SUMMER LISTENING: A Brutally Honest Review Of Taylor Swift's New Movie

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
You're listening to a mum of Mea podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Mama Maya acknowledges the traditional owners of land and Waters
that this podcast is recorded on Hello, it is Jesse here,
and I'm dropping in to tell you that this summer
we are curating a very special podcast playlist for you.
We are bringing you the insanely popular and always funny,
brutally honest reviews from our friends on the Spill, from

(00:38):
the top TV shows of the year, to the biggest
movies of twenty twenty five which.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
You may have only just had the chance to watch.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
And of course some classics. The Spill gives you completely
unfiltered and real takes, as well as easter eggs and
behind the scenes gossip. This is your summer listening sorted
and if you are looking for more to listen to,
if you are just binging podcast this holiday season, every
Muma Mea podcast is curating your summer listening right across

(01:06):
our network. From pop culture to beauty to powerful interviews,
there's something for everyone. There is a link in our show.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Notes from Mama Mia.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
Welcome to the Spill, your daily pop culture fix. I'm
Laura Brodnick.

Speaker 4 (01:24):
And I'm Tina Burke Mammy is pop culture and social.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
Editor and a resident Taylor Swift expert. Very true as
we have learned. So we're here today for a brutally
honest review of Taylor Swift's new movie Now. It came
into our lives for a brief but interesting moment one weekend,
and Tina and I went to the cinema to see
it together, which we'll get into that in a second.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
And so we thought we'd bring you a brillily honest review. Now.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
If you've listened to our episode earlier in the week
about all the secrets of Taylor Swift's new album, that was.

Speaker 4 (01:56):
A bit more technical.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
It was about the lyrics, it was about what people
were saying about everyone involved. The movie is its own beast,
it's its own entry into the Taylor Swift universe, and
so we're going to be going through that now. You
haven't seen it, that's fine. We can't spoil anything. There's
literally nothing to spoil.

Speaker 3 (02:14):
But if you went't one of the people who got
a chance to seet on the weekend, we're about to
tell you everything that unfolded and all the drama that
has come off the side of it, all the tea
all the moments you might have missed, yeah, et cetera.
So the movie came out, as I said, for just
one weekend. It was called the official release party of
A Showgirl, and Taylor's have basically said it was going
to be the music video for the Fate of Ophelia,

(02:37):
which is the first single from the new album, and
a bit of behind the scenes of how she made
the music video, and it was going to be the
lyric videos for the rest of the eleven tracks. And
boy was she not lying, because that is exactly what
it was. And I think a lot of Stifties went
into it knowing they would be just watching the lyrics
go across the screen. Yeah, so they're okay with that.
It went on to be number one at the North

(02:58):
American box office and made thirty three million dollars in
just one weekend, and then also went on to make
millions of dollars and also be number one across many
other countries and cinema chains in the world. It was
a very lucrative weekend for miss Swift. It was a
big deal. Like everyone who's anyone at the premiere.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Of A show Girl or whatever she called it. I
liked this title is party. You come on, you call yourself.
I just make up whatever it comes to this title,
because it's just a bunch of words, isn't it. So
long as you say show girl, you kind of get
something close to it. And it was a big cinematic event.
We were all very excited.

Speaker 4 (03:32):
You may be less so, but you are coming anyway.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
I went for work purposes because I very much I
really value our audience. I'm not even lying now. I'm
as such a cynical person. I have a heart of
stone and no feelings except for ficure.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
When I described what this was to you, like what
this cinematic event was like, I was already like, I'm
a huge fan.

Speaker 4 (03:50):
I don't know that I need to go see this thing.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
So you were not interested at all, and that's understandable.

Speaker 3 (03:55):
I said, not only do you have to go because
it's your job, you have to go with me. Yeah,
And there's nothing like a work colleague inviting themselves along
to hang out with you on a Saturday. Yeah, which
is what we did.

Speaker 4 (04:04):
Which is what we did.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
So some cinemas were here's a thing. There was a
different experience depending on where you went. Some you know,
what time of day because this thing kicked off at
like five am. I know some people were floating the idea,
like should you when I go to a five am
screening so we get our coverage up early, And I said,
I love the Spillers so much. I went to the
cinema just to see the movie just so I could
talk about on this podcast. That's what I did, and

(04:25):
I have no complaints about that. But I was in
no way in hell going at five am on a Saturday.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
So we went at twelve, which is twelve, which is
still pretty early for me. I arrived blurry eyed to
the cinema. Also, like you guys have seen Laura right,
Like you guys know that she's always got like a
bold lip, she's always got her hair.

Speaker 4 (04:42):
Done like perfectly, not any videos.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
I don't outfit steamed, and like I'm there in like I.

Speaker 4 (04:50):
Don't know what I thought I was leading to where
you should have seen her. Oh you looked at phenomenal.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
But that's the point, Like God knows what I was
wearrying something an outfit for sure, clothes absolutely absolutely, Otherwise
that would have been a very different stem and Laura
and I like, right, it's a morning I mean, it's
lunch time, but we're like, that's not a popcorn and
coke time.

Speaker 4 (05:05):
It's not a wine time. This is the am b Us.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
I mean, I definitely would have gone on wine, but
I had to go and write my but you had
to do it. You had to do some thinking also,
just to set the scene. On the Friday when the
album drops, I'm really excited. Obviously I'm still working, but
I'm trying to listen. You decided to go in with Yes.

Speaker 3 (05:21):
I made a journalistic decision, is what I'm calling it.
So Friday the album comes out, huge ripple of excitement
across the world. People lose their minds, including Tina Mary
Burke over here, who I might.

Speaker 4 (05:34):
Use that for my passwords.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
I don't try and change those.

Speaker 4 (05:38):
That's terrible.

Speaker 3 (05:38):
Security loses their mind And at that point you and
I double checking what time we should meet the cinema
and tomorrow, how much time will need for coffee, et cetera,
et cetera, and I said, hey, in the interest of
journalistic integrity and making sure that we attack this new
Taylor Swift movie from every side, why don't you go in?
Having listened to the album multiple, multiple, multiple times, which

(05:59):
you did, and knowing all the background, and knowing all
the lord, knowing what the fans were saying. You're in
fifty group chats and everyone was talking about it. You
set up all might I DIDs sting to it, and
you had a frantic energy the next day, I did.
And then I went into it not hearing any of
the songs. I didn't look at any of the information online.
I've read no reviews, I read no discourse. So I
went into it completely blind, and it saved my life.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
Yeah, and so we go in with really different experiences,
which we will obviously get too. Sorry I sidetracked us,
but point being, I'm in a Taylor sw frenzy. It's
the am for us. We go, let's me, we'll get
a coffee, We'll get a breakfast treat. Laura Brodneck has
always thinks she's going to be on time. Isn't not
her fault, as UBA's fault. She was a bit my fault.
But Laura comes running into the coffee shop, literally running

(06:45):
midday in like a full face silk skirt, like a
classic Laura ensemble, and I'm in like a pajama toll. Yeah,
well it was casual for you. I'm in like a
pajama top and a striped skirt.

