I have rewitten what I have here a couple of times because I wasn’t entirely happy with what I had to say. Or rather… well, let me explain I guess.  Taylor Swift has a new video coming out.  You likely know this because when Taylor Swift does something it is all over the news and internet and probably in your church newsletter.  There are already comments all over the internet about what shots in the preview images are secretly digs at this celebrity and that celebrity and that was the first way I approached this.  I find Taylor Swift troubling.  I like her sometimes, I want to like her all the times, but the truth is she is a predator disguised as prey.  Playing the victim is a power play, you can make someone else into the villain while you garner sympathy.  You will meet a lot of users in your life who are like this and it can take most of your 20’s to learn to identify them.  It becomes doubly troubling to me to look around the state of my country right now and see a white woman play the victim at the hands of a black man.  There is a lot to unpack there.  Someone noticed on twitter that Reputation is going to come out on the same date 376 years later that Rene Descaretes put out his Meditations on First Philosophy and I had a hilarious and hilariously mean quote I created but then realized I needed to stop.  First of all because no one else was going to get it.  Smarty had a party and no one came and there is nothing more pretentious than paraphrasing French Philosophers to make digs at American Pop Stars.  I also realized I wasn’t really making fun of Taylor, who I assume can take it, but making fun of her fans, which is uncalled for.  Because here is the real point I want to make today.  Every single hero has feet of clay.  It’s why the idea of fandom and the thing the internet has made out of it is highly disturbing to me.  I think it is good to like things and I think it is delightful to find other people with similar interests. I think it is disturbing to make what you like your identity.  I tend to run from people whose sense of self is wrapped up in being a gamer or a Swifty or really into fucking cartoon ponies.  It’s ok to like any of these things you but you are more than your interests.  At least I hope you are.  And that’s where the feet of clay thing becomes important.  There are things about Taylor Swift which will always nag at the back of my mind, I think I already mentioned the big one, but it’s ok for her to be your hero.  Heroes have flaws because our heroes are human beings (or I guess cartoon horses).  Human beings are only human and not perfect.  That is ok.  Heroes exist to motivate us and to give us something to look up to.  It’s ok to just love the good parts.  But it’s also why it’s important that a hero is inspirational, they are not a support system.  Your identity shouldn’t be wrapped up in who your hero is.  You can’t actually use them to prop yourself up because those feet will crumble.  I guess that’s my point.  If Taylor Swift has been important to you and helped you then that is great.  That is laudable on her part and I am happy for you.  But it’s not a religion.  If you are attacking people who disagree, if you have the devotion of a zealot I do think you should rethink.  I am not saying you should tear down your heroes (though I do think at some point we need to destroy our idols, it’s an important part of growing up and moving on) I am just saying that you should be more than who your hero is and you should use them to help you grow, not to stifle your growth.  That’s all.  I talked a lot about Taylor Swift here even if it wasn’t obvious.  I am still not sure I am satisfied here but oh well, only like three people will really read it anyway.  I am glad she means a lot to a lot of people and I have to admit, she is talented.  And she is pretty.  And I had stuff to say so I am posting her.  Today I want to fuck Taylor Swift.