Taylor Swift’s new music video for her single “… Ready for It?” dropped Thursday, at midnight. Most fans expected a romantic setting with Taylor and a male co-star frolicking through the video. Yet, Taylor and director, Joseph Kahn, had a totally different idea. The video is a futuristic video based in an underground warehouse, filled with robots, spiders, and a caged Taylor. To the regular viewer, this video may have made no sense at all, but fans of Taylor quickly decoded the hidden messages and the main theme of the video. The “… Ready for It” music video highlights how media and society have tried to tear her down and desecrate her reputation. The dark version of Taylor embodies the negative image the media has given her over the past few years and how society seems to perceive Taylor. The caged Taylor, the one who wins in the end, is the Taylor who is seen to be vulnerable and is always trapped in the glass prison. She tries to defeat dark Taylor by surrounding herself with armor and getting on a hardcore horse. But it is not until she stands up and uses her voice that she defeats the dark, robot Taylor. Also, powerful Taylor did not need anyone or anything’s help, she just needed herself and the power inside of her. The powerful Taylor walks away with hope and tears in her eyes because she is finally free. However, if it was not for the dark Taylor to come along and provoke vulnerable Taylor, she would have never realized her true strength and broken free.
Now that’s what I call a good, meaningful music video.