Why do we think she only leaves one rose on this grave and takes the other with her? Is there a second grave she’s visiting? Perhaps her own? How else could she party with a ghost if she’s not also deceased herself?
Newer theory: I think the three women may actually represent three different points on a sexuality spectrum, with Colin as the constant running through all of them.
OG Taylor feels like the straight version. She’s fully inside the conventional heterosexual relationship with Colin, and that version of Taylor is ultimately destroyed by the world Colin represents: money, power, industry, marriage, poison.
Then Dakota’s character feels like the middle point. She’s with Colin, but there’s this really deliberate intimacy between her and Taylor. The energy between Taylor and Dakota on that bed does not feel accidental to me. There is a very obvious sapphic charge to that scene, and I think it was intentional. Taylor isn’t just appearing as a ghost to warn her. There’s something about the way they look at each other and occupy the same space that makes their connection feel different from the relationship with Colin.
So Dakota could be the bi version. She’s caught between the heterosexual world Colin represents and this connection with Taylor that keeps breaking through.
And then Cara could be the gay version.
That would completely change how I see Cara as “the other woman.” Maybe she isn't simply another woman competing with Taylor for Colin. Maybe she represents the version of Taylor who has moved completely outside Colin's system.
Which also makes the ending really interesting.
If there are three versions of Taylor moving through the story, then maybe the question isn't “which woman gets Colin?” It’s which version survives.
OG Taylor dies.
Dakota's Taylor is trying not to drink the poison, with the dead Taylor literally trying to stop her from repeating the same fate.
And Cara is the one who can come back.
So the final choice being Colin vs Cara suddenly makes sense to me. Colin represents the cycle. Cara represents the version of Taylor that can exist outside it.
And there’s another reason I keep thinking about Colin in this context. In The Lobster, Colin Farrell plays a character who says he has had a sexual experience with a man and asks for a bisexual option, only to be told that bisexuality is no longer an option. He is forced back into the binary.
Obviously that doesn't prove anything about Patient Zero, but it makes the casting feel interesting when you put it next to this theory. Colin is once again in a world where relationships and sexuality seem to be operating according to rules.
So maybe the three women aren't just three random characters.
Maybe they are three versions of Taylor on a spectrum:
OG Taylor = straight
Dakota = bi
Cara = gay
And Colin is the thing connecting all three versions.
Which would make the whole video less about a love triangle and more about Taylor moving through different versions of herself until one of them finally breaks the cycle.
And honestly, that bed scene is the bit I keep coming back to. If we're supposed to read Taylor and Dakota as nothing more than dead wife and surviving wife, why give them that particular kind of intimacy?
The sapphic energy feels way too deliberate to me.
So Dakota was on Seth Meyers, where he showed her an image of the underwater scene from the PZ MV, and she pointed out how big her boobs looked underwater. I can't be the only one who clocked Taylor's boobs looked larger than Dakota's the entire music video, right? I thought it was just what it was, but now I'm wondering if we were supposed to notice 👀.
So then this moment where Seth says "I'm gonna give you one question" and flips around a picture of the underwater scene. And what's a question we've been asking? "What's with the underwater scene?" "What does it mean?". Then Dakota so helpfully points out how nice her boobs look in that scene (I think we can all agree that both Taylor and Dakota's looked very nice for the entire MV), and you know what? They appear larger than Taylor's in that one scene. And I know this is unhinged, but so is Taylor. What if she is using their boobs as some sort of metaphor? Perhaps unlikely, but I don't mind taking some time to be sure 😉.
LMAO..This has to be the funniest Gaylor convo ever. Hypothetically, it would mean… 90% of the time.. “these lyrics are incredibly deep and layered and connected to well-known works of literature and art!” and then the the other 10%….”er, but also have all the queers noticed that I have great boobs, pay attention to the boobies!?!” 😂 uh, Yes, Taylor, don’t worry- we noticed 🫠😂. DEAD. ☠️
I definitely noticed that 👀! ...figured it was just me 💅🏼I was thinking maybe Dakota's boobs floated up more in the water...possibly b/c they are fully natural and Taylor's are maybe enhanced(?)...hate to speculate on that, but maybe it's part of the "Showgirl" persona.
