We've been longtime supporters of Taylor Swift over here at Y! Music--heck, probably before she could legally drive. So no matter how many Disney characters she dates or how many teen magazines she shows up in (I have an 11-year-old niece and I KNOW these things), we here will always think of her as a straightforward country lass. And a most original one, too. Taylor did not need anyone to perfect her look--she started out with impeccable, unique style of her own. No mean feat for a teenager.
So, imagine the shock we felt upon seeing Taylor's latest video and realizing--OMG, she's ripping off pop stars, here!
"You Belong With Me" has a classic plot line--nerd likes Big Man On Campus and doesn't think she stands a chance with him, because BMOC is already dating his female equivalent hottie. That's not the ripoff part, exactly. The twist is--Taylor plays both the nerd AND the hottie. Nerd Taylor keeps her curly blond hair and adds librarian glasses...hottie Taylor wears a straight brunette wig and lipstick.
Now where have we seen this before? Why, Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend," Of course, where Nerd Avril actually is the one with the BMOC, but gets shot down in favor of punk, much-cooler Avril. And our Urban editor, Billy Johnson Jr., helpfully reminded me that Chris Brown did the dual-role thing in "Kiss Kiss." (Nerd Chris does get the girl in the end, but just barely.)
So, now we have our own country version of this good cop/bad cop twist! The one thing missing from Taylor's video that we think would have made it a little more fun (now, don't take this the wrong way--this is a very sweet video, we just like a little bit of salt on our peanuts): A little more action; a real showdown between the two Taylors when they finally meet at the school dance.
In Avril's video, she gets clonked in the head with a golf ball and falls in the water and all that. Nerd-version Chris gets knocked over in his school mascot bird suit and his Urkel glasses go all wonky. This stuff is fun. I'm telling you, it's a huge waste to have Bad Taylor come out in a red sequin gown with 'ho cutouts on the side and NOT have Good Taylor, in her angelic white dress, take her on and beat the tar out of her! That was just GIRLFIGHT waiting to happen!
Instead, Taylor's crush reveals that he, mysteriously, has carried a crumpled love note for Good Taylor to the dance with him. ("Now why the hell did he have that with him?" wondered Billy Johnson Jr. "She TOLD him she wasn't going to the dance.") Dang, that's cute, but we still would have enjoyed a little bit of a hoedown throwdown. Watch all three videos here and let us know how you think they compare.
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