🔗 Share this article

In the same way that the sun rises from the east and sets westward, fans of the music superstar will respond to the summons for fresh material. Long before the revenue-generating, industry-transforming international takeover of the Eras concert series, Swift had cultivated a uniquely intense and individual connection with her audience, including within the admiring sphere of pop music. Such a bond, maintained via Easter eggs, years long one-sided storylines and perhaps her exclusive world, can be genuine and unique and fulfilling, a steady raft through difficult times – I understand this. However, deep into her imperial era, Swift’s cyclical feeding of the fan base begins to appear less like an act of mutual devotion and more nakedly exploitative, the numerous special editions and collector's LPs and limited-edition Target drops similar to a wealth levy on her staunchest supporters.

The Most Recent Product

The most recent example is the Showgirl film – or, more accurately, a “launch event” film for her new album Showgirl's Life, releasing this week. Promoted as the Album Launch Celebration of a Showgirl, it’s a collection of lyric explanations, production insights and a single video (shown two times), unceremoniously packaged into one 90-minute sitting. This is the kind of material other musicians would put on YouTube, but which Swift, after establishing box office domination with her Eras Tour concert movie, has decided to put on the big screen from 3-5 October. Anticipating a $30 million debut domestically, it will almost certainly be the top-earning movie this week – regrettably, since it barely qualifies as an enhancement accompanying the music, much less one worthy of note in her extensive catalog of releases.

Cinematic Experience

As a movie event, The Premiere Film surrounding the album at least mirrors the record it promotes – rote, shallowly upbeat, with the lazy execution and first-draft quality of someone up against a deadline. Further evidence of according to cultural analysis described as Swift’s burnout era. In a low-fi intro filmed direct to camera, Swift, modestly self-conscious and self-deprecating as usual, promotes the release as a kind of exploration of what inspired these songs” representing a thrilling, exciting period”.

Aside from a behind-the-scenes featurette on the visual piece spliced into brief parts, the film mainly consists of videos that spell out lyrical content over a snippet from the corresponding filming repeatedly. This works for secondary entertainment at a party, but an issue as the central offering for an album that is better experienced casually, its tepid soft-rock and memorably embarrassing lines meant to be experienced passively without deep analysis. Perhaps one needs to be drunk; except for an isolated cheer for the astoundingly un-self-aware that particular song, the audience was quiet during my alcohol-free child-friendly 3pm screening.

Song Commentary

Swift accompanies each track with a short explanation of her inspiration – always welcome, skeptics too could say it’s uninteresting – however, they mostly consist of generalizations, professed enthusiasm and avoiding controversy (such as securing approval from the copyright holders to include the song Father Figure). The artist often avoids specifics concerning lyrics whose targets are glaringly obvious, but the ambiguity in this case seems particularly unnecessary. Absent is any discussion of the inspiration behind the record, the football star, despite being atypically revealing about their happy relationship in promotional interviews this week. The frequently analyzed and wildly miscalculated negative comment in that particular track gets described as an affectionate note to a critic. (Interestingly, a critical phrase and you’ve given me a whole lot of it”, makes it worse.) The suggestive, wordplay-filled that track, including a symbolic reference, is described as a track regarding beliefs with one child-proof, knowing glance to the camera.

Connection and Storytelling

The artist still manages at suggesting relatability from her elite position in pop music; she is talkative and engaging storyteller, even if sometimes misleading regarding her creations. (It isn't the album of bangers as promoted on New Heights.) That especially shines in work mode; the film’s best moments, without doubt, occur when she steps back to her many collaborators – Mandy Moore, the choreographer, and the cinematographer, among others – and to the precise rhythm of a music video shoot. These insider views – a moment of remote work, banter with performers, perfecting a scene – prove as interesting as they are brief and teasing. They reveal both the collective and the machinery supporting her brand, the true substance of performer existence.

Conclusion and Impact

Possibly including deeper material, in a way both strategic and revealing, was an order too tall for her hectic agenda of decreasing benefits. And perhaps diehard fans of this record – recognizing their existence – will find something in this minimal offering of Target treats worthwhile. However, leading cinema earnings with minimal effort doesn’t make for a musical achievement. It becomes another lucrative product in her empire.

• The artist: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl is currently showing