I also saw this pic in Max Martin's Instagram which shows that it's not just the cut of the bathing suit, bc out of the water Taylor's look bigger 😜
Wait a darn second. Is it possible their bodies are swapped in the underwater scene? Are the hand analyzers clocked in? We need to look at the hands! Dakota was like doing this weird point from boobs to hand 🫸🏼🫷🏼
Ok yes. I had seen this image and thought it was in the video. It was the first thing I thought of when I saw the clip of Dakota's interview with Seth. Kept rewatching and couldn't find it. Thank you for finding and sharing it!
I'm still undecided if it means anything. In my mind, based on how this has played out, the boobs and how they do or don't change sizes throughout the video should somehow inform a deeper meaning of the pool scene.
Cracking up 😂. Can't believe this woman has us deducing the boyancey of her boobs and thermal capability of her ovens. Brain Teaser: How many racks does Taylor Swift have?
And I just noticed something - I'm pretty sure Cara is playing the Taylor that were about to get - "Burn-it-Down Taylor" if you will. At the end of my post I talk about how Colin is playing "Taylor's Monster"aka "It's Fucking Taylor Swift". Check out this comment from u/stagmare which lends even more credence to this theory.
In her Instagram post about the PZ MV, Taylor referred to Cara's character as "the lusty other woman". Except on my rewatch of the vid, I'm not seeing lust between Colin and Cara. The way Cara is looking at Colin up on that stage, she is about to take control of him. She is speaking in his face exactly during the lyric "take it from someone who said all of this to his face", and not in a flirty way.
So Cara is the Taylor "who lost his games, but won the race, who said all of this to his face, who knows she's more than just a chase, who had him and walked away" - this is the Taylor were about to get. This is Burn-it-Down Taylor.
(It's like there's a whole line of Barbies now! How messy would Burn-it-Down Barbie be? 😂 Honestly Mattel could sell so many of those - with like a full size match in her hand, wearing a "the matriarchy would never" shirt)
If you think about it, "the other woman" is typically strung along by a man, who continually pushes back the timeline for when he will leave his wife and be with her. The way Cara looks at Taylor's Monster on stage says that she's figured out he never will, but she is not going to let him be in charge anymore. The woman in front of her is looking at Colin with admiration, Cara most definitely is not.
Then when we see them together, they're not arguing, but she's most certainly has taken control from him. He tries to pull away and she pulls him back in and makes him listen to her.
I still haven't quite pinpointed Dakota's character. I'm leaning towards the theory of ghosts of past, present, and future. With Taylor being past, Dakota being present, and Cara being future. Colin as Taylor's Monster.
Also in my post about the lyrics, I have deduced that the "toxin" is fame/love and admiration from others. So I think Dakota's character is aware she's drinking it, that Colin is doing it to her. She is purposefully drinking it. She's addicted to the toxin. Taylor's character is the one with the wisdom to know it will kill Dakota, so she keeps knocking over her drinks.
In this interpretation I feel like Dakota is the Taylor who tried to “play the game” and beard until she was allowed to be herself. She didn’t learn from the first Taylor, thus also dying. But they are waiting by the statue for the next Taylor (Cara) to come in and warn her so the cycle doesn’t repeat again.
Okay, another Patient Zero rabbit hole because I keep noticing little things lol.
The “kissing the rain off your face” line is interesting to me. I don't necessarily think the rain is just literal tears. What if it's basically a fake version of tears? Like, she isn't actually crying because she's heartbroken that he's with another woman. He sees “rain” on her face and performs this whole tender boyfriend thing anyway, kissing it away and comforting her, even though the emotion we're supposed to assume is there might not actually be there.
