties on social media are rolling with it.
However, not all are convinced. One user believes Swift would “let her fans know.”
Would she, though? For the entirety of her relationship with the actor, their romance has been incredibly low-key. I mean, this picture is the closest image on Getty I could find of the two of them kind of both looking at the camera.
Taylor…could you just…lift your head, like, two centimeters?
Jackson Lee
In Miss Americana, Swift explains that Alwyn was a big part of her self-exile from media after the whole Kim Kardashian West Receipt-gate. “When people fall out of love with you, there’s nothing you can do to make them change their mind,” she says in the doc. “They just don’t love you anymore. I just wanted to disappear. Nobody physically saw me for a year and that was what I thought they wanted.” Her relationship with Alwyn helped immensely.
“I also was falling in love with someone who had a really wonderfully normal, balanced, grounded life,” she continues. “And we decided together that we wanted our relationship to be private.” More important, there was nothing staged about their love story, something that the singer has been accused of more than once. “I wasn’t happy in the way I was trained to be happy. It was happiness without anyone else’s input. It’s, just, we were happy.”
Netflix
Netflix
Engagement ring or not, we are happy for you, Tay.
Taylor Swift is the latest pop star to get personal in a documentary. Her new Netflix film, Taylor Swift: Miss Americana, offers an unprecedented look into the pop icon’s life—her career, her personal life, and everything in between. If you finish Taylor Swift: Miss Americana craving more deep dives into the lives of your favorite singers, you’re in luck: There are slew of similar documentaries, many which center on female pop stars. Here are just seven you should consider watching next (if you’re emotionally up for it).
Always the pioneer, Madonna was one of the first women in pop to offer a no-holds-barred look into her life. Filmed while she was on her legendary Blond Ambition Tour—and dating Warren Beatty—Truth or Dare is a sharp, humorous glimpse into the Material Girl’s material world.
This was the first big interview Spears did after her 2007 breakdown—and it is revealing. The singer, who was 26 (!) then, tackles all the questions fans wanted answered at the time, including why she shaved her head. You’ll finish this movie feeling buckets of empathy for Spears and completely understanding why Chris Crocker yelled at everyone to “leave Britney alone!”
Perry’s candy-colored Teenage Dream era ended with this concert film in which we learn more about her roots, artistry, and divorce from first husband Russell Brand.
Gaga tackles her music, “feud” with Madonna, and battle with fibromyalgia in this poignant Netflix documentary, which boasts an impressive 74% rating on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.
Okay, so this is more of a concert movie than a full-blown documentary, but if you missed Bey’s spellbinding Coachella performance, now’s your chance to see it.
Arguably the most raw film on this list, Lovato gives her fans a deep look into her struggle with addiction and sets the record straight on a lot of rumors about her personal life and sobriety. (This was filmed and released before Lovato’s July 2018 relapse.)
This moving film offers archived footage of the late Winehouse and interviews from those close to her that paint a beautiful portrait of a legend gone too soon.
Taylor Swift hasn’t stopped since releasing her seventh album, Lover last August. Since then, she’s been busy with a limited tour, press for the head-scratcher Cats (she has no regrets), plans to re-record her previous material, and preparing the premiere of Taylor Swift: Miss Americana, a Netflix documentary about her career and her place in pop culture that comes out on January 31. But between it all, Swift has been dealing with some pretty devastating family news: She revealed this week that her mother Andrea, who’s been battling cancer since 2015, has a brain tumor, which doctors discovered through her treatment.
Swift opened up about her mom’s health in a long profile that Variety ran this week. Their relationship has been a close-knit one, and Swift has already written two songs—”Soon You’ll Get Better” and “The Best Day”—about her battle with cancer. “Almost every decision I make, I talk to her about it first. So obviously it was a really big deal to ever speak about her illness,” Swift said during the interview before talking about the tough moment in which the tumor was discovered. “While she was going through treatment, they found a brain tumor. And the symptoms of what a person goes through when they have a brain tumor is nothing like what we’ve ever been through with her cancer before. So it’s just been a really hard time for us as a family.”
[embedded content]
Swift explained that her mother is part of the reason why she’s planning to only play four stadium dates in America this summer and several festivals in Europe. “I feel like I haven’t done festivals, really, since early in my career—they’re fun and bring people together in a really cool way. But I also wanted to be able to work as much as I can handle right now, with everything that’s going on at home. And I wanted to figure out a way that I could do both those things,” she said.
[embedded content]
She went further into what Andrea is going through and added, “I mean, we don’t know what is going to happen. We don’t know what treatment we’re going to choose. It just was the decision to make at the time, for right now, for what’s going on.”
