Taylor Swift Removing the Scale Scene In ‘Anti-Hero’ Draws Contrasting Praise and Criticism
It’s been a big week for Taylor Swift. On October 21, she released her tenth studio album, Midnights to the world. In just one day, the album became the best-selling album of the year. For the lead single, Swift chose “Anti-Hero”, a song that explores the self-loathing the multi-millionaire experiences at times. To accompany the tune, Swift released a music video, which she herself wrote and directed. However, one scene from the video involving a scale has sparked a fair amount of controversy.
Why did Taylor Swift’s scale scene in the ‘Anti-Hero’ music video cause controversy?
In the original Anti-Hero music video, Swift steps onto a scale, while another version of herself looks on judgingly. After spinning a bit, the scale eventually lands on “Fat.” Both versions of Swift look on disappointedly by this revelation. The scene, while brief, spurred a lot of reactions and discourse. Some people felt that this was a way Swift was highlighting her own, personal, experiences with disordered eating. However, others felt that the scene was fatphobic, feeling Swift was equating fatness with something that was inherently undesirable.
The ‘Midnights’ artist has removed the word fat from the music video
It’s clear that some of the backlash about the usage of the word fat has reached Swift. The “hoax” singer recently made the decision to remove the scale and the showing of “Fat” from the Anti-Hero music video on Apple Music. However, at the time of this article, the YouTube version of the music video remains untouched.
Naturally, people had a lot to say about Swift’s decision to remove the scale from “Anti-Hero”. She drew both praise and criticism for the choice. Some people feel that she gave into the pressures of people on the Internet and should’ve been free to express her truth. Meanwhile, others championed the All Too Well director for educating herself and righting her wrongs.
Some fans feel Swift shouldn’t have removed the scale because it expressed her personal experiences with disordered eating
“Let’s normalise talking about body dysmorphia and struggles”… oh wait, that’s too hard of a conversation, and people get offended when others speak about personal experience,” one person penned on Twitter in reaction to Swift removing the scale from “Anti-Hero.”
Other Twitter users championed Swift’s decision to remove the scale from the ‘Anti-Hero’ music video
Others, however, felt that Swift removing the scale from the Anti-Hero music video was the right decision to make. “The very fact that ‘thinking you’re fat’ is seen as *a bad thing* is the crux of the problem,” another Twitter user chimed in. “Something can be both a valid piece of artistic expression and a dangerous thing to present unquestioned on a massive platform. Power, responsibility, that jazz.”
Will Swift herself address claims of fatphobia?
Clearly, the reaction to Swift’s inclusion of the scale and the word “Fat” in her Anti-Hero music video is mixed. It makes sense there’s been a myriad of reactions to her removal of it. Only time will tell if Swift will publicly address the situation and if the YouTube version of the music video will receive the same treatment as the one on Apple Music.