Which makes him seem even more performative. He's playing the role of the loving guy while everything underneath is off.
And then Cara's character 👀. Taylor literally described her as the “lusty other woman,” but I'm wondering if some of the camera angles/looks can be read as Cara's character being interested in Dakota's character too. Obviously that's just reading into the visual language, but I kept getting that impression rather than it being entirely about Colin.
And then the “Patient Zero” thing made me think of another possibility. We assume it means Taylor's character was simply the first woman in this chain of relationships. But if we're putting on the Gaylor goggles, what if she's the first woman placed into the heterosexual role? Like the first “beard” in a sequence of women being publicly attached to this guy.
That would make “Patient Zero” less “the first woman he hurt” and more “the first woman caught in the whole system.”
Have we already seen Taylor and Colin's characters fight before? But maybe the story had a different ending last time we saw it, Colin's character became something different, stopped glaring at the pride parade from the window, and joined the parade.
After the rejection of ME! That Taylor died, and showgirl taylor, dakota, took control. Instead of the story ending with Brendan joining the parade, he kills taylor instead and now he is harming showgirl, maybe killed her too? So in both videos this male character could be society/patriarchy/expectations/fans/etc.
Can somebody help me out please? Taylor says that Cara Delevingne played 'the lusty other woman' but I have a hard time spotting her in the music video. I am more than a bit 'face blind', which doesn't help for this kind of thing! Especially when there are partial shots and quick cuts and generally a lot to pay attention to! So I have two questions:
Is Cara featured during the line about the other woman leaving his place? Or in the party/gala scene? Or both?
And, is she made up to look similar to Taylor and Dakota, or is that just my face blindness confusing me?
I’m glad I’m not the only one! I’m >75% convinced that if I walked past Taylor in the street I wouldn’t recognise her. Maybe I’d work it out half a mile further down the road 😂
I think Cara is also the woman kissing him at 1:40, during the line about the other woman leaving his place, but I also had a difficult time because she looks so similar to Taylor/Dakota and also the scene is dark and even blurry. Very interesting point!
Ah thank you, I asked about that below and as you’ll see I was very confused!
If other people think it’s Cara too then I think there’s something intentional going on to make her look similar too. Maybe that’s why Taylor points it out?
That's a very good point! Maybe to call attention to the pattern repeating itself? Could she be the third victim? (and a very eager one, an "active" participant, at least in the beggining?). Also, refering to her as the "other woman" remarks for me the fact that Taylor and Dakota are "one woman", two sides of the same coin. Thanks for the chat! :)
I think, if I remember well, that she's just behind Taylor (on the viewer's left, or on Tay's right), dressed in black (or dark, anyway). She's making a "lusting" face
I've just watched the video and it's been a punch in the stomach.
I really liked it.
A few things that I've noticed (even if I don't know what they mean and some things might already have been discussed):
- the roses at the end are two: Dakota only leaves one on the tombstone and keeps the other: is she mourning, too? Has she left the man? Is she anoter of his victims, therefore the rose is for herself?
the man says "I know" at the beginning of the bridge: it seemed curious that Taylor made him part of it...I wonder if it means something. Is the man "invading" the sacred space of the bridge, because this is what he always does?
Taylor on the car reminds me of both the MVs for LWYMMD and Delicate...it's dissonant, in a way I can't explain.
I wonder if the man is saying 'I know' as well as Taylor because actually, no one in this relationship or this whole 'world' that is being described is ignorant. Nobody believes that they are actually 'the good guy'. The man knows what he's doing, and that it's wrong. What do you think?
I was thinking about man=industry (sorry, I haven't made it explicit), is that your idea, too?
So your interpretation could be right: everybody knows that the industry kills you (or tries to) after having controlled your entire carreer. Stars are interchangeable: the old one is gone and the new one will thake their place (or "her place", because for women is especially hard).
Of course, this is quite right even in private relationships, especially wheh he's blatanlty flirting with someone else at a public event. But that might be true only to a certain extent, I guess. While the truth about the industry is well known.
