Friday, 7 October 2016
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Is it an end credits joke or does Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt really have more producers than actors? But never mind that, just as I am thinking UKS couldn't be much better if it tried, it tried and Lisa Kudrow popped up as Mom and was epic.
Got a long list Starbucks lovers
Turning up very late to this party and probably saying nothing new but be that as it may...
In case you come from a dimension of space where Taylor Swift is still unknown, the background is that in her song Blank Space she sings "Got a long list of ex lovers" in such a way that 99.3% of all people hear it as "Got a long list [of] Starbucks lovers" (at 0:57 in the linked video).
This has prompted much hilarity, parody and comment, some of which is not even confined to the internet. And the point I want to make is how much better the misheard line is than the original one. A point that I'm sure has already been made many times.
So right at the most basic level, it would work as a way of categorizing the type of men she goes for, ie the type of guy who goes to Starbucks. But even this direct meaning is slightly ambiguous and as Taylor fans we could have discussed if it meant; a list of people who love Starbucks, or more likely form the context of the song; her lovers, who are "Starbucks" kind of guys. So that would be fun.
But of course the real reason why it would be a better line is that it echos the phrase "star-crossed lovers" as coined by Shakespeare himself to describe Romeo and Juliet. And what a great pun it is. The song is (a parody) about how all her relationships are fated to fail, as if by the stars. So we have perfectly good superficial meaning and a great Olde Tyme Punne.
But in addition to all that we have a call back to her (wonderful) song Love Story, which in the UK was kind of her mainstream break through song. Where, she deliberately (well of course deliberately) chose to call its modern day protagonists Romeo and Juliet. Now, in some ways it isn't a big deal to refer to the same play in two different otherwise unrelated songs, but for the sake of argument, I'm going to say it is. Well, a deal anyway.
And I shall now attempt Literary Criticism without the aid of a safety net, despite no formal training. One reason it potentially is a deal of non-zero size is that from the (fictional) point of view of Blank Space, its singer is describing the trouble she has making relationships work. Whereas, in the song Love Story, the star-crossed lovers manage to escape their fate and live happily ever after, unlike Shakespeare's version. So by making a reference to Romeo and Juliet, she (fictional) is bringing attention to Taylor's Romeo and Juliet, who personify the cliche of love conquers all. Thus highlighting the difference between reality and fiction (if we can call Shakespeare reality). Which would be marvelous because the whole point of Blank Space as a song is that it presents the fictional image of Taylor as constructed by the media, as if it was real.
But that wasn't the line. She wrote "Got a long list of ex lovers". What a shame.
In case you come from a dimension of space where Taylor Swift is still unknown, the background is that in her song Blank Space she sings "Got a long list of ex lovers" in such a way that 99.3% of all people hear it as "Got a long list [of] Starbucks lovers" (at 0:57 in the linked video).
This has prompted much hilarity, parody and comment, some of which is not even confined to the internet. And the point I want to make is how much better the misheard line is than the original one. A point that I'm sure has already been made many times.
So right at the most basic level, it would work as a way of categorizing the type of men she goes for, ie the type of guy who goes to Starbucks. But even this direct meaning is slightly ambiguous and as Taylor fans we could have discussed if it meant; a list of people who love Starbucks, or more likely form the context of the song; her lovers, who are "Starbucks" kind of guys. So that would be fun.
But of course the real reason why it would be a better line is that it echos the phrase "star-crossed lovers" as coined by Shakespeare himself to describe Romeo and Juliet. And what a great pun it is. The song is (a parody) about how all her relationships are fated to fail, as if by the stars. So we have perfectly good superficial meaning and a great Olde Tyme Punne.
But in addition to all that we have a call back to her (wonderful) song Love Story, which in the UK was kind of her mainstream break through song. Where, she deliberately (well of course deliberately) chose to call its modern day protagonists Romeo and Juliet. Now, in some ways it isn't a big deal to refer to the same play in two different otherwise unrelated songs, but for the sake of argument, I'm going to say it is. Well, a deal anyway.
And I shall now attempt Literary Criticism without the aid of a safety net, despite no formal training. One reason it potentially is a deal of non-zero size is that from the (fictional) point of view of Blank Space, its singer is describing the trouble she has making relationships work. Whereas, in the song Love Story, the star-crossed lovers manage to escape their fate and live happily ever after, unlike Shakespeare's version. So by making a reference to Romeo and Juliet, she (fictional) is bringing attention to Taylor's Romeo and Juliet, who personify the cliche of love conquers all. Thus highlighting the difference between reality and fiction (if we can call Shakespeare reality). Which would be marvelous because the whole point of Blank Space as a song is that it presents the fictional image of Taylor as constructed by the media, as if it was real.
But that wasn't the line. She wrote "Got a long list of ex lovers". What a shame.
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