TTPD is reputation in an alternate universe

I was listening to TTPD today and a thought struck me once again: is this what reputation would have sounded like in an alternate universe, i.e. no Joe? And let me clarify: I am not a Joe widow or a "paternity-tester," and also love all of the projects I am about to discuss. But as someone who was also a Swiftie back then and attended the reputation stadium tour, I was expecting much more critique about the industry and fame (in Taylor's own retrospective framing, the goth punk moment of female rage). While that's partially addressed in "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" and Taylor's "there will be no explanation, only reputation" media strategy, the main thesis of reputation is falling in love in the midst of all this chaos and personal ruin. It's delightful, perfectly represented, and I wouldn't change it for the world...but it didn't comprehensively address the mental effects of the fallout and the fame.

Then came Lover, which opens with "I Forgot That You Existed," essentially a step forward from the entire saga and the YNTCD video where the snake turns into butterflies. She returned to radio, talk shows, magazine photo shoots, singing competitions, the whole machine. The press tour and media appearances (while it gave us great moments and that's my favorite era of hers in terms of the fan experience) kind of felt like, "I'm back! I'm happy and smiling and pleasant again! Rep was just a phase!" The only real glimpse of something deeper was "It's Nice to Have a Friend," but once again, it more about having someone to rely on rather than solely her inner turmoil. That thread continued through "peace" and "long story short" in the pandemic albums. Midnights touched on her place and discontent in the industry with "Anti-Hero," "Karma," YOYOK, and "Vigilante Shit," as well as her TIME 2023 interview and "Nothing New" on Red TV, but the anger and candor about fame truly showed its face in TTPD.

I'm not one to revel in her sadness, and it may be a little parasocial to expect/want her to be more honest in her songwriting about this particular topic, but it selfishly felt exciting to finally get her unbridled thoughts. This is a woman who has been famous since she was 16, and for many years, had faced cruelty in the tabloids, in comedy, in hashtags, etc. TTPD showed her perception of the media, fans, and fame in such a raw way: she breaks the fourth wall in "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart" ("I can read your mind…"), rages at the industry in "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" which directly calls out the criticism that she's litigious, and finally lashes out at judgmental fans in "But Daddy I Love Him." And then there's "thanK you aIMee," the diss track that showcases her raw anger toward the Kim debacle and how it still affects her years later. It was so groundbreaking to me, not just in the context of her artistry, but my own perception of how to deal with the past. Anyone else might have used this opportunity to gloat, or been embarrassed to reflect on an incident that happened nearly a decade prior, but she somehow managed to make a celebrity feud so poignant by tapping into such a relatable bruise of humanity: holding grudges and how words hurt long after they're said, how real these feelings are and how they fuel you for years. Taylor has always been capable of piercing sincerity, but the entire project was such a direct and almost unparalleled bom at her naysayers, the critics (to me, the 31 songs was her way of saying, LOL, I'm bigger than the program), and the industry machine she'd been navigating for years. The floodgates opened and everything building from 2016 and even before that finally came out.

And what's so fascinating to me is the timing: she wrote these songs at the absolute peak of her fame, where she'd transcended typical pop star status and cemented her status as a genuine icon, only in her mid-30s. It's a cause for celebration, and yet, also served as a breaking point. That's exactly why she could do it now, and why reputation couldn't have gone there then. She's no longer beholden to the industry machine or having to "prove" herself: she calls the shots. So when people say "she's so different now," I shake my head, because TTPD was her telling us she's done playing by rules where fan and media pushback dictate her terms, and she would tackle fame entirely in a way that chooses her own happiness, which I felt was captured in The Life of A Showgirl's title track.