Speaker 4 (06:56):
That's what I was wearing.

Speaker 1 (06:57):
And like I think I was wearing teevas or like
a sneak, but like I was looking very cinema casual.
Laura was ready for the premiere, as she should be,
because I need to say there was if there was
an a strange premiere. We didn't get invited.

Speaker 4 (07:07):
No, we didn't.

Speaker 3 (07:08):
We get treated it like it was well, I don't
know about that, but we had to go by our
own coffee, which we're not accustomed to.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
Kind of say.

Speaker 3 (07:15):
I have not been to the cinema and bought a
ticket for six or seven.

Speaker 1 (07:18):
Years, and I had to do it.

Speaker 4 (07:19):
I know you haven't.

Speaker 3 (07:20):
I know that's why I made you bought a ticket.
So it was like how does one procure a movie ticket?
And then we went in and there was ads and
I was like, what is this? But we went in,
We got a sweet treat, we got our coffees. We
sat down and I didn't know what it was going
to be about. But as I said, I'm so glad
I hadn't listened to the album. This wouldn't have been
for everyone, but it was the right decision for me
because I was seeing all the songs for the first

(07:41):
time as they played on screen, which is basically it's
what a ninety minute movie?

Speaker 1 (07:46):
Yeah, and I'm going.

Speaker 3 (07:47):
To say about fifty five of those minutes were just
videos with lyrics going across the screen. And I found
that interesting because I was seeing everything for the first time.
If I'd already listened to it, I would have been like,
you get me out of here.

Speaker 1 (08:02):
Because why if I'd listened to it at home times,
I could watch the text on my own screen with
the Spotify thing where it shows you to text paying
like thirty dollars from movie ticket to watch it on screen. No,
that's so valid. But also a lot of the cinemas
will like sing along party vibe. Yeah, so that's the vibe, right,
It's supposed to be like, gather all your friends, go
to the movies. You'll see and we'll talk about what

(08:24):
else was in there. But yes, every single song. And
I actually turned to Laura at one point I was like,
Dragon is every song and she was like, yes, Tina,
that is famously what this movie is for.

Speaker 3 (08:33):
I was like, Fuck, it's interesting what you're saying about
people dressing up and people singing along because in my hoity, no, no,
not our cinema, which I feel like you can probably
pick the one. We went to a tiny cinema, and
I won't dock to you because it's next to you. Please,
don't you already gave away my middle name.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
If anyone, like anyone else will like Tina's personal details,
just DM me and I'll give you them.

Speaker 4 (08:54):
I'll give them to you.

Speaker 3 (08:56):
Yes, we went to a really small cinema on a Saturday,
early morning, twelve o'clock.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
I'm sure there were cinemas well. I saw them online.
I saw cinemas where they actually packed. And that is
what I really.

Speaker 3 (09:06):
Defended this movie over, because, as I said, once we
finished the movie, I raced home and I wrote a
review and I put it up on which will link
in the show notes, and put it up lines that
we could have something out because only out for two days,
so the time was of the essence. And there were
a lot of really scathing reviews about the movie from
many like very prestigious outlets and from many outlets across
the world, calling it greedy, cash grab, calling it useirst,

(09:31):
calling it to service to fans, and in my review,
I kind of said, like a little bit, that's missed
the point, because yes, at the end of the day,
Tailor Sift put this movie out to make extra money
and for extra promotion.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
However, it was.

Speaker 4 (09:44):
Really honest about what it was though.

Speaker 3 (09:46):
Yeah, it's product and demand, Like there was demand for
this product, which is why she put it out. Because
what we saw at cinemas across the world was people
putting on their Tailor Sift outfits, dusting off their errors
to our outfits in many senses, putting on their friendship
bracelets going to the cinema wanting to recreate the unity
and excitement that they fell to the Errors tour, yeh,
which for so many people was such an important, beautiful moment.

Speaker 1 (10:08):
And there's so many clips from cinemas of like young
girls dancing, lots of like older girls having a wine
watching the show, so like very different experience depending. But
you and I coffee in hand, you had that. But
that's morning fun for me. And some tweets in with
a torch on and I was this close to boomerang
it and going downstairs.

Speaker 3 (10:27):
To the kids, and you got in a fight with
some tweets. I would have just lost it. That would
have been the perfect cinema. It's decorum these days, guys.
Come on, if I was a kid, I would have
been terrified to make a mistake in the cinema.

Speaker 4 (10:38):
But it's pretty empty where we were. Yah.

Speaker 3 (10:41):
But when I saw those clips of like, yeah, people
singing in the cinema and people passing friendship bracelets back
in the whole, and people made outfits, like people making
full show girl outfits, and I was like, at the
end of the day, tell us his bigger strength has
always been, like, she's really good at creating an event
where you feel very special to be part of it.
And she's very good at creating community for all different ages.

(11:02):
And that's all people want at the moment. They want
to go somewhere dressed up and make friends.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
You just want to have a good time, and like whatever,
if you've got thirty bucks to spend and that's what
you want to spend it on.

Speaker 4 (11:10):
Go for gold.

Speaker 1 (11:11):
Yeah, exactly. So I'm still trying to get a plan. Actually,
if enough spillers DM, maybe she'll do it. I kind
of want Laura to come to my house and watch
the errors tour. I'll go to her house, but she
never watched The Errors Tour film because I need to.
You should watch the film too, because it's so much
fun recreate the magic. I don't know if anyone wants
a brutally honest review of The Errors Tour.

Speaker 4 (11:28):
No, they don't need that.

Speaker 1 (11:29):
I need it, perst Okay, So I just want the
spillers to harass you into being my friend. That's what
I must tell them that they're dressing, harassing and dms
every day. But what I wanted to just quickly circle
back into before we get into the magic of this
movie film is how it obviously worked as a huge
marketing strategy, which is what it was there for. I
didn't think that was hidden for anyone around. How it
made the album release more of an event, It made

(11:51):
people be excited to Like at the beginning of the movie,
Taylor sist says, I hope you sing along, so she's
inferring that I hope you've streamed this or listen to
your vinyl many times before you come to the cinema.
And what I was really interested in this whole rollout
of the life of a Showgirl is how much press
Taylor Swift did on New Heights. Everyone's like I can't
believe she did a podcast, and I say, watch she

(12:12):
did her film, says podcast it's very different, But I
was kind of expecting that that would nearly be it.
And then she went on so many different talk shows.
She went on so many radio shows. She gave more
interviews in like a week long period than she's given
in over five years. Was like kind of what I
talied up looking at it. And why I thought that
was interesting.

Speaker 3 (12:32):
Is that for so many years, the story has been
Taylor Swift doesn't need press, she doesn't need interviews. She's
the one celebrity who has so much power that she
doesn't need to sit for magazine profiles, and she doesn't
have to do the radio interview circuit like we saw
her doing. She doesn't have to go sit in a
talk show bench and like or play a game. She
doesn't have to eat a spicy wing or pretend to

(12:53):
go on a date with someone like. She's moved beyond
traditional press and that was always the big thing about her,
and we could see from the moment she was doing
the countdown on her socials and dropping all the Eastgs,
the whole world was watching her. She didn't need to
do any press so why did she do it? Can
you answer that for me?

Speaker 4 (13:11):
No, I actually can't.

Speaker 3 (13:12):
I were gonna say yes because we had talked about
this previously and you said you could answer it.

Speaker 4 (13:19):
I mean, I think there's obvious parts of it.

Speaker 1 (13:20):
This is the amount of press that she's done previously,
say like before reputation.

Speaker 4 (13:25):
This was the amount of press she would be doing.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
Oh yeah, that's I mean, like we've seen her do
this before, but not Nott, not since then. And I
honestly was surprised by the radio the late night shows.

Speaker 4 (13:36):
Yeah, expected because like she's got a.

Speaker 1 (13:38):
Friendly relationship and relationship very they're very fun, they're very
good with radio circuit. Really sure, the radio circuit shocked
me because this is pop star Taylor Swift, this is
superstar Taylor Swift, and she's on the radio answering your
name questions about like do you think you'd ever go
to space? Like my guy.

Speaker 3 (13:54):
I did love that because she had the same reaction
when I get asked if I'm gonna go to space,
because that is a big fear I've talked about on
this podcast before and absolutely not.

Speaker 1 (14:01):
Absolutely I'm not going to space. My favorite thing was
that her reasoning was like, no one would believe I went.
They'd think it was Ai, So why would I? And
she also was like, it's cold, it's weird, it's a way,
what are we doing? But it's very surprising to me
that she did the radio circuit that I did not expect.
I think it comes in parcel with why we know
she's doing this rollout of like the big talk shows,
is that she's seeing this album as like her next

(14:23):
Grammy winner, her next big award season winner, And so
it's like that's her big plan when she does those rollouts,
is to be more present and to be more involved
in that marketing and in the talk shows and make
sure that she's like front and center in everyone's minds.

Speaker 4 (14:37):
And it's also.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
Something I think that she's doing now because maybe she
just feels like a bit more at ease, Like there
was a long period of time Folklore and evermore was
obviously like during COVID she had just come off the
back of Rep and Lover, she was still treading quite carefully.
The era's tool like really reinstated her as that mega
star that people were obsessed with. And I think that

(14:59):
now that she feels happier and more confident in who
she is. She's willing to kind of go back and
do those things that are more traditional and put herself
out there and show that she's like quote unquote fun. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (15:10):
I think that's what she wants.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
What I love about her is that she'll make like
a quip or a joke on a talk show and
no one reacts because they don't really understand.

Speaker 4 (15:16):
Yeah, like is that a joke? What's she saying? And so,
like you see it in the behind the scenes of
Miss America, and she makes a lot of quips and
jokes to her team and no one reacts to her
because I think people just look at her and they're like,
she's wrapped in like this weird protective bubble rap.

Speaker 1 (15:28):
Yeah. And so I think she wants people to see
her as fun. She wants people to see her as
like a cool, fun show girly girl. Yeah, she's gonna
win a couple Grammys. I mean, who knows now with
the reaction to the album roll out, but I think
that's her big plan. She wanted this to feel huge.
But it surprised me because I thought that this movie
was supposed to be like the Secret Sessions thing, where
this would be the place where she revealed stuff, and

(15:50):
yet she's on radio going this is my favorite song,
this is my favorite thing. So it kind of did
make the movie thing feel a little less special when
she's saying the exact same stuff, if not more, also
on radio.

Speaker 4 (16:00):
That is so true.

Speaker 3 (16:00):
I hadn't even thought about that, because the promise of
the movie was to fans like, you're going to see
things before anyone else. You're going to see the video clip,
which I guess you did. You saw the video clip
before other people. And she was like, I'm going to
tell you exactly why I wrote each song and what
I was thinking, and you won't get there anywhere else
except for the fifteen radio interviews I'm going to do first.
It's interesting, I kind of do agree what you're saying
that it was half an award show ploy, like she's

(16:23):
essentially starting her campaign campaign because it doesn't matter how
many people love you like the Grammy's notoriously a bit
dirty with the way they operate, but they're also notoriously
are not going to be completely swayed by fame. And
what we've kind of picked up from taylors With over
the years is that no matter how many tickets sales
she has or records she breaks. She's still very much
craves the validation of her industry and things like the Grammys.

(16:44):
So it was half an award show campaign rollout, and
I think what else you're saying is true too. It
was also half of a personal branding exercise to make
her feel less elusive, less godlike, more like in every Woman.
She was bringing little packages of baked bread to the
different radio hosts and she was talking about like cute
little things, and she was showing her for engaging and

(17:05):
she was chatting. She just looked like, I'm not saying that.
I'm not saying that was an act. But when you're
Taylor Swift, I can't go anywhere without thinking about how
am I going to present myself because millions upon millions
of people are going to dissect this ten minute interview.

Speaker 4 (17:17):
And it was jarring. Not in a bad way.

Speaker 1 (17:20):
I have no qualms what she does or does not
do with her life, but like it was a bit
jarring compared to what we've seen to have her there
flashing the ring, going like, oh yeah, the wedding's going
to be then then I'm gonna do this like yeah, yeah,
Graham Norton, you can come.

Speaker 4 (17:32):
It's gonna be a big affair.

Speaker 1 (17:33):
Like, I know that she behaved that way, like you
said on New Heights, but that's literally his podcast. Yeah,
that was like, that's her family, that's her family. It
was very strange to see it so candidly. The way
she wance upon a time was when we haven't had
that for a very long time. She very much became
Taylor's with the brand, Taylor's with trademark, Like that's who
she's been for a long time. And even if she
lets her personality out and even if she shines through,

(17:54):
she's still that person presenting all the time. And you
saw it at the Eras tour, even in the fact
that a lot of what she said was rehearsed, there
was very rarely an off the cuff moment said on tour.
It was all very like by the minute, exact same
thing said every single night. Yeah, one hundred percent, And
there's nothing wrong with that, but it's part of that
thing that she's been so careful about.

Speaker 4 (18:12):
So it was weird a little bit to be like,
what do you mean you're talking about like your wedding.

Speaker 3 (18:17):
Yeah, it was ere telling us starring in an interesting week,
so the personal brainding is what brings us to the movie.
So at the top of the movie, she talks about
wanting to give fans a sneak peek, encourages people to
see along.

Speaker 4 (18:29):
Yes, we're ror grievance.

Speaker 1 (18:31):
Yeah. Absolutely. The top of the movie is an ad
for Target USA where you can buy an exclusive vinyl
of Taylor Swift's album at Target. Just take it out,
like oh yeah for an austra audience, because that wasn't
that's the case her?