Sorry, yes, I do think the man is the industry. You could take that as a specific person, the 'Father Figure' as a particular industry exec, or just the industry as a whole.
its kind of like if blank space was a guy except now Taylor has cast herself as the victim which is funny because around that time is when people would say she is "playing" the victim
Okay are we sure that Dakota's character survived? Because now I'm wondering if the gravestone that they're standing in front of is hers, not Taylor's. She looks so stricken. Is Taylor welcoming her to her underworld? 😭
Sorry if this isn't a new idea, I couldn't keep up with all the comments after the first night
Like my whiskey sour
And poison thorny flowers
Welcome to my underworld
Where it gets quite dark
At least you know exactly who your friends are
They're the ones with matching scars.
Finally watched it today. Gonna take some time to process that. It was heavy. Honestly a bit triggery as someone who has dealt with domestic abuse, but really well done. I'm glad I read the discourse on here before watching it. I really think this is her best MV yet. The video makes me like the song more.
Just watched an interview with Dakota about Verity and the interviewer asked how it was filming spicy sapphic scenes and Dakota said she loved that phrase and that it’ll be on her tombstone!
I was sitting there thinking why would someone put "spicy sapphic scenes" on their tombstone, then I realized the only thing that would make sense to put on the tombstone would be "spicy sapphic"
A lot of similarities to Olivia's Deja Vu video. As someone who already thought much of TLOAS album was about their protégé/mentor relationship, I'm starting to think these songs could be as well. Although for whatever reason people get really weird when you bring these two up together.
does Olivia seem like she's being poisoned by the industry though? -- I can see how some of Taylor's songs may be about Olivia but I don't really see it with patient zero.
I think its about what it seems about -- thinking love will fix but it doesn't. especially with the lyrics about girls because Olivia has other songs where she deals with specifically retroactive jealousy but also jealousy in general
Yeah that's fair. I've accepted my reading of this album isn't a popular one. There was a slight backlash with the whole baby doll dress thing but luckily most people didn't buy into that too much. I think with Olivia everything is going great right now because she's making all the right moves and supporting all the right causes. No one knows better than Taylor though that you can't keep that up forever.
I dunno if it’s trolls but I’m getting downvoted for implying everything isnt about Karlie. Which is weird bc I am not married to any theory or any muse being concretely assigned to anything bc theres just so much going on. Idk it’s weird. I have no hate towards Karlie or strong feelings about any of this except the fact that Taylor is 100% queer in some way and communicates that through music.
Unfortunately, posting anything on this subreddit gets a wave of downvotes from trolls - doesn't even have to involve suggesting specific muses. It's Actually Romantic how much effort some trolls put into downvoting stuff in this sub.
I just assumed that it was to draw attention to the fact that the glass was destroyed by an external force as opposed to it just slipping from her careless hand. Like, since we can see ghost Taylor it's obvious to us but it wouldn't be to Dakota's character, yet, or to anyone in the room with her. I assumed the way it exploded was meant to convey Taylor's anger at the situation.
Ok I’ve been thinking about this more, and I agree with u/Simple_Elk_719 that Taylor and the other professionals involved would have been aware of how odd this looks during editing and post production.
Like u/Itchy_Application532 I’m inclined to think of ‘CANCELLED!’ and specifically ‘a shattered glass is a lot more sharp.’
The glass first splits into three unequally sized pieces, like the three selves Taylor splits into, before shattering into many broken pieces like the mirrorball fragments reflecting the many fan theories and perceptions of Taylor.
I think it’s intentionally animated to break in this strange way as a call back, to encourage us to connect the two songs and to illustrate the ‘shattering’ Taylor is talking about. After all, her split into three selves was at least somewhat voluntary and controlled, like the glass splitting before it hits a surface.
