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- In Taylor Swift, Hugh Behm-Steinberg conveys the idea that though fame may lead to adoration, it does not lead to genuine human connection, and can even cause the dehumanization of those in the public eye.
- Taylor Swift by Hugh Behm-Steinberg
- Having the setting of this story be in an average home and a neighbors house helps to develop this theme, as it shows the separation of fans from celebrities using physical distance. This is pointed out towards the end of the story when the Taylor swift clone with wings hopes that one day her videos will be so perfect that “...the real Taylor Swift will send her limo driver to pick her up and take her to the real Taylor Swift’s tower in New York City, where at last she too will be loved.” In this quote, the Taylor Swift with wings directly points out the physical distance between the characters in the houses and the real Taylor Swift, showing that though the people who bought Taylor Swift clones have Taylor Swifts running about around them, they have not interacted with the real Taylor Swift at all. They adore pieces of Taylor Swift that come in a clone, but Taylor Swift is not connected to these people at all, therefore there is no true connection between them.
- Though the theme of Taylor Swift is about Taylor Swift herself, the protagonist is actually the reader, as the story is written in the second person. Instead of focusing on how Taylor Swift is directly impacted, the theme is conveyed by showing the individuals dehumanizing celebrities. In addition, though the reader is the protagonist in this story, they still have characteristics that differentiate themselves from the actual reader, such as how self-centered and jealous they are. In the beginning, it is stated that when the first Taylor Swift clone arrives, “...it’s everything you want,” however, only a few sentences later, after seeing their neighbor with her Taylor Swift clones, their mind changes and they think to themselves that they are “...so jealous. She’s not even paying attention to them, she’s too busy having sex with her other Taylor Swifts, they’re so fucking loud it’s disgusting. You hate Taylor Swift.” This quote shows that the reader is a jealous and self-centered person, as though they partake in owning Taylor Swift clones, they are angered that their neighbor also has them. This is later revealed to be due to the neighbor being a romantic interest, but even before this information is obtained, it shows that the reader places themselves above others even if doing the same things.
- The conflict of Taylor Swift is that the reader is interested in their neighbor Tina, and the Taylor Swift clones do not fill the role of actual humans or provide human connection as a replacement. This conflict works to show the theme that fame leads to detachment from celebrities and ultimately dehumanizes them, as it is taking the way celebrities are interacted with to an extreme and showing the difference between those interactions and interactions with people who aren’t famous. In this story, the reader was able to make the Taylor Swift clones do anything they wanted to without any moral implications, as they weren’t perceived as real humans. This is similar to real life, where the public often holds celebrities to different standards and does not see them as entirely human, as they are so far away that they are diminished to characters on a screen. Adoration and even obsession in real life are equal to owning a Taylor Swift clone in this story, and the reader’s dissatisfaction shows that neither of these things is satisfying enough to replace human interaction as a whole. This means that when the reader chooses Tina over interacting with the Taylor Swift clones however perfect they may be, it proves this to be the theme.
- The conflict of the reader being interested in Tina and the Taylor Swift clones not filling the need for human connection changes the character of the reader. This is apparent when the reader first orders 3 more Taylor Swifts immediately after declaring their hatred for Taylor Swift, and it is stated that “When they arrive you make them do nothing but cardio and kickboxing training for weeks on end. And steroids.” This evidence shows that the first reaction of the reader was to order more Taylor Swift clones to fill in for Tina, who is the true desire of the reader. This shows jealousy and immaturity on behalf of the reader, as they thought that by getting more Taylor Swift clones and essentially torturing them with exercise to make them extremely fit, they could avoid the feelings they had towards Tina. However, human connection overpowered the simulated beings that were the dehumanized Taylor Swifts, and this turned out to be false. The reader finally learned this lesson when they called Tina, planned to hang out, and followed through, as it is written that “You look at her, she’s just glowing, you’ve never wanted to be with anyone else but her in your entire life.” The reader and Tina then end up leaving the Taylor Swift clones to pursue other activities, showing that the realization that the Taylor Swifts don’t serve the same purpose as a friend or loved one was the one that both solved the reader’s problem and taught the reader to be a better communicator and a more satisfied, happy person. The conflict ultimately changed the reader for the better in this way.
- At the end on the story, the reader is no longer the lonely, jealous, self centered person they were in the beginning, but a kinder, more communicative individual. A prime example of this is when the reader notices the jealousy was because they were interested in Tina in one way or another, and thinks to themselves, “And there goes your plan to have all your Taylor Swifts beat the crap out of all her Taylor Swifts.” This quote shows that though the reader may have said that they hated Taylor Swift in the beginning, they were able to recognized the jealousy that thought stemmed from and act upon their feelings to grow out of that feeling. It shows that they care for someone other than themselves, and that the hatred was not because they were entirely self centered and didn’t want anyone else to have Taylor Swifts as it may appear, but rather because they were jealous. This resolves the readers main character flaws, and show them to be a decent person who respects other people’s Taylor Swift clones after all. They can communicate their feelings rather than going down an endless cycle of buying and torturing Taylor Swifts, and move on with a life with less internal struggle and confusion.
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