Speaker 4 (18:43):
Yeah, that annoyed me. It just really frustrated me because
I was like, okay, we was a choice.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
We chose to go. I have lots of positive memories
of Saturday that I'll cherish forever, and I had a
good time. But if you're going to make people come
and pay money to see this thing that you've done
that is generic and is across every audience, can you
at least change the American ad from the start of
the video. It's a very fun ad, it's very show girl.
We can't buy it, so can you just take it out?

(19:11):
Can you just do an intro like, Hey, Australia and
New Zealand, head to my website do anything that makes
it feel like we didn't just get a weird DVD
from America and like my mum pressed play like an illegal,
pirated copy. That's kind of how that made it feel
such it was weird. It's such a fair grievance that
I hope she takes on.

Speaker 4 (19:27):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (19:28):
But then it introduces Taylor and she does an intro.
It introduces Taylor and we get into the movie. What
is really interesting in this movie is that it is
as much as it's marketing for the album, it's also
coming off what you're saying about her interviews, a huge
exercise in public branding and making her look like everyone's
best friend, but also a creative force.

Speaker 1 (19:48):
Which we already thought of. Yeah, but it starts off
with the making of the Fate of Ophelia music video,
which is a thread that goes all the way through.
We see the music video.

Speaker 4 (19:59):
Which was sickeningly good, Like what.

Speaker 1 (20:02):
Did you love about it? I think this is the
see we see the video. Really, she's ever made, the
best music video she's ever made, I think. So I'm
not just agree with you, I'm just so interesting because
I know that you watch all of them. So intently,
so that really means.

Speaker 4 (20:15):
The way and I do think.

Speaker 1 (20:16):
So you get to see it twice, so you get baked,
you do, but I did enjoy seeing it, and then
obviously they talk through it, so maybe that's also part
of why I thought it was so much better. So
if you haven't seen it yet, a lot of the
segments are one shot takes, which is a very hard
thing to do and you need to practice and you
need to rehearse a lot, but what it usually delivers

(20:36):
is like something very beautiful. And she had set all
of hers in different artsy worlds. So first section, she's
recreating the painting of Ophelia, and then she comes out
of the painting, and then it turns into her going
into another painting and there's all these moving parts around her,
and then she sort of progresses through various stages of showgirls,
which you learn from the film is that she wanted

(20:56):
the music video to showcase all of the different ways
that a show girl may peep. Then like she's a
tenuous link because she kind of calls Ophelia a showgirl, but.

Speaker 4 (21:05):
She's like in the sense that she was in a
painting and you're like, all right, frantistic purposes will go
with that and say yes.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
But she sort of goes through, you know, like girls
who dance in the kickout clubs.

Speaker 4 (21:16):
She goes through like the.

Speaker 1 (21:17):
Girls who did like the water performances in their beduled swimsuits,
and like she does like herself at the end of
each night of the Eras tour, so she shows what
a show girl would have looked like through various phases
in time. There's a moment where she has like a
Marilyn moment with the blonde wig and like the corset.
I just thought that it was a very stunning and
well choreographed routine from the start to finish, and she

(21:40):
had all of her Errors Tour dancers, she had her band,
she had all of these different people popping up. So
that was also fun because if someone popped up on
the screen, I was like, Oh, it's Cam, or like
oh it's this person, or hey, that's her guitar.

Speaker 3 (21:50):
Her whole entire come to because she really start the
Errors Tour. She always said like, we welcome you to
the Eras too. We are so excited you're here. At
the end of the Eras tour, you see the faces
and names of all the dances in band flush ups,
so she was always trying to make it look like
a community, and I think that's a little nod to
fans from the aras tours, like, here's all the dances
you loved dancing next to me, and they all get
to have a little part. This making of the music

(22:12):
video was my favorite part of this movie. I could
have watched just nineteen I sound it so interesting how
she's explaining the setup. We're behind the scenes on all
of these different shots. And this is when you see
two parts of Taylor Swift. And because you only really
see like maybe.

Speaker 1 (22:30):
Half an hour of footage, maybe not even that, twenty
minutes the footage of the behind the scenes making of
and they were doing it for such a long time.
I'm always really interesting of which pieces someone like Taylor Swift,
who is in charge of everything, which pieces she picks
to show. And she shows a lot of scenes of
her really explaining because she directed and wrote the music
video and came up and the song and she basically

(22:51):
she did everything and she really wants that to come
across the audience.

Speaker 3 (22:55):
There's a lot of different shots of her explaining in
very intense detail what her vision is where people need
to be. You see her collaborating with people like Mandy Moore,
who's like a very famous choreographer.

Speaker 1 (23:06):
Choreographer, but it's not to make confused with Mandy Moore
the actress.

Speaker 3 (23:09):
She wasn't there that day as far as we know,
and so we see her really sharing her vision and
going back and forth and all these sorts of things,
and we also see her being like, not take charge,
but it's very clear.

Speaker 4 (23:21):
That she is in charge, and she's saying like, oh,
she's like, we'll go again.

Speaker 3 (23:24):
Yeah, she's like, we got again. We didn't get it,
go again this way. And then she's also saying to everyone,
we have to get it in one shop. It has
to be one shot. We cannot find it in the edit.
We have to get it now, all these different things,
and you see her really giving that intense feedback and
also being like they shoot it, and everyone's like, they
shoot one of the final shots. Aroun they're in the
room partying and she looks at the monitor and straight

(23:44):
away she's like, no, I know you guys think that
was good, but it needs to be dimer that's not right.

Speaker 1 (23:48):
We go again.

Speaker 3 (23:49):
And also interestingly watching all the dancers do all these
very specific moves. It's such a dance heavy video. There's
so much precision in like the movement of like this
person comes across the corridor and this person throws a
football to tailor and then she throws it back and
this person jumps into the ocean and all this sort
of stuff, And it's really interesting that none of the

(24:09):
music plays during that. They do that whole sequence for
the entire video off clicks.

Speaker 1 (24:14):
Yeah, it is surprising to me that she even sings,
because in parts of it she was she was that
was weird, because the whole she never does. And I
think it's the fact that she does trust the errors
to our team that much that explicitly not enough to
play the song, not enough to fully play the song.
But she also if you watch the behind the scenes
of like the Me music video, it's just the clicks.
So they're dancing and let me audio it for you guys.

(24:35):
It's literally just like and.

Speaker 4 (24:37):
You're like, wow, that was great. I can't believe we
just dance to that.

