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Inside the theatre at a screening of \u201cTaylor Swift: The Official Release Party Of A Showgirl.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/span>Frazer Harrison\/Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n In the music video, Swift literally steps out of a slew of frames, including wooden tableaus, life preservers, and more, to break the chain of the ill-\u201cfated\u201d showgirl like the fictional Ophelia. She goes so far as to say that her love life has \u201csaved\u201d her from drowning in insanity, especially given how much \u201cmen were gaslighting\u201d her throughout her career. There is a reason why her own story \u201cdidn\u2019t end tragically\u201d like the \u201cpoetic hero\u201d Ophelia\u2019s. Despite Shakespeare\u2019s, at times overlooked character, Ophelia dying, Swift herself was not \u201cdriven mad\u201d like she could have been. (Swift adds that she \u201cloves\u201d William Shakespeare and The Bard is \u201cnot overhyped.\u201d) \u201cThe Fate of Ophelia\u201d is a rewriting of a character\u2019s cultural history: Swift is asking what would happen if she became impenetrable to criticism\u2013and then she lives out the answer.<\/p>\n Viewers learn that the music video required three weeks of rehearsals, and nods at Kelce with Swift catching a football in a scene. Her love for baking is also incorporated, as the only quasi-celebrity cameo is a round loaf of sourdough that Swift herself baked.<\/p>\n Further on, the retconning of Swift\u2019s discography culminates in the title track, \u201cThe Life of a Showgirl,\u201d featuring Sabrina Carpenter. The \u201cEspresso\u201d singer recorded her feature during her days off of touring in Sweden. \u201cThat is a showgirl for you,\u201d Swift says, praising Carpenter before introducing the lyric video that includes footage of Carpenter opening for Swift during The Eras Tour. In the song, Swift and Carpenter play two characters mirroring the cyclical nature of fame: one is Kitty, a fictional showgirl who advises a fan to not join the music business, and the other is an aspiring singer who then later cautions one of her own fans against becoming a performer. “The more you play, the more that you pay…\/You don’t know the life of a showgirl, babe\/And you’re never gonna wanna,” the lyrics warn. The sentiment is one Swift now uses as \u201cfuel\u201d to prove she has endured the industry for more than 20 years. Throughout the film, Swift continues to say that there is a prevailing perspective that apathy equates power, and that respect is granted to those only who appear to be the most \u201cunbothered.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n