At the breakneck speed of audiovisual (mis)information in which we live, here is a curious contrast of images that, in one way or another, have punctuated our daily lives. Thus, on the one hand, we see Greta Thunberg as an expression of a militant stance that does not give up on fundamental humanist values ignored in many sectors of economic life and political action. At the same time, on the other hand, Taylor Swift releases her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirlsupported by a series of photographs signed by the duo Mert Allas/Marcus Piggott that served to create around a dozen suggestive covers for the new record.
Identifying the two figures and their respective images in this way does not mean any approximation (whether ecumenical or conflictual) of their respective forms of media existence, not even through the “feminine” factor. After all, Thunberg is 22 years old and Swift is just a few weeks away from turning 36, so even the possible use of the word “youth” to classify their coexistence in the space of global communication would be nothing more than another gratuitous gesture of the poor “youthful” imagery with which many forms of television try to summarize the complexity of people, their contexts and also their symbolic role. It is simply a matter of recognizing that, ultimately, such coexistence enriches and feeds the plurality of the world.
In the specific territory of the show, Swift’s protagonism is all the more interesting as her professional trajectory has never dispensed with any reflection on the forms of representation of her work — and also, necessarily, of self-representation (starting with the youthful stereotypes of her first album, the same name, released in 2006). It turns out that for The Life of a Showgirl the choices of this theatricalization, after all inherent to any language of the spectacle, are made through an unusual temporal retreat, as concise as it is ironic — the sophisticated images of Allas/Piggott are the ambivalent banner of this true dramaturgical process.
We can consider that the title of the album refers to “The life of a dancer”, highlighting dance as an inherent value in her performances (from stages to music videos), similar to several contemporary popular music stars. What is certain is that the word showgirl brings an anthology of memories that, at least in the context of entertainment American, exceeds the limits of a style or technique.
In the early days of sound cinema, and through many associations with Broadway imagery, the showgirl belongs to the world of the so-called Gold Diggers who, in addition to their exuberant wardrobe (which Swift recreates in great detail), are distinguished by the monumental choreography of their musical numbers — let us remember, in this regard, Busby Berkeley’s staging genius in films such as Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935), Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936) e Gold Diggers in Paris (1938). Beyond the musical genre, the artifice of showgirl it is truly a spectacular element that contaminates many characters in the show, from a silent star like Theda Bara (Cleopatra in a 1917 film) to the visual delirium of Lady Gaga on her emblematic tour The Monster Ball (2009-2011).
With Taylor Swift, all of this is reenacted in a contained game of humor and nostalgia, as the showgirl The person she chooses as a model is someone whose imagination is governed by very different artistic and symbolic components. Namely: Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011). We even find a song on the album titled Elizabeth Taylor, reflecting the bitterness resulting from the combination of euphoria and loneliness, celebration and abandonment, that being a star can bring.
Remembering the films of Elizabeth Taylor, Lassie’s Courage (1946) a Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), passing through A Place in the Sun (1951) or Babe on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), will all listeners of the new album have images to associate with the name of the showgirl What does it evoke? We move, therefore, in a desert of symbols: in a mix of pedagogy and poetry, Swift assumes himself as a mirage of an idea of star that fades from our memories.