Speaker 3 (24:40):
Yeah, because her music is under such lock and key
that even with her most trusted team members, she can't
play the.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
She's even saying the lyrics out loud, which is like
shows how much she does actually trust them, but it
is strange, so like they have all just worked together
for so long now and it was nice to see
her bring them back, but it was kind of weird.
And I think the point you've sort of made about
her directing, I do want to say that, like it
was all very like I want to do the best
I can do, is how it all came across. Not

(25:05):
that she ever thought someone else didn't do a good
enough job. It was always like I can do that better. Yeah,
I know I can nail that better. I know that
I can do this better. The one was the lighting
one in the final scene, but otherwise she was like, no,
let me try one more time. I'm going to do
one more and I'm just gonna fall at the right
time off this ship. I'm just gonna walk down the
steps at this exact right time. And like, I do
think she takes that very seriously. Yeah, in that she

(25:28):
has been criticized for not being a good enough dnswer
or not being like cool enough, or not having like
enough stage presence, So I think that's something she tries. Really,
she wants you to know how hard she worked, Yeah, exactly,
and I think maybe this is also her like decades early,
run it an Oscar's yeah, because she.

Speaker 4 (25:45):
Does want to get into directing. She's set it before.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
I think she really wants an Oscar. She's come very close.

Speaker 3 (25:49):
The All two l music video was potentially in the
running for Best Short Film for the Oscars. It didn't
make it through to like the final long list. But
also she had a slam dunk almost with Cats Is
that she she did everything right, a big screen adaptation
of a classic Broadway musical. She co wrote a song
with Andrew Lloyd Webber that was critically acclaimed in any

(26:10):
other world except that people hated Cats so much. In
any other world, she would have at least got an
Oscar nomination, And that is why she was out promoing
and doing all the red carpets and things for Cats.
Is She was like, very soon, I'm going to be
at the Oscars and I'm potentially going to win my
first Oscar. Which is the thing that you can tell
she really wants. Yeah, So I think she does. So
and Andrew Lord Webber let her down, I know.

Speaker 1 (26:32):
But she wants that director lifestyle, So like I think
this is her showing off her skill set for sure,
and like making it clear to all of us that
this is her her skill.

Speaker 3 (26:41):
And making it clear that she's just one of the gang.
That was it other things that I thought she went
to great great pains, And I understand why the tiniest
little just hint that Taylor Swift treated anyone badly on
that set, that she was in any way difficult, that
she in any way said anything to anyone that made
them upset, would just ruin her in a way that
it wouldn't so much with other celebrities, because she has

(27:02):
cultivated this not to her enemies, but to her in
a circle who There's so many stories come out about
how well she treats her band, and I'm actually she doesn't,
but I'm just saying, like, we get a lot of
information around that, because it's very clear that her team
want us to know that she treats her dance as well,
she treats her band member as well, she keeps people
with her for a long time, she gives bonuses to people,
She's very collaborative, and there was a lot of clips

(27:25):
that were deliberately shown and put in there to show
her being like one of the gals on the set,
Like when someone's like, oh, we could have your bread
in the music video, and because she's been baking this
out door and she gets sold.

Speaker 1 (27:37):
She's like, my bread in the video. Really, could you
think that could happen? Do you think it could happen?
Do you think it happened? I'm like, girl, you're the boss.
You can do whatever you want. Why are you going
and asking everyone on the room if your brain's allowed
to be in there? And then acting like this miracle
has occurred. She's like, my god, my bread is going
to be in a music video. I was like, you're
in your laughing video and you're a directive. You can
literally put anything you want in there. I don't mean
that to be nickpicky.

Speaker 3 (27:58):
I don't mean it to be that. I know that's
not a really mean girl. I just I just meant like,
I know what you mean. Yeah, the bits that she
chooses to show, and there's all these moments where she
kind of walks in and I'm sure she meant it too,
and she's being like she'll go into every dance.

Speaker 1 (28:10):
And be like, you look beautiful, you look beautiful, you
look beautiful. You nailed it, You nailed it. You nailed.
It's so good. It's so good, it's so good.

Speaker 3 (28:15):
I'm not saying she doesn't talk like that, but I
do think she has to go above and beyond so
that there's no question, because there would be a question
if she didn't do it.

Speaker 1 (28:24):
Oh absolutely, yeah. No, she can't do that. She can't
like have a normal casual work acquaintance.

Speaker 3 (28:29):
No, No, she can't come in and be like, I've had
the longest day and I told you put that light there.
You didn't put it there, and which would be very fair,
a very fair reaction to have. But when you Taylor Swift,
you've got to be on the whole time. Yeah, and
we saw it. We did see it.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
And I think like they spent two years together on
that stage every other day, and like she really on
the tour and then now in this music video, has
tried to make it very clear that like she sees
them as like her friends and family.

Speaker 4 (28:53):
Yeah, she's like that last one's the show once.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
Now that this video is done, who knows, but like
it's still nice to see them all together and see
that like she is going out of her way to
at least try to, Like I wonder how much they
got for.

Speaker 4 (29:04):
The music video.

Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yeah, well quite a lot, I'm sure, because she does
pay very high.

Speaker 4 (29:08):
Oh my god.

Speaker 3 (29:08):
And she was tipping them all like one hundred K, Like, yeah,
I love that when you're making in that much money too.

Speaker 1 (29:13):
It's all relative as well. It seems like a lot
to ask, but for her, yeah, pretty.

Speaker 4 (29:17):
To be a backup dancer for Taylor Swift. Get a
dollar or two, have some fun, some fun vibes.

Speaker 3 (29:23):
So the most of the movie is we see the
video play, not once, but twice.

Speaker 4 (29:29):
The pharaophilia start at the end.

Speaker 3 (29:31):
Yeah, we see the start, we see the end, We
see snippets throughout the movie that is the making of
the video clip. And then the rest of the movie
is made up of the lyric video of every song
on the Life of a Show Go album with a
little intro from Taylor Swift. Now, because everything's so set up.
The way that she chose to do those intros I
thought was very interesting. She's seeing a director's chair, yeah,

(29:53):
because she's the director. She's wearing red and she's got
a matching red lip, and she's got a hair tied
back and like a messy, messy pony, messy pony, a
very like curly fringe like hair do.

Speaker 1 (30:05):
I'm sure took hours.

Speaker 3 (30:06):
But it's also meant to look like, yeah, she's got
a red lip on, but she's not overly up.

Speaker 1 (30:10):
She's a working girl. She's got like.

Speaker 3 (30:12):
Boots and socks on, and she's looking very like she's
about to spring into directing action. And it's also mentally
very visually beautiful because it's Taylor Swift, so her red
lip matches her red top, and also there's a set
behind her which is a big floor to ceiling painting
which is set with the red in it that matches

(30:32):
her top and lipstick. So it's all really beautiful. But
then we see the set has been just nudged over
tire a little bit, and so you can see behind
the scenes onto the real set, which looks like behind
the scenes of a theater, very messy, very chaotic, very creative.
So it's meant to like show you that whole setup
of where she's doing the intros. It's meant to show
you you've come into this beautiful world that she's creative,

(30:55):
but you're on the set with her, so you're in
the midst of the chaos. Yeah, you're in the director's share, Yeah,
you're in with her and you're getting atting the hot
takes and the special takes.

