By now, just about everyone has taken their side in the battle between Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift over whether or not Taylor was aware of the line about her in Kanye's now infamous song "Famous." The petty battle over Taylor playing victim after the release of "Famous" after allegedly knowing about, and approving the line has hit the internet and inspired hashtags like #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty, #KimExposedTaylor, and #IStandWithTaylor.
And while the world is choosing sides there's something even deeper and even funnier that no one is talking about, which is why we even care. Why in the world did we even care so much?
But the answer is pretty simple, it's because we like to see people on a pedestal be torn down. I'm team Kim, and it's been a long time coming for Taylor.
Taylor Swift is adored. She's talented, smart, beautiful, and from what I can tell, fun, friendly, and happy. When Kanye tore Taylor down for not deserving her award, I felt bad for the girl. I wasn't a fan of the music but I was a fan of Taylor, I was team Taylor. Taylor Swift, to me, was the female celebrity I was glad kids could look up to.
She was never in the press for scandals. She didn't have a drinking problem or drug problem or eating disorder. She dressed conservatively, she supported her fans, she donated to charity, and above all she was smart. She wrote her own songs, she wrote her own music, her voice was decent, and overall she was clearly talented. The only fault Taylor seemed to have was being slightly boy-crazy and that was hardly a problem. Every friend group has the friend who always has a boyfriend.
I admired what Taylor Swift was doing. She was a powerful female artist making bank and empowering others along the way. And maybe Taylor's biggest problem was that she was a little too perfect, a quality that fellow artist, Lorde (and now friend of Taylor's), once said.
Nobody's perfect and as seemingly perfect as Taylor was, it was also a quality that made her un-relatable. Because most of us do have a drinking problem or drug problem or eating disorder or something that we're going through. Everybody has something. It's not always something big but it's always something and Taylor seemed unable of admitting her flaws.
She still is.
Taylor playing the victim role time and time again is a problem because in life we are not always victim. When Kanye attacked Taylor on stage, she was a victim, and rightfully so, but she hasn't always been.
Taylor's career capitalizes on exposing and revealing other people - and that's her right. People rag on Taylor for victimizing others when in truth she is doing the same thing as every other artist out there. Artists write what they know and I think Taylor's transparency about her life is what has made her so famous. The problem isn't that she writes about other people - so what? - everyone writes about other people; the problem is that it's always the other persons fault.
Most of Taylor's songs put the blame on the other person, or the situation, or the fame, but rarely, if ever, does Taylor place the blame on herself. So the difference between someone like Taylor singing about her exes and someone like Adele singing about her exes is that at least Adele can admit she's messed up and done wrong by another person.
It doesn't matter if Taylor approved the song or not. It doesn't matter if she never heard the song, it doesn't matter if she didn't approve the line or didn't know what she would be referred to as. That doesn't matter because the fact is that Taylor knew about the song, knew she'd be mentioned in the song, and acted like she didn't when the song was released.
Now I have a lot of problems with the song "Famous" and doubt Taylor would ever approve a line so misogynistic, degrading, and rude but playing victim definitely wasn't the answer. Why?
Well, as Kim so clearly states on the latest episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, what rapper is going to call somebody to get a line approved? The fact that Kanye West, the infamous say whatever he pleases and doesn't care what anyone thinks, Kanye West, called Taylor to tell her that she would be mentioned on a song means that Kanye West clearly respects her enough to give her that courtesy which means she could have called him when the song was released so he could explain it to her. She could've at least done that.
Does Kanye really think Taylor owes him sex? I doubt it. Does he really think he made her famous? Maybe. Did he call her 'that bitch' because that's what he really feels about her? Um, it's a rap song! Everyone is 'that bitch.'
The point is, the song is about the nuisance of fame and there is probably more meaning behind what's being said. An adult would've just called Kanye up instead of calling him out. Taylor has every right to be mad about the song, it's offensive, but pretending to be caught off guard when she knew about the song adds a layer to Taylor so fake that you start to wonder if she was ever really genuine at all.
When "Famous" came out, I, like everyone else, didn't know that Taylor was aware. I was Team Taylor (even though Life of Pablo was amazing) and I couldn't fathom why Kanye would put himself in that position again, why he would degrade her like that after they were cool again -- now it makes sense. So I can't be Team Taylor on this one. And I, like everyone else, am basking in the drama of a Taylor Swift demise.
As a society, we love celebrity drama because it puts people in their place. Fame and success has to come with a cost, a struggle. We have to bring celebrities down to a human level because it reminds us that they are no better than us, that they too, are just petty humans. Falling down humbles you, it makes you more relatable.
Even after attending the #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty in full force, I still like Taylor Swift; she's only human. But what I like more is watching her be humbled by falling off a pedestal. People tend to rally around those who can admit they're wrong, or at least those who can admit the truth.
