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[rhandino]

The video was shot in an undisclosed location in Africa and directed by Joseph Kahn. It tells the story of two 1950s actors having a relationship while shooting a film in Africa. Jezebel 's Madeleine Davies describes the storyline as Old Hollywood meets Out of Africa. "It’s all passion and desire while on location (isn’t it funny how wild things get in Africa?), but once back in Hollywood and shooting on a soundstage, our poor lovelorn colonizers just can’t get it together."

Many outlets have pointed out that the film only depicts wild animals and white people with, as Davies puts it, "bizarrely, nary a black person in sight." [ Source ]

Oh, and it also seems that this issue has been making the rounds not only on social media but also in some media outlets:

- Taylor Swift's 'Wildest Dreams' Channels White Colonialism
- The new Taylor Swift video has a major race problem
- Taylor's 'Wildest Dreams' Is Out of Africa with an Old Hollywood Twist
- The Big Problem With Taylor Swift's New Music Video That Nobody Is Talking About
- Taylor Swift Is Dreaming Of A Very White Africa

There is the argument that the video is themed around the Golden Age of Hollywood and the classic romances of that period but there is also the argument that she sets the video in a time when people killed, dehumanized and traumatized millions of Africans.

 

[Arthr2ShdsJcksn]

Yes, that's true. In the past people killed, dehumanized and traumatized millions of Africans. Also, in the present.


It really doesn't surprise me that pop music would not want to engage with the reality of the world at large. I suppose that Swift has, due to her immense popularity, some responsibility in the way she represents race, especially if she's whitewashing reality, and it's fine to call her out on it.

Spoiler

I still like 1989 quite a bit.

 

[Slayven]

Yeah as soon as I saw it was in Africa on during Darkest Africa era of Hollywood, closed the tab.

 

[Currygan]

I always laugh my ass off when obsessive PCness leads to rewriting history just because

history meaning Hollywood in this case

 

[rtcn63]

Her video for "Style" felt like it was made by someone who'd never coked their way through a marathon of '80s one-hit wonders on VH1. Like, it completely missed why those videos were considered memorable.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Eh, looks like it's supposed to be an old movie set

This is a distraction

I agree with Clarence Washington of Northwestern University

You gave this way too much thought...or perhaps not enough,

 

[kess]

Swift does have a Hepburn vibe going on

 

[SecretMoblin]

Disgusting.

No doubt her reliably rancid fanbase will find some way to excuse it.

 

[harSon]

If they were going for the Golden Age of Hollywood, they literally had a laundry list of old timey popular locations to choose from Lol

 

[Slayven]

If they were going for the Golden Age of Hollywood, they literally had a laundry list of old timey popular locations to choose from Lol

Why isn't you first stop LA?

 

[botty]

People support and stan this girl?

 

[Slayven]

People support and stan this girl?

Ain't she the resident Queen of Popgaf?

 

[botty]

Ain't she the resident Queen of Popgaf?

Well... I wouldn't be surprised. Pop Gaf is a garbage community. Surprised Evilore hasn't bleached and scrubbed it out of existence.

 

[T-Dot]

It's just a music video guys.

People should be more concerned with actual racism such as police brutality and institutionalized racism.

 

[Dennis]

Pretty good pop tune. The video is pretty meh but I am not seeing the race thing.

It is not really a video about Africa as much as it is a video about Hollywood romance crap.

 

[uncelestial]

I understand the optics being problematic, I guess (white people traipsing around a negro-free Africa), but from what I can tell the plot of the video is: a leading lady and leading man are shooting a movie on location in Africa together and fall in love and live out a glamorous 1930's Hollywood romance.

"White colonialism" seems a little... alarmist to me? She is donating all money from this single to preserving park land in Africa. I think the photography of Africa is just supposed to be admiring and beautiful and more about the wildlife than people.

 

[Somnid]

It's just a music video guys.

People should be more concerned with actual racism such as police brutality and institutionalized racism.

But it's so much easier to play culture police on Twitter, you don't even have to interact with non-white people.

 

[harSon]

I understand the optics being problematic, I guess (white people traipsing around a negro-free Africa), but from what I can tell the plot of the video is: a leading lady and leading man are shooting a movie on location in Africa together and fall in love and live out a glamorous 1930's Hollywood romance.

"White colonialism" seems a little... alarmist to me?

Would you feel the same if you were to take the same music video, but swap out the African setting for the Antebellum South?

 

[KevinRo]

His nose is much larger than his fathers. His zygomatic bones are too pronounced. Not only that he's trying to ape his fathers brow furrow.

Man, Taylor Swift is so hot.

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

I'm holding out for the music video that channels Japanese colonialism myself

 

[starchild excalibur]

It's hard for me to be offended at this. If it has Africans in the video, then Swift is relegating the people of Africa to background extras. If it has black crew members on the shoot, then its painting a picture that blacks play a supporting role to Swift's whiteness, etc.

The video is pretty, but dull. Even as a black guy, that's my only takeaway from it.

 

[uncelestial]

Would you feel the same if you were to take the same music video, but swap out the African setting for the Antebellum South?

Wait, how would that work and why is that a good analogy? Can you shoot a video about the natural landscape and wildlife of the Antebellum South and still have it be recognizable? Were a lot of Hollywood movies shot in the Antebellum South? Are you saying there's no justifiable reason for a white person to be in Africa and have it not be exploitative and echo the problems of the Antebellum South? Serious questions, I'm not trolling -- want to understand how you swap the components of the situation that are at play and have this comparison make sense.

 

[rhandino]

Ain't she the resident Queen of Popgaf?

