God bless musician Taylor Swift for everything she has done for the eardrums of San Luis Obispo High School students. However, one can’t help but notice the hypocritical nature of her latest music video for her newly released song “You Need to Calm Down.” The song’s message about LGBTQ+ pride is fantastic, but the way Swift portrays the people with opposing viewpoints in her video is less so.

  From missing teeth to pitchforks and shovels, the crowd of ugly redneck hicks portrayed in the video has really got it all. The thing that didn’t sit right with some viewers was how the song is about not hating on people who think and act differently from you, yet this is exactly what Swift is doing. Swift is insanely talented, and with so many people looking up to her, one might wish that she had taken the high road and been the better person instead of trying to fight fire with fire. 

  “I felt like the video’s message was clear without that part, and I felt that it was very unnecessary,” said Junior AJ Daymude.

  One could say that in comparison with all the awful things LGBTQ+ people have had to go through throughout history, this is not offensive at all and is simply an artistic exaggeration meant to add a sense of comedy as well as another dimension to Swift’s video. 

  However, the song’s message is already very clear through both the lyrics and visuals in the video. Adding this extra statement just left a bad taste in viewers mouths and took away from what was otherwise an amazing video with a positive message. 

  To watch this video please click on the following link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkk9gvTmCXY