Speaker 4 (31:03):
And then she talks for forty five seconds.

Speaker 1 (31:05):
About each song. Okay, let's go through lyric. We go
through the the intros for all the different songs. What
I did love about the Fate of Ophelia intro, Like
everyone makes fun of the whole, like because Taylor's we've
called herself that English teacher in that one post when
she got engaged, and like it's kind of a joke
if like people have said in the past, especially with
like Folklore Evermore and torture poets, that like she waffles

(31:27):
too lyrical, like too poetic whatever. She kind of makes
a bit of a joke of that. But I think
there's a lot of chatter online about how people expected
the Fate of Ophelia song to actually be more rooted
in the Shakespeare's story, and it's like that's obviously not
she was going to relate it to herself.

Speaker 4 (31:41):
That's not what she was going to do.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
But the introduction is quite funny to the song because
she talks about how she's like, oh, like it's just
like I get so attached to these Shakespeare characters. I
love Shakespeare, and I'm like, okay, I don't, but good
for you.

Speaker 4 (31:53):
No, we all don't like Shakespeare. We love Shakespeare, but
that's the.

Speaker 3 (31:56):
Way to say everyone you know who does. But she
acknowledges that. She's like, she acknowledges that. She goes, I know,
what a wild thing to say about Shakespeare.

Speaker 4 (32:04):
That's what I mean.

Speaker 1 (32:04):
It's kind of funny, like she's like whatever, But then
she's like, every time one of them dies, I get
so sad. Yeah, well it is famously called a tragedy tale. Yeah,
like you are meant to be sad. Correct, She's astute,
and so what she kind of does is try to
be like, I am just gonna like maybe save Ophelia
from this sad fate.

Speaker 4 (32:22):
But it's not really about that.

Speaker 1 (32:23):
But she makes a joke of like the Romeo and
Juliet song, like she's like, I try to save these
women from their fates.

Speaker 3 (32:28):
And I'm like, yeah, she's like, I do that thing
I do where I look at Shakespeare and che is
and Shakespeare actually holds up and I'm like, I know
that's it to sound dumb, but she's correct. Shakespeare does
hold up in a way that a lot of other
literature from that time period all the decades that followed.

Speaker 4 (32:44):
It still inspire an adaptation.

Speaker 3 (32:47):
And again it's I know it's a wild thing to
say Shakespeare good, but she said it. She went out
and she went she's not afraid to say controversial things.

Speaker 4 (32:55):
She's not and like, you know what, good.

Speaker 1 (32:58):
But the intro is quite funny because she is like,
Shakespeare holds up and you know, I like to save
these characters from tragedy because I get really sad when
they die. Yeah, she's like I love to say.

Speaker 3 (33:06):
Look, She's like, I love to look at Shakespeare's stories
and say, but what if they got to get? And
also what it goes to me and that it cuts
to the song You're like, fair enough.

Speaker 1 (33:14):
Fair enough, Taylor, and I don't understand. So we had
that that was quite funny. And also I just enjoyed
it because so many people have been like, this song's
not shakespeare enough, and it's like she's just inserting herself
in the story. And he loved it when she did
it love stories.

Speaker 3 (33:26):
She was taking herself from the idea of a feliure
in paintings and through artists interpretations, rather than a Felia's
full story from the play is what I took from famously,
I don't think Taylor's with his boyfriends have murdered her father. Yeah,
that went off. Stay changed for the next album. We
learned what Opealite was. I'm gonna say I didn't know
what opelite was.

Speaker 4 (33:44):
Apparently she got it wrong too, So I don't know.

Speaker 1 (33:47):
This is ru.

Speaker 3 (33:48):
Just so you know, I'm getting all my opolite information
from Taylor's me too, so it can't be wrong me too.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
So yeah, she explained what oplite was, which was like
man made Opal. I want to say, yeah, and then
it's like the stone for Travis Kelsey's birth mom. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
and she loud of that was incorrect. Well, apparently there's
something to do with being man made. Is it's not
exactly the same as like man made diamonds and stuff.
I mean, I feel like people to be technical on
the fake rocks. All she said was that she and

(34:15):
her mum. It's so funny because this is where the
press and the movie were butting heads because people were saying, well,
in the interviews, she said that Opal was linked to
Travis Kelsey, and in the movie she said opals are
a special thing that she and her mum shared, one
of us she has one of the many things we
share together. And Opalite is the idea of making your
own luck and making your own happy ending. Yeah, And

(34:36):
people got upset about that, and I was like, I
do think what you're saying is true. It's probably just both.
It's probably just both, but it was. Yeah, that was
the vibe of what she said about Opalite was that
it was like taking something there made and making it
of for yourself. And that's how she feels about the
romance with Travis Kelsey, that they had the opportunity to
create something and she's never made anything. I think the
line is like I've never made anything as beautiful as this,
or Opolite is my favorite song.

Speaker 4 (34:57):
Yeah, you think that's a controversial take.

Speaker 1 (35:01):
Well, some people are hate but like she does all
these os that sound christmasy and there's like a jangly bell.
It's kind of like when Little Mix released that like
love Me Like You, and it just it's like a
Christmas song even though it's not.

Speaker 4 (35:11):
That's how I feel about Opalite.

Speaker 3 (35:13):
And she also just says that she writes down words
that she thinks are interesting. When she hears them, so
she wrote down opalite and then she just works them
into a song. Yeah, which doesn't sound groundbreaking, but I
just love that she's got a notes out for.

Speaker 1 (35:23):
Yeah, she said a couple of times she was like,
I've got a long list in my phone that I
just scroll through and then someone has a beat or
a melody that suits, and then it's all one of
the words.

Speaker 4 (35:33):
How that could fit?

Speaker 1 (35:34):
Man? I love to see that notes. That's just so creative.
What's in her She was funny because she was like
some of its trash.

Speaker 3 (35:39):
Yeah, yeah, it is everyone's ideas like that. So she
goes through the different intros to song. The one that
gets the biggest laugh in our cinema with the six
people who are in there, but also I've seen other
cinemas that are packed. Yeah, the one that gets the
biggest laugh is the introduction to Wood. Would you like
to tell people what she said there?

Speaker 1 (35:55):
Well? Wood is the song about Travis Kelsey's penis. Yea,
and oh it's not just about that, it's about how
sexy times are. And she introduces that song as like
it's all about superstitious. Yeah, she's like stepping on her
craw knocking on Wood, like she just does it in
this really silly, nonchalant tailor way, but where she can't

(36:16):
be that.

Speaker 4 (36:17):
Joky, and so she's got this like silly little grin
on her face.

Speaker 1 (36:19):
So that's the thing is that the movie was like
a G rated movie because I think she was so
aware that she has a really young fan base, and
we saw heaps of kids being taken to the cinema
by their parents, and so when she's talking about Wood,
she's like, it's about black cats and stepping on cracks
and things like that, and she just stops, looks at
the camera and everyone laughs because they're like, hah, it's
about penises. Yeah. And then but also Laura hasn't heard

(36:40):
the songs at this point. No, So then in the
cinema it was all the clean versions and all.