No, according to our annual contest:

PopGaf OT-X | Confirmed: Mariah Carey is the Queen of PopGAF

Well... I wouldn't be surprised. Pop Gaf is a garbage community. Surprised Evilore hasn't bleached and scrubbed it out of existence.

Not this coming from an Ariana Grande stan...

 

[zeopower6]

Taylor wishes she was PopGAF queen.

 

[harSon]

Wait, how would that work and why is that a good analogy? Can you shoot a video about the natural landscape and wildlife of the Antebellum South and still have it be recognizable? Were a lot of Hollywood movies shot in the Antebellum South? Are you saying there's no justifiable reason for a white person to be in Africa and have it not be exploitative and echo the problems of the Antebellum South? Serious questions, I'm not trolling -- want to understand how you swap the components of the situation that are at play and have this comparison make sense.

 

[rtcn63]

I finally watched the video, and she gets straight up Taylor Swift'd by the brown-haired girl at the end.

 

[genjiZERO]

I love hating on Manchurian Candidate musician Taylor Swift as much as anyone else, but that's really a stretch. It's just a generic song in a really lame scenario.

 

[botty]

Not this coming from an Ariana Grande stan...

What does Ariana have to do with this?

 

[uncelestial]

Yeah, I get that that movie exists but in order for your analogy to hold up the footage establishing the location would have to be of Southern wildlife. Like, swamps, and alligators and shit. And if someone shot a period video that took place in a Southern swamp, no I don't think it would be rife with racial issues.

Edit: I'm not gonna go hard on defending TSwift even though I think it's a bit of an overreaction, personally. I get why people would feel this way.

 

[The Technomancer]

Romanticism towards periods and places where atrocities happened draws ire, color me surprised

I'm not mad, but I get some people's reaction

 

[Feel the Swift]

Not even a fan of Taylor Swift but it baffles me that people are making this a big deal. How about focusing on actual, real issues of racism please.

 

[Slayven]

No, according to our annual contest:

PopGaf OT-X | Confirmed: Mariah Carey is the Queen of PopGAF

..

2015 Mariah? The one can't hit a note to save her life? Hiphop gaf might as well elect Lauryn Hill to complete the fuckery.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Twist: Kanye gave her the idea at the last slumber party

 

[botty]

2015 Mariah? The one can't hit a note to save her life? Hiphop gaf might as well elect Lauryn Hill to complete the fuckery.

i told you it was trash

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

Man, I don't wanna watch another Taylor Swift video... Screw it, not gonna.

 

[uncelestial]

Kinda wonder if HuffPo is just muckraking. They tend to cover things from multiple angles for different audiences to share and get clicks.

They also put out really positive coverage calling it "dreamy" and "stunning"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...cd244e4b0a40aa3ac8f93?utm_hp_ref=taylor-swift

 

[genjiZERO]

Man, I don't wanna watch another Taylor Swift video... Screw it, not gonna.

I wish I had three minutes of my life back. So I think you're winning

 

[Spaced Harrier]

Jaysus leads that's some straw clutching. You're obsessed.

The real question you need to be asking is how did you allow Andy Grammar to have a hit. Only him and Taylor on the radio in your fine land. Is there nobody else..?

 

[Mariolee]

In addition, how dare she have the gall to send all the proceeds from this music video to wild animal conservation efforts through the African Parks Association of America? Racist.

 

[Pinko Marx]

Yall are stretching way hard for this one.
There are some real issues going on with race relations. We don't need to be making them up and trying to throw shade at mostly harmless pop videos.

 

[rhandino]

2015 Mariah? The one can't hit a note to save her life? Hiphop gaf might as well elect Lauryn Hill to complete the fuckery.

Not our brightest moment tbh

Kinda wonder if HuffPo is just muckraking. They tend to cover things from multiple angles for different audiences to share and get clicks.

They also put out really positive coverage calling it "dreamy" and "stunning"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...cd244e4b0a40aa3ac8f93?utm_hp_ref=taylor-swift

Ummm, you may be on to something here but there I saw it as 2 different authors writing about the same vid but reaching different conclusions...

And tbh the video it's cute and lovely even if it is also seems kind of similar to Blank Space.

 

[theignoramus]

I dont care about this. Plenty of videos shot in America without white people in them and not just hood shit either. I didnt know a certain geographic location made you obligated to include the prevailing ethnic group of that region.

 

[ShowDog]

from what I can tell the plot of the video is: a leading lady and leading man are shooting a movie on location in Africa together and fall in love and live out a glamorous 1930's Hollywood romance.

That's so 2015 racist

 

[The Faceless Master]

yep, there it is again, the do it this way not that way crowd

this is not a real issue

focus on that issue instead

or nobody will take you seriously

 

[Hex]

For fuck sake....at what point does this just becomes recognized as a big seriously pathetic clusterfuck that just keeps getting worse and worse.
This kind of shit really hurts the progress and reality of racial issues.

 

[Portugeezer]

Video looked innocent to me.

 

[TipsyArchmage]

The video is fine

I don't understand how people are getting upset about this

 

[watershed]

I'm reading up on this just now and yes it's pretty undeniable that the entire video is an homage and recreation of the white-colonial fantasy version of Africa or 'the African continent."

 

[Subpar Spatula]

I get the upset, I just don't feel mad about it.

:/

 

[ShowDog]

For fuck sake....at what point does this just becomes recognized as a big seriously pathetic clusterfuck that just keeps getting worse and worse.
This kind of shit really hurts the progress and reality of racial issues.

Yeah but the websites don't give a shit they just want clicks. The problem is that a lot of morons take it seriously and it gains momentum until it's "accepted" as truth by the masses.