Taylor Swift has left the building. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the international pop star boarded a flight to Singapore to begin the next leg of her Eras World Tour, after putting on seven sold-out shows in Melbourne and Sydney over two weekends.
She may be gone, but even after her shows, it’s hard to have a conversation these days without a mention of Swift and her epic worldwide success.
Try as you might, it’s impossible to deny her influence and the cultural movement Swift and her art has ignited in Australia and around the world – and for that, it’s no wonder we’re hearing her name everywhere.
But when does news become noise? When does a global phenomenon, a billionaire, Grammy award-winning, super-human successful artist become a few throwaway catch phrases that make people cringe at the sound?
We found out the answer to this yesterday, when our leaders’ (or former leader’s) responses to criticism was simply to “Shake It Off”.
I went and saw Taylor Swift perform in Sydney last weekend, and I can honestly say I’ll never have a better night in my life. The whole experience was an enormous display of kindness, joy and the best of humankind, in a space that was overwhelmingly welcoming, loving and safe.
For leaders to reduce that into a political one liner (or eleven-liners, in Scott Morrison’s case) not only offends me as a Swiftie™️, but indicates to me that our leaders aren’t really trying, and instead, are turning Swift’s billion-dollar newsworthy success into political noise.
Scott Morrison
Yesterday, in his final speech to parliament, former Prime Minister Scott Morrison referenced songs and albums of Taylor Swift eleven times (eleven!), each delivered with a dramatic pause of effect and a knowing smirk on his face.
“Anything for my daughters,” he finished the bit with.
A nice gesture for his family and a nod to the Swifite phenomenon gripping the country – but an antithetical moment for the former prime minister, as the legacy he left behind for women in the wake of his retirement isn’t as nice.
To name a few: his comment on women “rising” but not at the expense of men; his reminder that women should be lucky they can protest without being shot; and his tone deaf response to women’s political opinions.
Name-dropping records from a feminist artist into a political speech doesn’t undo a tumultuous three-year leadership that caused so much damage for women and underrepresented groups in Australia.
Sure, it got some giggles in the House of Representatives, and made plenty of headlines, but what did that bit really do other than reducing news to noise?
NSW Police Commissioner
On Tuesday morning, Sunrise co-host Matt Shirvington asked NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb if she should face criticism for her delayed response to the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies by a police officer.
Her response? “There will always be haters. Haters like to hate. Isn’t that what Taylor (Swift) says?”
Commissioner Webb made these comments on national television as the LGBTQIA+ community mourns the deaths of Baird and Davies, who were allegedly killed by Baird’s former partner, Constable Beau Lamarre-Condon.
In the wake of the alleged murders, ahead of Sydney’s Mardi Gras festival this Saturday, NSW police have been formally asked by the Mardi Gras Board not to participate in the parade, an event the force has joined in for 26 years.
It is a very sensitive time for many, and police should be open to questioning and criticism over the relationship between authorities and the queer community – because it hasn’t always been smooth sailing.
For the head of the organisation to reduce criticism over an incredibly painful, emotionally heightened, tragic situation as something she can simply “shake off” is so inappropriate, so tone deaf and so hurtful.
Beyond that, the Taylor Swift reference had zero substance and was thrown in for the sake of adding to the perceived noise of the Swiftie phenomenon.
From news to noise
Politicians, advocates and other leaders are all jumping on the Swiftie train. I get it – it’s hard to resist when it is this much fun.
But Taylor Swift’s name isn’t making headlines for no good reason. She has literally added millions of dollars to economies in cities around the world, including Australia. She has brought hundreds of thousands of people close together, forging friendships and changing lives.
What started out as news has become noise, amplified by our leaders hitching their wagons to a star.