Speaker 4 (36:45):
Yeah, that's interesting, isn't it.

Speaker 1 (36:46):
As all the songs come on, I'm like whispering to
Laura and telling her what it is, and then yeah,
I want to have this sounded to people behind it,
because across the screen it comes up. That was the
key that opened my skies, and I did know some
part of me knew that was not the right lyrics.
And then new lean over really loud and go the
real lyric is the key that opened my thighs. It
was a few times and I was like, I get it,

(37:07):
I get it. I'm listening to the clean version. So
that got a big laugh. And then the women next
to me were having a great time because I was
having to tell you everything.

Speaker 4 (37:15):
They really enjoyed what we spoke.

Speaker 1 (37:18):
Oh yeah, that was a whispers and they alwayspring to
like everyone was having a little chatter. Well, it was.

Speaker 3 (37:25):
I hate talking in movies, as you know. Don't talk
to me, don't talk to anyone else, don't look at
your phone, which I didn't do. I think you're in
the movies dead silence except for laughter and maybe a
gasp if you're a scaty cat. It's fine and tells
the movie because that was designed for people to talk
and clap and sing along, and it was a lot of.

Speaker 1 (37:42):
Just lyrics on the screen. So what else are you
going to do?

Speaker 3 (37:44):
Yes, going into the actually romantic that was probably one
of the longest intros, and she really goes to town
in that.

Speaker 1 (37:52):
Yeah, So that is the introduction to the song that
is believed to be about Charlie XCX and the relationship
that they have, Yes, and she sort of introduces the
song as like being about when you don't even realize
that you were a part of somebody else's story and
you don't even realize like what you mean to them
because you've just been living your life and then they

(38:12):
do something that makes it clear that like they don't
like you, or they have an opinion of you, or
they're talking about you behind your back, and like you're like, oh.

Speaker 4 (38:21):
I didn't even know that.

Speaker 1 (38:22):
Yeah, But she puts on this like if you've heard
the song, you'd know exactly what kind of voice she'd
put on, because she's doing a bit of like, oh sweetie,
it's like you.

Speaker 4 (38:31):
See me sweetie coded yeah, like which is.

Speaker 1 (38:35):
She later has a song where she's talking about how
condescending it is when people talk to her that way
that she's like, the vibe is like oh, and then
she does a little she's a little ciss.

Speaker 3 (38:44):
To the camera is the most cutthroat thing I've ever seen.
So Yes, she does one of the longer intros to
this song, because you can tell you'd a lot to say.
She even I don't think I'm imagining this, and I
think it's true. She sits up a bit straight up.
She leans it forward in that director's chair, and she.

Speaker 1 (39:00):
Talks about the people who are so obsessed with her
and she doesn't even realize and she goes in our industry,
attention is like the main reward. So thank you for that.

Speaker 3 (39:10):
Yes, and then she blows a kiss into the camera,
but it's not for us the audience. I felt like
it went right over her yeah, and smacked into the
faces of all her.

Speaker 1 (39:20):
I literally this intro was so like suckering and like,
do you want to say what? You whispered in my
ear when she was oh, no, I know. I can't
because I'm a lady. I can't say it on a podcast,
but I say it will bleep it.

Speaker 4 (39:35):
No, I won't. I scoffed out loud.

Speaker 1 (39:37):
You did, put my head in my hands, laughed, and
the woman next to me started laughing, like at me,
not next year, because it's an empty cinema.

Speaker 4 (39:44):
She's a few seats away.

Speaker 1 (39:45):
She started giggling, but she was happy because she smiled
at me and she was like yeah, because everyone knows.
The guy behind us is like, oh Charlie, yes, Everyone's like,
oh god, and that reaction she wanted us. I said
a swear word to Laura, and I said, she's up,
but I mentioned indeering way. I don't know that's what
I got from it.

Speaker 3 (40:03):
You said it the way you talk about one of
your best friends who off in the corner doing something
at a party, like.

Speaker 1 (40:08):
Oh, she's such a bitch sometimes like.

Speaker 4 (40:11):
Saving way work no more. It's all I said, a
nice complimentary word, But she.

Speaker 3 (40:17):
Did say it, like I think the relationship you have
watching this movie and a lot of people around us
were having it was like watching a very close friend, Yeah,
be in a public space, and we all have that
thing close friends where you're just like, oh my god,
love them.

Speaker 1 (40:30):
Oh I hate when she says that, Oh of course
she's going to tell the story again. Oh look, I'm
so proud of her.

Speaker 3 (40:33):
There she goes, like we're all having that kind of
moment watching her in this and one of my friends
behave the way that this was of this giggly like
winky face sister camera.

Speaker 4 (40:43):
Like hah, you are jealous of me or you love me?

Speaker 1 (40:47):
Like I would have the same reaction of like it
was like put your head in your hands, laugh at
how rindigulous the situation is, and like genuinely she made
me laugh.

Speaker 4 (40:54):
I thought it was so funny. I knew she was
going to say God, but it was funny.

Speaker 3 (40:59):
The other interesting intro was for Cancel, which everyone thinks
is about like a number of famous who made me
think Sophie Turner, Blake, Lively and she was saying in
that intro that she's been canceled so many times and
she feels so deeply what that is like. And she
said she's become the person in all of these famous
circles where the moment someone feels like they're getting canceled,
they call Taylor Swift and she says, I always say

(41:21):
the same thing. I know, I know, I understand it's
going to be okay, do you want to go for lunch?

Speaker 4 (41:25):
Yeah? You're saying that, like seeing the words like because okay.

Speaker 1 (41:29):
These lyric videos are like Taylor Swift got free license
to do a boomerang under a kaleidoscope. Yeah, because that's
all it is. I think they're on YouTube now and
you can look them up. But it's like one short
snippet all from the Fate of Ophelia music video, which
we've already seen, so an outfit we've already seen on
a short loopy boomerang and then in a weird kaleidoscopy
shape where sometimes a fun color peeks through and like

(41:50):
so it's like a bit of razzle dazzle nothing, and
then there's words on the screen. They're not exciting, they're
just lyric videos.

Speaker 3 (41:54):
Yeah, but they're exciting if you've seen them for the
first time, like I was.

Speaker 1 (41:57):
But it's also like I was obviously having a great
time because I kept poking Laura and adding things, but
that seeing the words on the screen, combined with what
she said about the like should we go for lunch,
it clicked for me.

Speaker 4 (42:07):
I was like, Oh, this part's referencing Sophie Turner, the
thing that.

Speaker 3 (42:11):
She wanted everyone to know as we watched that music
video for the first time, that Larry video she wanted
us to know was about Sophie Turner, which I thought
was really interesting that that's the name she picked out
to really kind of sell to us as part of
the song because everyone thought it was more of a
blake thing.

