All Hail Taylor Swift, Person of the Year!

[Skeptic Ginger]

I've seen more than one news item in the last few months about Taylor Swift concerts giving a boost to local economies.

That makes her more influential than many of the politicians.

It's hit 6 pm in N.Z. and I just heard the T.V. news start with a sting saying "she's the first entertaining to be given that honour".

Missing what person of the year is all about, as usual.

In the case of Time Magazine, I'm guessing relevance/profits was the main motive,

She did get a bunch of young people to register to vote. If she uses her popularity for things like that then she could actually be a person of the year. She has a long way to go.

I don't care that much for the current bubble gum stuff but I did like the music she started out with which is also probably as much bubble-gummy now that I listen to it again.





My son did not like my music choices back then.

 

[angrysoba]

She made millions of people happy, while literally doing nothing wrong. It's hard to imagine a better candidate for the title.

She has indeed done nothing wrong. That makes her the last person who should get the title.

 

[TofuFighter]

I'm outraged that Katy Perry has never been Time's person of the year. I mean, her cat was named Kitty Purry. She deserves recognition for that alone.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift's cats are Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson and Benjamin Button. I'm sure she's a nice person and all, but that's nothing.

My cat's name is Dr Ian Malcolm and she's awesome. Don't be nameist.

 

[novaphile]

My cat's name is Dr Ian Malcolm and she's awesome. Don't be nameist.

Does your cat only wear black and grey so that it never has to waste a second thinking about what to wear?

 

[TofuFighter]

Does your cat only wear black and grey so that it never has to waste a second thinking about what to wear?

She is all grey and doesn't think it necessary to explain her choices.

 

[The Atheist]

Weirdly enough, when speaking of musicians I meant their music.

Even weirder, the thread is about Person of the Year, which has zero to do with her music and everything to do with her influence.

 

[GlennB]

You must be very careful. I can't navigate my way around in public without encountering random environmental music. Never been into a shopping centre? Did you buy your CDs from a completely silent music store? Never passed by someone on the street with a boom box?

You most certainly have. You may have tuned it out, but you have.

I don't go to shopping centres, haven't bought a CD in over 15 years, don't encounter boom boxes out here in the sticks, have avoided commercial TV channels for years so don't get musical adverts, only play CDs in the car.

Perhaps you're being a little dogmatic?

 

[Fast Eddie B]

I’m a straight white male in his 70’s, married to an only slightly younger woman. We both really like Taylor Swift. And both applaud Time’s choice.

I has just moved from the hustle bustle of S FL to N GA after a divorce in 2005. We became aware of Taylor soon after meeting, when she had one album out and was about 17, I think.

Several of those songs touched us both - “Tim McCraw”, “Tears on My Guitar”, and “Our Song”. Touching, catchy tunes of young love found and often lost.

Subsequent albums gradually moved towards pop, and began to lose us a bit, reminding us of the plot line of the recent remake of “A Star is Born”. Yet the times were changing and it was clearly in tune with her evolving fans.

We saw her “Eras Tour” movie and it was incredible from a stagecraft, technical and talent perspective. We both would have preferred more of the earlier, acoustic stuff, but again, we’re not her target audience. And we both want to revisit it with subtitles - it was frustratingly hard to follow the lyrics to songs we didn’t already know.

If anyone has any doubt as to her songwriting ability, check out “All Too Well”. A high point in the concert film for us. Here it is with lyrics:

https://youtu.be/9OQBDdNHmXo?si=N6irj3VqrMNP_tvj

Another of our favorites, from the 2012 Grammys:

https://youtu.be/W_4TxTjRvVA?feature=shared

 

[ahhell]

I've never heard a Taylor Swift song.

Yep. It's like earlier this year when Sports Illustrated put transgender singer Kim Petras on one of the alternative covers and people were like "Will this confuse the children" and I'm like "I mean nobody under the age of 20 even knows what 'Sports Illustrated' or 'a magazine' is at this point."

I listen to a podcast where anytime they mention a magazine or newspaper say, "See, kids, a magazine is like a website printed on paper.

 

[Ian Osborne]

It's hit 6 pm in N.Z. and I just heard the T.V. news start with a sting saying "she's the first entertaining to be given that honour".

Missing what person of the year is all about, as usual.

Time's stated outline of what Person of the Year is all about hasn't been taken seriously since they named Rudy Gulianni instead of Osama Bin Laden in 2001. Naming Taylor Swift this year shows even they aren't taking it seriously.

 

[plague311]

NFL players have sales? I just don't understand this celebrity culture.

Yeah, I'm shocked that I have to inform you that players wear jerseys. Those jerseys get sold, the player gets a cut. Happy to help. Follow me for more sports financial tips.

I think he meant team apparel sales for the KC Chiefs went up.

No, but I wasn't specific so that's my bad. Travis Kelce's sales went up by 400%. The viewership of the game went up massively as well. Tons of articles about it.

 

[theprestige]

She has indeed done nothing wrong. That makes her the last person who should get the title.

I dunno. It's kind of a pleasant change of pace, to have a person who is both wildly significant and also pretty nice get the title.

 

[TheGoldcountry]

I'm an old. Is Taylor Swift the Madonna of these days?

No, she's a musician.

 

[gnome]

No thread containing a link to "Shake it Off" is complete without a reference to Dwayne Johnson "performing" it on Lip Sync Battle. It was the first act of the first episode, and has never been topped IMO. (The show is fantastic, look it up).

 

[Thermal]

Her particular station in life limits the bad she can do, so it is an uneven playing field for other candidates.

*Kanye West shoots double finger guns*

Not a fan of her genre of music at all, but damned if she is not the most giving person I've heard about in years. I was reading somewhere that she is one of the richest entertainers, yet also makes it rain with more philanthropic cash both in volume and proportion than anyone else comparable.

 

[mumblethrax]

My cat's name is Dr Ian Malcolm and she's awesome. Don't be nameist.

I wouldn’t dare impugn your cat’s good name.

 

[Trebuchet]

That is a cool cat picture.

It's a seal bicolor Ragdoll! We've got one as well!

 

[Matthew Best]

Time's stated outline of what Person of the Year is all about hasn't been taken seriously since they named Rudy Gulianni instead of Osama Bin Laden in 2001. Naming Taylor Swift this year shows even they aren't taking it seriously.

Who should it have been, if not her?

 

[TragicMonkey]

Not a fan of her genre of music at all, but damned if she is not the most giving person I've heard about in years. I was reading somewhere that she is one of the richest entertainers, yet also makes it rain with more philanthropic cash both in volume and proportion than anyone else comparable.

Sounds like she may really be like Dolly Parton, then. I'm probably not going to seek out her music, but I'm not going to hate her just because I get tired of seeing her name in media too often.

Unless I see her in commercials. That's a quick path to my undying enmity.

 

[Doubt]

Not a fan of her music, like many here. But also have no issues with this.

One funny thing was that until a few years ago, she managed to keep her perspective on many social issues to herself. And then some racist morons started referring to her as their Aryan Goddess. That seems to have coaxed her out of her offical neutrality just enough to signal she does not support those racist fools.

A lot of people would like it if celebrities kept their opinions to themselves. Unfortunately, if they actually do that, some of the fans will make up a narrative for them.