“Shake it off” by Taylor Swift is both an inspirational video and song. In this song, Taylor Swift says personal stories of what people have said about her. She says that people tell her “she’s got nothing in her brain” and then she proceeds to say that she just shakes it off. This song is a great message to people of all ages. Taylor sends out the message that it doesn’t matter what people say about you, you just need to do what makes you happy. We chose this music video because we thought it sent out a great message through the words of the song as well as through the video itself. In the video Taylor is shown in groups of different styles of dance. Throughout the video she just does her own thing while others dance. There is a scene where everyone around her is dancing a beautiful ballet and she is just dancing to her own beat. This is a very powerful message. She sends out the message that it doesn’t matter if you stand out from others and don’t look like them. All that matters is that you do what you want, and what other people say or think about you isn’t important.
Another element in the video that really speaks volumes is towards the end when a bunch of every day people come in and start to dance. We thought that this was really cool, because she incorporated non-famous people who weren’t apart of a uniform group. These individuals at the end of the video showed that going against the grain and being your own person is much more desirable than sticking to the status quo. We thought it was great how she showed all these people who were so comfortable in their own skin and dancing the way they want, and not the way they’ve been told. Not only are there individuals “shaking it off” that aren’t a part of a faction, but we also see those who were a part of those distinct groups breaking away to “shake it off”. Those who were once in their groups begin to split away from their original style of dance and begin to follow their own rhythm. What Taylor is saying is that she is going to be herself. This tells us that she is going to continue to be the artist that she wants to be and not a mannequin that the music industry can move into any position they want.
In the song Taylor addresses her so called haters. Taylor addresses her oppressors in a very dignified way. Instead of calling specific people out and coming back with more insults, she retaliates with a positive message. In today’s pop culture it is easy to find celebrities that come back at their “haters” in a very negative way. Taylor could have name dropped and said screw you, but instead she remained poised. Taylor just tells us that “haters gonna hate” but it is up to us if we let it effect us. Taylor has said that “They’re [haters] just building you up to knock you down. But for me, they haven’t.”
We think that today’s society definitely needed a positive message like this. So many things in this world make us feel inadequate and it’s great to see a music video that shows that being just you is enough. In popular culture today there are so many complicated messages. You have to go through so much work to decipher the hidden meanings of popular culture. This video is extremely straightforward: just be yourself no matter what. We think this is a super important message for the people of today. We have too much stuff to worry about and it takes too much energy to be someone who we aren’t.
No comments:
Post a Comment