[paper rings]

Thanks for starting

[BlondieLeigh]

http://www.fanforum.com/f307/taylor-...itar-63132203/

[paper rings]

Ok guys, I'm in the process of updating the OP.

[paper rings]

http://www.fanforum.com/f307/fearles.../#post78163571

[london grammar]

Can't wait to see it, Lucy!

[paper rings]

I've done most of it.

[london grammar]

http://www.fanforum.com/f307/taylor-.../#post78204669

[paper rings]

Has it been added to the OP yet?

[dancingphalange]

TPAM #20: TPAM can't stop dancing to Shake It Off?

[posterity]

I am not a Taylor Swift fan but I do feel curious about this one question. Do you think her latest video was a bit racist or stereotyping? I don't think she deserves a free pass for portraying black women in a stereotypical way. I want to know how her fans felt about this video. I am not trying to incite anything so please do not take it the wrong way, I am genuinely curious because she did receive a lot of flack for her video. It was inappropriate.

[BlondieLeigh]

I don't think it was. Dancers were auditioned for every part and the best dancers were cast for it regardless of their race. It would have been racist if they had deliberately cast them because of their race, but they didn't, it was having exceptional talent that got them cast Tbh, I think it would have been worse if the better dancers had missed out on the job because there were lesser dancers that would be considered less stereotypical choices - because then their race would have been depriving them of something they had rightfully earned and wanted (they wouldn't have auditioned if they didn't want it).

It was really important to me that the professional dancing be astonishingly good, for a couple of reasons. One, they were going to be the "straight man," so to speak, to Taylor's Lucille Ball style of physical comedy. I knew it wouldn't be as amusing if those dancers weren't seriously good as a counterpoint. And two, it's just way more entertaining and beautiful to watch truly great dancing.

We simply choose styles of dance that we thought would be popular and amusing and cast the best dancers that were presented to us without much regard to race or ethnicity. If you look at it carefully, it's a massively inclusive piece. It's very, very innocently and positively intentioned. And — let's remember — it's a satirical piece. It's playing with a whole range of music-video tropes and clichés and stereotypes.

X

[posterity]

Good answer. I appreciate your comments and the fact that you didn't take it the wrong way.

[BlondieLeigh]

I think it's a topic that's definitely worth discussing, and there definitely is an issue there, but I think it's more an issue with society that the video has highlighted (probably unintentionally), more than an issue with the video itself.

[UnderTheSea140]

TSWIFT Post Count #26 - http://www.fanforum.com/f307/tswift-.../#post78354810

[NotAnAngel]

http://www.fanforum.com/f307/fearles...here-63134245/