“If Taylor Swift’s video is set in Africa, why is she white?” asked basically everyone on the Internet this week.
Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams” music video hasn’t even been out for a week, and it’s already inspired numerous think-pieces suggesting the sexy Safari romp co-starring Scott Eastwood glorifies colonialism and presents a white-washed Africa.
“We are shocked to think that in 2015, Taylor Swift, her record label and her video production group would think it was okay to film a video that presents a glamorous version of the white colonial fantasy of Africa,” NPR contributors Viviane Rutabingwa and James Kassafa Arinaitwe wrote in their clip commentary.
Daily Dot writer Nico Lang criticized the video, writing, “The video wants to have its old-school Hollywood romance but ends up eating some old-school Hollywood racism, too.”
I rewatched the clip numerous times to ensure I wasn’t missing anything. If being offended by something is #CoolForTheSummer, count me in.
The 4-minute-long clip’s plot revolves around Swift and her co-star filming a movie in an imperialistic Africa, featuring vivid CGI animals and Old Hollywood costumes. Swift throws a few tantrums about the male character being “so bad but he does it so well,” but then realizes she loves him, and it’s implied — because Swift’s brand is PG-13 — they have sex in a safari tent.
Other scenes involve a plane, a giant wind fan blowing Swift’s dress, sunsets, lions, giraffes and stereotypical African sights.
Suddenly, it’s revealed Swift and her co-star weren’t in Africa — they were actually filming on a set in California. Swift eventually realizes her lover is married and leaves the movie’s premiere in tears. It’s a by-the-books Swift music video.
After my 19th time watching it, I realized I was not offended by the music video. However, I found the part where Swift kicks up her leg next to the CGI lion to be sexually arousing — which concerns me, because I thought I had a pretty decent hold on my sexuality.
“But wait,” I thought, “I saw like three black people and the liberal Jewish girl complain about this on Facebook. It’s obviously insensitive, and I’m just not getting it because I’m white or something.”
I watched the video again. This time, I noticed Scott Eastwood is good looking even though he kind of looks like he’s constipated, and it made me really insecure. Regardless, I still don’t find the video offensive.
No, there aren’t any black people featured in the video’s African scenes at all — which is illogical because if Swift is in the middle of the Great Scramble for Africa, then where are all of the natives having their cultures stripped away and their villages raided?
This is a white-washed, romanticized version of Africa. The video acknowledges that this Africa isn’t grounded in reality. It’s grounded in Swift’s character’s wildest dreams.
The gruesome truths of colonial Africa don’t exist in Swift’s character’s fantasy. Can anyone blame her? If I’m having an intense sexual daydream about Scott Eastwood that’s set in Africa, I’m not going to envision the starving people, diseases and oppression that were all there too. Talk about a turn-off.
To label Swift’s depiction of Africa in the video as unrealistic is entirely appropriate. To label it as propaganda for #WhitePrivilege is not. I hate to be the white guy that says, “Oh, this isn’t about race,” but it really isn’t. The critics saying it is need to shake it off. Regardless of whether Swift is offensive, she’s still winning. At the end of the clip, a message says all proceeds from the video will be donated to African wildlife conservation efforts.
With each stream, money is donated to prevent another American dentist from hunting and killing a nation’s cherished lion. Where are the think-pieces on that?
John Gavin Harp is a 20-year-old mass communication junior from St. Francisville, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter
@SirJohnGavin.