Swift’s symbolic code-drenched music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, adds another layer to her good-girl-gone-bad anthem. The Nils Sjoberg tombstone in the opening scene. Nils Sjoberg was the pseudonym that Swift used for a song-writing credit on her ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris’ 2016 summer hit, “This Is What You Came For.” When it was revealed that Swift was, in fact, the creative mind behind the single, some short-lived drama ensued, with Harris slamming his ex and bringing up her ongoing beef with Katy Perry.
The “Out of the Woods” dress. When the music video opens, Swift bursts through the ground of a graveyard as a fully fledged zombie – wearing the iconic blue dress from her “Out of the Woods” music video. It’s notable that the video for her fairytale-inspired single was the last from her 1989 era, possibly indicating from the get-go that that era is done for good now. (Zombie Taylor is also a nice referential code to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video.)
The 2014 Met Gala dress. Similarly, the Swift lying prone in the grave is wearing the very Oscar de la Renta gown that the singer wore to the Met Gala in 2014.
The single dollar bill in a bathtub full of diamonds. Swift’s decision to bathe in jewels and not money – but to feature a single dollar bill just beyond her right shoulder – was a very calculated one. Fans speculate that the single bill represents the $1 she was awarded after she won her sexual assault case against former radio DJ David Mueller.
The “Et Tu Brute” etchings on her golden throne. The superstar looks regal sitting atop a gold throne covered in snakes, but there’s one subtle detail that adds a layer to Swift’s haughty posture. On the arm of the throne, as well as on the oversized columns on either side of her seat, is the phrase “Et tu Brute,” a quote from William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The famous line was uttered by Caesar, who was literally stabbed in the back by his former friends.
A snake serves Swift tea. One lucky reptile slithered straight up to Swift’s seat and poured the singer some piping hot tea at one point during her snake-charmer scene, a clear nod to the idea of Swift “serving tea” with the symbol-laden music video.
Swift transforms into a Katy Perry lookalike. Gold sports car into a pole look familiar, it’s because they are. Swift’s hair in the scene looks remarkably similar to nemesis Perry’s ‘do, and the sports car itself is a referential code as it is undeniably reminiscent to the car in Perry’s 2009 video for “Waking Up in Vegas.” Relatedly, following the slow-motion crash, the camera zooms in on a Grammy Award the singer is holding up; Swift has 10 Grammys while Perry has been nominated for several but has yet to win one.
However with all of these contextual referential codes aside, if someone had no background knowledge to this video at all the readings would be completely different. Firstly, in the diamond tub scene, Swift is seen in red lipstick and red nails, the colour red has always been associated with blood and anger. Another code that links to this is the enigma code of a finger gun as it further shows the anger but makes the viewer question what it means/symbolises or even, who is it targeted at?
Continuing, the scene with multiple Taylors (past selves) could be read as a how Swift saw herself or "selves" like a self image representation piece. This is obvious as the outfit she is wearing has the abbreviation of representation "rep".
This music video is the striking definition of a hybrid between a performance and a narrative music video, the performance is seen through her dancing and lip syncing but through all the visual codes stated previously show an underlying story of Swift's life or as the clones show earlier he "past lives" which would present an idea of the binary opposition of past to present and the controversy that has emerged from it (much like the zombie Taylor from the opening).
There are typical conventions of a pop song as there is use of bright colours in the bank robbery scene etc but it is more technical in its production. Editing plays a huge part in this video and CGI will have been used to create the snakes slivering around Swift. Going back to the conventions of pop, she meets these in the colour aspect but she juxtaposes this through the darker imageries such as the rising from the dead in a graveyard scene and even the theme of snakes showing the classic binary opposition of good and evil. The good being the past Taylors but the evil supposedly being the present version. She uses this to construct her new representation as she has done many times before, which she shows her self awareness to throughout this video. I take this video as Swift twisting how people would want to represent themselves and does the opposite her representation shows her negatives throughout this video but also she used this video to throw shade at rivals and even us as the media in many different ways. As the title says "Look what YOU made me do"
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