Taylor Swift’s latest era has been criticised as tone deaf and narcissistic as she takes on the “media” with her upcoming album Reputation — but her fans are with her, and her latest video “…Ready For It?” has left many frantic to decipher hidden clues.
Trying to solve all the pieces on Taylor Swift’s music videos like.. pic.twitter.com/ES7fWQazTG
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— Dale
(@DaleSwifty) October 27, 2017
The Ghost in the Shell-esque video, which has amassed 2.4-million views in just over five hours, shows a witchy Swift confront a robotic clone of herself trapped in a glass cage.
The video’s budget must have largely been spent on CGI, as the trapped Swift sits atop a glowing white horse, channels lightning, and holds a glowing orb in what looks like one location.
Most of Swift’s fans on Twitter have decided that the video represents a killing of the old with a replacement of the new — much like the premise of her first video from Reputation, “Look What You Made Me Do”.
#ReadyForItMusicVideo What I took from it is that Taylor freed herself from how others view her life on display. @JosephKahn@taylorswift13
— Chris (@ChrisCrocker) October 27, 2017
Others spent time searching for hints at information about the album in the background details.
School research project: *copy & paste Wikipedia page*
Taylor’s music video: *researches and watches every frame of the video*
— Dale
(@DaleSwifty) October 27, 2017
The first put under scrutiny were the Chinese lettering littered across the background, followed quickly by English words that may hint to future song titles.
Chinese words used in the ‘Ready For It’ music video. #ReaddyForItMusicVideo pic.twitter.com/a7Z6i2rKAi
— Taylor Swift Updates (@TSwiftPR) October 27, 2017
OMG. The characters 蛇年 is Chinese for “Year of the Snake,” which is the zodiac year @taylorswift13 was born in. #ReadyForItMusicVideo pic.twitter.com/bAWOUljvRb
— Evelyn Lee (@theevelynlee) October 27, 2017
Hidden messages hidden on the walls over the #ReadyForItMusicVideo. pic.twitter.com/rNRLFcd5Fw
— Taylor Swift Updates (@TSwiftPR) October 27, 2017
Swift’s fans also think that the numbers 89 and 91 reference Taylor and rumoured boyfriend Joe Alwyn’s birth years. This ties in to another point in the video in which Swift pushes buttons numbered 2 and 1, potentially linking to Alwyn’s birthday on 21 February.
Taylor and Joe birth dates are written on the walls
pic.twitter.com/Ye4EnLoOON — TAYLOR/reputation (@wally_lw) October 27, 2017
But others were less inclined to make deep connections, and instead pointed out what we were all thinking.
#ReadyForItMusicVideo All I could think was this meme. pic.twitter.com/ZAQ2IdScBX
— MSwiftie (@MCST93) October 27, 2017
And, of course:
“Who are you?”
I’m you, but stronger. #ReadyForIt pic.twitter.com/u5lkkOMcTT— Ale | 14 DAYS (@indiexswiftie) October 27, 2017
While the video’s director Joseph Kahn was impressed with the intense research, though, one Swift fan thought it may be just slightly over-dramatic.
Love that you are digging deep. Have fun! #ReadyForItMusicVideo
— Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) October 27, 2017
Taylor: *blinks*
Swifties: I think Taylor blinking represents how the media made Taylor feel closed off from the world and in the dark and— Rachel (@13swift1989) October 27, 2017
