'Wildest Dreams' Music Video Controversy: Taylor Swift's VIDEO Bashed For 'Channeling White Colonialism'
The backlash to the video for 'Wildest Dreams' has been slightly nightmarish for Taylor Swift.
The singer-songwriter has come under attack for the channeling white colonialism in the video which was shot in Africa. A lot of media outlets and critics have expressed their outright dismay at the Swift's brazen ignorance as she portrays a prsitine white romance in the vast hinterlands of Africa, with all the its incredible wildlife to boot. But there is not the faintest shadow of a native.
The video, which was directed by Joseph Kahn, narrates the usual Swift saga. She has been ditched by a man, after a brief love affair, and her terrible first world problem of the aftermath is etched on the Africa's landscape -- which has seen every form human brutality and mostly at the hands of white westerners. The criticism has spurred two sides of a debate -- one which accuses the Swift of being deeply insensitive to the plight of the people of the continent she filmed the video in, and the other which accuses of the critics of being overly politically correct in being so utterly dismissive.
Here's what some media outlets have to say:
"It's all passion and desire while on location (isn't it funny how wild things get in Africa?), but once back in Hollywood and shooting on a soundstage, our poor lovelorn colonizers just can't get it together." -- Jezebel
"Taylor Swift Went To Africa To Film A Music Video And There's Only White People In It." -- Fader
"Instead of the cultural appropriation that has become almost status quo in today's pop music, Swift has opted for the bolder option of actually just embodying the political exploitation of a region and its people." -- Huffington Post
"For a clip that's set in Africa -- it's about as white as a Sunday morning farmer's market." -- The Daily Dot
Judge for yourself:
