First of all, Taylor Swift is a creative god. Red TV should be hung in the Louvre. I will be listening to Red every day until further notice. Current favs at the moment are I Bet You Still Think About Me, Nothing New, The Last Time, and the 10 minute version of All Too Well.
I declare the 10-minute version the only version. It is art. Speaking of art, have you seen the short film for All Too Well? If not, what are you waiting for?
Let’s discuss…..
Watch along with me so this might make more sense.
THE CAST: Oh my god. I died when I found out Dylan O’Brien was going to be in this. I think the whole world has been in love with him for at least 10 years. SADIE SINK. I love her. I’m just so proud of all the things she has done and now she’s in a TSwift music video!! My heart. The age difference makes it what it is. Taylor knew exactly what she was doing. 19 and 30 is a pretty big age gap. Isn’t that right Jake?
BEGINNING SCENES: The vibes of it all. The intimacy. The shocking age gap that we have grown so accustomed to. THE SCARF (the scarf is a symbol of her virginity. fight me on this one.). I have seen a lot of theories on Tik Tok about this music video and I believe them. Every detail in this film is intentional. The symbol on the glass window looks like the family crest of Gyllenhaal……
AN UPSTATE ESCAPE: The fall vibes in the car are so amazing. Breathtaking even. For this section of the film, I just really wanted to be Sadie Sink. You can see that Sadie’s character is wearing a ring on her ring finger. According to the Tik Tok detectives, this is a purity ring. I’ll come back to this thought later….
THE FIRST CRACK IN THE GLASS: I think we have all experienced something like this. A dinner party with his friends and he pays just no attention to you (maybe this isn’t common but I have experienced it and it’s awful). HOW DARE YOU DROP HER HAND. I’ve also experienced the scene for “fuck the patriarchy”. Maybe Blondie and I have something in common… But nonetheless, the screaming convo he is having is supposedly about his career and how something could look bad for his career. The real question is, is it her? Ah yes, the toxic consoling after screaming into a phone. Gaslight Gatekeep Girlboss. THE KITCHEN SCENE. I DON’T THINK YOU UNDERSTAND HOW IMPRESSIVE THIS IS. IT WAS ALL IMPROVISED!! God, I love talent. It’s so realistic it’s like you’re even getting gaslit by Dylan O’Brien. I caught myself at the end when he hugged her and almost said awe then realized I did in fact get gaslighted through a screen.
ARE YOU REAL?: The kitchen dancing and fireplace fun really showcase the high highs of a toxic relationship like this. I believe that this film is her reminiscing and you really see more good scenes of them compared to the bad scenes. I think this is how a lot of people think when you look back on a toxic relationship. The highs were so high it’s hard to see past them even if the lows were soooo low. You can see her hand when they are cuddling in bed. What’s not there anymore you might ask. HER PURITY RING.
THE BREAKING POINT: The breakup. The placement of this with the lyrics “maybe we got lost in translation” is perfect. When she is crying in bed, she clutches her heart and turns off her phone. It looks like someone is calling her. I’m gonna take a guess and say it was him. Then we see her at the typewriter because she remembers it all too well :). JK but I think the purpose of her writing everything down is to remember it. To remember it was real and it happened. The scene where she is wandering around the party shows how out of place she is now that she has removed herself from him. He was all she knew and now that that ended she is lost. Specifically, she lost herself and now she has to find herself again. Jake- I mean Dylan’s character- how dare you ruin her 21st birthday.
THE REELING: What a perfect title. It means to lose one’s balance and stagger or lurch violently. That’s exactly what’s happening. The transition of her rolling over in bed is genius. Taylor Swift, once again, is a creative genius.
THE REMEMBERING: I take this section as a highlight reel of the good parts of their relationship. THE SPIDER MAN KISS. Remember, everything in this film has a purpose. Another Tik Tok theory is that this is alluding to Jake’s relationship with Kirsten Dunst (she was the person to do the famous spider man kiss). I would recommend looking up these theories. You can fall down a rabbit hole with these ;).
THIRTEEN YEARS GONE BY: What is the purpose of pointing the camera to the pictures? We can see a picture of a blonde woman somewhere. Who is she? What is the importance? SHE WROTE A BOOK! I should’ve written a book on my relationship. Older her is played by Taylor herself! I screamed. She is doing a reading of her book. She is reading the lyrics. Look closely… “I walked through the door with you….”. Sneaky Blondie. The crowd looks emotional during this reading. We are the crowd! We have all grown such an attachment with this song and incorporated our own stories. Of course, the final shot is Dylan’s character looking in with the scarf on. OF COURSE.
Update: was informed it is not Dylan at the end. It’s a guy, Jake Lyon. HUH.
This was like a book analysis for an English class. I will continue to watch this more than I should. Thank you, Taylor.
I would encourage you to look up theories and easter eggs in the video because there are a bunch I didn’t even know about!