The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - 5A
I'll admit it:
I like T-Swift
By EMMA GASE Taylor Swift's songs bring back
Daily Arts Writer memories of another time. One
song, and I'm transported back
Last month, I was finally forced to my mid-teens, when the most
to face a surprising and unchar- important problems (getting my
acteristic truth - a truth that had license, passing algebra) now
" been slowly bubbling to the surface seem trivial in the harsher world
for months. I've tried tofight it, but of college papers and exams. Life
like a pesky cold, it kept coming revolved around AP classes, Fri-
back. I'm done trying to shield the day-night plans and drama with
screen of my iPod when I'm listen- my friends and my high school
ing to her in the library. I'm sick of boyfriend - everything was just
keeping my face impassive when simpler.
I'm driving with friends and one of Taylor Swift sings about what
her singles plays on the radio. This every teen girl wants to hear (boys
stealth fandom is becoming tire- suck, we are better than them, let's
some. When her latest album was move on, girl power!). We can revel
released in October, I could hide it in her pain and anger, because
no longer: I like Taylor Swift. what girl hasn't experienced some
So, why all the secrecy in the form of boy-related anguish?
first place? Besides, listening to Taylor is much
One reason stems from my DNA. less depressing than wallowing,
As the child of two thoroughly elit- post-breakup, to Elliott Smith. But
ist music connoisseurs, the greater T-Swift is not a Negative Nancy
part of my 19 years has been dedi- all the time. No, half of her songs
cated to a rigorous music snob edu- are all the other things girls want
cation. My parents would certainly to hear (we are special, boys are
shudder at the thought of my being great, Itam a princess, life is smiley
a TaylorSwiftfan. Myreluctance is faces and butterflies).
at least in part due to their sure dis- In essence, Taylor Swift is just an
approval and my intensive musical upper-echelon, sequin- and cow-
conditioning. boy boot-wearing, bubble-gum pop
artist. She lives and breathes easy-
to-like sing-alongs with four chords
S gthat center on the follies of love 99
She s legit flOw', percent of the time. Her lyrics are
T esimple, the instrumentation and
~ swear- production could be described as
country-lite. But isn't that the true
purpose of bubble-gum pop?
And then there's Taylor Swift's Speak Now was the last push
overly girly demeanor. Let's just that allowed Swift to fully win
sayI've neverbeen muchofa girly- me over. Her musical prowess is
girl. I'm better versed in football obviously maturing; the tracks are
than what happened on last week's much longer, more atmospheric,
"Gossip Girl." My makeup skills but still manage to be radio-friend-
are less advanced than a seventh ly in a big way. She's a truly likable
grader's; I don't watch chick flicks pop star, and everybody knows it.
and I hate Jodi Piccoultnovels.Sci- Kanye West has been an asshole
entifically, I should not like Taylor since 2004, but it was really only
Swift. She embodies everything I when he slighted Taylor Swift at
used to find irritating about femi- the VMAs that the world united
ninity (melodrama, idyllic naivete, against him. And then she even
narcissism), but lo and behold, Ilam wrote an entire song absolving
defying my own nature. Kanye of any wrongdoing. Is this
Haughty tastes aside, what's girl some kind of saint?
not to love? Jangly Taylor guitars Sure, Taylor Swift can be cheesy.
(no pun intended), cute banjos, She overuses cliches about love,
well placed fiddles and story lyrics it is inexplicably pouring rain in
make for some good, wholesome two-thirds of her songs and her
listening. Her albums tend to reach live voice is shoddy at best. But
quadruple platinum status within indie-worshipping Taylor-haters,
two minutes of their release, no back off. I am sick of being snob-
doubt thanks to millions of teen bish. Taylor has taught me not to
girls waiting at the ready on their get caught up in the image I have
parents' iTunes accounts. I used to of my own taste and myself. It's so
deride my best friends for listening easy to get bogged down by your
to her music, calling it mindless own views of what is high qual-
drivel. ity and what is considered "main-
So what changed? Perhaps by stream," as if that label alone strips
some strange process of osmosis, the music of any value.
my sheer exposure to her music I am a Taylor Swift convert. I'm
has infiltrated my brain, eventually listening to her in the library as I
confusing familiarity with actual write this, and I am not ashamed
fondness. But it's more than that. anymore.
COURTESY OF BIG MACHINE
Gesundheit.
TRADITIONS
FESTIVAL
M11 . 11
December 2 FREE
* Stamps Auditorium HOLIDAY
tAsy:p ,:;'WI\I IA'' DINNER
6:30 PM SHARP
f' A
Last Disney princess?
'Tangled' adds girl
power to traditional
fairytale story
By EMILY BOUDREAU
Daily Arts Writer
Once upon a time, there was
a movie about a princess named
Snow White and seven dwarfs.
Then there was
another about
Cinderella and
a glass slipper. Tangled
Following that
were "Sleeping At Quality16
Beauty," "The and Rave
Little Mermaid" Disney
and "Beauty and
the Beast." And
perhaps the final installment in
Disney's fairytale canon is the
story of the princess Rapunzel:
"Tangled."
The story starts out tradition-
ally enough - Rapunzel (Mandy
Moore, "A Walk to Remember") is
a beautiful princess is kidnapped
as a little girl by an old hag who
wants to use the princess's magic
hair to restore her youth. She
locks Rapunzel away in a tower
and forbids her to leave. However,
the story diverges from the tra-
ditional princess plotline. Rather
than wait around for a handsome
prince to rescue her, she uses a fry-
ing pan to knock out a handsome
thief named Eugene Fitzherbert,
a.k.a. Flynn Ryder (Zachary Levi,
TV's "Chuck"). The two embark
on an adventure complete with
tough thugs who aspire to be
Broadway stars and many medio-
cre songs, none as catchy as those
in older Disney movies.
Last week, the Los Angeles
Times reported that "Tangled,"
depending on how much money it
brings in, could potentially be the
last Disney fairytale movie ever.
Saddening for those who remem-
ber them fondly, but it has to be
said that the old storylines of mov-
ies like "Cinderella" and "Snow
White" might need a little more
magic than a fairy godmother can
provide if they are to survive in
the modern world.
Perhaps part of the problem is
that, while the old-style Disney
fairytale was geared toward a
female audience, the female char-
acters never provided any action.
It was always the wisecracking
animal sidekicks, the feisty fairy
godmother or the evil sorceress
who drove the plot.
Fortunately, that's not the case
with "Tangled." For once, the
heroine dreams of something that
doesn't involvea handsome prince
stepping in to save the day and,
armed with her trusty frying pan
and longlocks, Rapunzel certainly
isn't helpless. The dashing prince
isn't just someone who rides in
at the last minute with a kiss
that will save the day. But while
Fitzherbert is quite funny, in some
ways, he detracts from Rapunzel's
role. Still, it is a fairy tale - and
it couldn't be without handsome
men and happily-ever-after.
The Pixar-inspired animation
also helps the film's case. In a
world where children are used to
movies in the style of "Cars" and
"Toy Story," it's nice to see that
same charm brought to a storyline
generally restricted to the two-
dimensional animation style of
previous decades.
If this is indeed the last Dis-
ney princess to appear on the
big screen, then it sure seems as
though the magic ingredients of
Disney princess stories haven't
been working. And if little girls
don't want to be princesses any-
more, what exactly do they want
to be?