Speaker 1 (42:25):
Everyone thinks it's blake, but like saying like go to
lunch and stuff, and then the line essentially that made
me realize it and seeing it on the screen made
me realize quite a few of the lines that tighter Blake,
that tighter Sophie was the one like did they catch
you having too much fun? Because that was the whole
Sophie and Joe thing was that people were like, she's
out partying, Joe's just to stay at home. Daddy can't
keep up with her crazy girl lifestyle. She's having too

(42:46):
much fun for her mother. And then next minute, Sophie's
staying at Taylor's apartment, She's being taken out to dinner
by Taylor Swift where everyone's going to see them and
they're going to get photographed.

Speaker 4 (42:56):
Like that was like as much.

Speaker 1 (42:58):
As people might think, oh no, like that wasn't that bad,
Sophie was being absolutely canceled over nothing at that point
in time. And it didn't work because Taylor stepped in, Like,
I mean, who knows if that will work again if
Taylor has that power, but she stop to it just
with her own star power, and everyone turned around and
changed their minds. But it was very clear what was
attempted by Joe's team in the press at that point

(43:19):
in time. It's well documented. And then likewise about Blake,
like seeing it on screen, you're like Oh, yeah, she
is talking about flowers. Oh she is talking about girl
bossing too close to the sun, something that was said
about them. Oh, she's saying this thing like it just
sort of made. That was the one lyric video where
I watched it and I went, oh, yeah, right, even
though I'd been listening to it, I just I don't know,
for some reason, seeing it on the screen worked for me. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 3 (43:41):
And then the last intro we would talk about is
the one for Father Figure, because that was also a
bit of a lengthy one, and you could see that
she came into that with a very deliberate plan of
what she wanted us to think.

Speaker 1 (43:52):
Yeah, so she starts off in that introduction by talking
about her experience in the industry and like why she
interpolated that song, and she sort of says that, like
George Michael's song obviously talks about more of a romantic relationship,
but she always loved the line of like I can
be your father figure, and she wanted to apply it
to the industry and the experiences that she'd had and

(44:13):
to the narrative story of an engine you and the
person who promises to mentor them and the things that
go wrong and all of the problems that people can face,
But she really really took the time and again kind
of sat forward, and what people think is that she
explains that it was really important to her to get
permission from George Michael's estate and from his family before

(44:37):
she ever touched the song.

Speaker 4 (44:39):
She knew she had an idea.

Speaker 1 (44:40):
She didn't want to do anything until she had explicit
permission and she had the rights to the music, and
given the context and the themes of the song, which
is essentially like thinking you can trust somebody, this father figure,
and then them turning on you, or perhaps like you
just protecting yourself, Like there's a lot of weird themes
in there. People think that part of that is a

(45:01):
bit of shade towards Olivia Rodrigo, who did interpolate some
of Taylor's music without permission, and she then had to
give credit to her because their teams demanded credit, and
then they sort of had an industry falling out where
it's never really been addressed, but we know that they
were once like Taylor was calling her daughter, she was
giving her the first access to Fearless Taylor's version. They
were really really involved with each other. And then suddenly

(45:24):
it was like no longer. So there is believe to
be a bit of bad blood there between them, and
people think that the commentary before this song playing means
that she's hinting that part of this is revolving around
the relationship between her and Olivia.

Speaker 4 (45:37):
I said, it's.

Speaker 3 (45:38):
Probably like quite a lot of truth stat because the
thing is, she does the intros for twelve songs. They're
very short intros, even the one where she kind of
like where she's talking about her enemies, which grows slightly longer,
So they're very short. And she spent a lot of
time putting this project together and all her face, her image,
her like everything about her on the line. So everything
about those intros of what she's going to say for

(45:58):
two minutes is chosen so specifically and so carefully, and
she would have written and rehearsed about what she wants
to say, So looking at what she chose to include,
and especially that tidbit of like of really getting into
ownership of music and what is the right thing to do,
it feels very deliberate. Yeah, Oh, Taylor doesn't say anything
without thinking about what it's going to meanes, But like
maybe off the cuff, but not in a filmed, curated woman.

Speaker 1 (46:22):
Where she's literally in a director stoe, so she's literally
directing exactly what she's doing and what's being perceived. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (46:26):
No, that was all on purpose for sure.

Speaker 1 (46:28):
Yeah, so I mean overall, so yes, it was nineteen minutes.
We went to the theater to see it. It was
the phato Ophelia music video twice. I must say it
did hit hard. At the second time, I was very
grateful they showed me again. Ending on a lyric video
wouldn't have been fun. Yeah, it wouldn't have hit the
same way. Did it deserve to be in cinemas? Potentially
not not at all if you're what most people are saying,

(46:49):
because at the end of the day, it was a
few snippets and lyric video is in any other artists
would have put that on YouTube. But I do think it.

Speaker 3 (46:57):
Was a smart move of her to put it in
cinemas because the fandom was there, and if you build
up the fandom, then maybe you deserve to also put
it in cinemas and ticket sales don't lie.

Speaker 4 (47:06):
Yeah, and it's exactly what it promised to be. That's
the thing.

Speaker 1 (47:09):
It was. As we said, maybe sold us a little
bit more of like an exclusive thing. Yeah, and then
she's out doing every press under the sun saying the
exactly Yeah. Well, I think sometimes I thought there would
be a bit more behind the scenes stuff, defin at
least small snippets that we saw. I did. I thought
it was going to be a bit more. But also
it was like lyric videos will be playing on the
screen and that I just didn't think people thought that

(47:29):
was going to be as much as it was. No,
but a lot of people weren'thappy about that, so.

Speaker 4 (47:34):
And like there we go.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
Kind of it was pretty much what was advertised, but
also in that sense like that's, you know, a cash grab,
and I'm okay with that because I don't have to
spend the cash if I don't want to. But a
lot of people take coverage with that, and that's fair enough.
You don't have to be supportive of the fact that
Taylor does love to get a dollar, she loves to
put on a show. Does well.

Speaker 3 (47:52):
Thank you so much for listening to our brillly honest
review of Taylor's a STU Movie as I'm calling it
for a shorthand, and we will link the episode we
did earlier in the week about all the lyrics and
the behind the scenes stories from the album, which if
now you're maybe you've just discovered Hels So for the
first time listening to this you're like, hey, I'd love
to know what the albums about. We will link that
in the show notes and also make sure you're following

(48:12):
us on our social platforms. We are The Spill podcast
on TikTok and Instagram. That's where the magic happens. That's
where the videos get posted, and that is where you
can tell us what is your favorite song from the
album and if you saw the movie. The Spill is
produced by Minitia It's Warren with sound production by Scott Stronik.
And we'll see you back here on your feed at
eight am on Monday for morning Tea.

Speaker 4 (48:31):
Bye bye,

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SUMMER LISTENING: A Brutally Honest Review Of Taylor Swift's New Movie

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