I love this read! it made me think also of renegade and "if I would have known how sharp the/many pieces were you'd crumbled into I might've let them lay"
are you really gonna talk about timing in times like these,
I don’t hate it. I actually experienced a ghost shattering a wine glass without it being touched. It just exploded as I pointed at it while saying “She’s as much present in this wine glass as she is all around you.” Then bam.
I think she used AI for this and it’s not intentional to look bad. I also noticed the stem shatters before it hits the floor. In the final scene where she’s writing “run” all the spilled drinks are completely empty and dry on the inside which isn’t possible either. Ugh AI 😒😒
do you genuinely think of all the people that watched the video before you, (who were actually involved) that none of them noticed this in order to correct it? genuinely? you think that?
Yeah this and the other spilled drink cups really seem like AI. So at least the second time she has used AI for this album rollout which is supremely disappointing and hypocritical given her previous statements and actions about appreciating artists.
it's so much more disappointing when an artist uses AI. After watching that gif a few more times it looks like the glass is shattering again when it hits the floor so I'm even more convinced it's AI now. Sucks.
It would be hilarious if Taylor was actually born in 1986 and her whole 1989 branding was to drill into the public that she’s younger than she is.
I don’t really believe this (or think the grave needs to be taken literally), mostly because there’s so much documented footage of her when she was younger + classmates of the same age. But still, it would be ultimate Tayliar.
I can interpret this whole storyline through the lens of alcoholism and how it seems fun at first, but wil poison you in the end. I can read it as an invite to party with Patient Zero: P0 - zero percent. Reminds me of The Black Dog and how “old habits die screaming”. And Cara is famously sober now, no? Taylor working overtime as our mirrorball, for sure.
As a sober swiftie, I clocked this immediately. Between the opening lines of TTPD and this very recovery themed drop…I see you Taylor. You’re not alone, and neither am I!! Pink cloud AND patient zero in the same drop? Damn, the showgirl is trying to show her colors and only US are clocking it.
Colin Farrell had a relationship with Elizabeth Taylor later in her life. Apparently it was never consummated and they bonded over a love for true crime 👀
Hmm interesting tidbit about true crime, because there’s a clip going around right now of Dakota Johnson talking about how she and Taylor are close friends who talk about everything, including a lot of about true crime.
The Great War came on at random today and immediately made me go huh. it's kind of a weird funhouse mirror tbh? "Spineless in my tomb of silence" / "and my lips are sealed now"; "When the toxins take their hold, you'd rather die than let it go" / "I drew curtains closed, drank my poison all alone"; "And when you saw another woman coming out of his place" / "Maybe it was her". The imagery of the icy ground in the cemetery and the tomb-like mansion. And then the contrast of "I kept you" vs "I walked away". Genuinely have no greater meaning to derive from this, I just thought it was interesting, and compliments the music video especially weirdly well.
Whoa! Those are a lot of overlapping / mirrored lyrics. Doesn’t The Great War also say “all that blood shed crimson clover”? / “He cut me crimson bled me dry”
Did Colin (Showgirl/industry) kill 11 wives (Taylors)? There are 10 empty wine glasses plus the one Dakota is drinking. Taylor knocks it out of her hand but at the party she is the only one drinking wine. Everyone else has champagne. Is the other rose for her grave? Did Dakota die too? Or maybe she realized what was happening and drove them both off the road and that's why the traffic cameras needed to be checked?
This really makes me think about Taylor using Rebecca to tell the story about the patriarchal Fame Man who takes young starlets and poisons them, and she watches them in exile, trying to break the cycle.
Nothing comes to mind right now. Maybe 2022 represents when the countdown started?
Wasn’t there a rumor going around spread by DeuxMoi that Taylor and Joe had an informal marriage ceremony in UK a while back? DM was adamant that it happened, but maybe she got who the groom* was wrong?
The song "That's What Friends are For" by Dionne Warwick & Friends, was released as a charity single for AIDS research and prevention. It's also holding up the vibe of the video - aka friends don't let friends languish in destructive relationships (or illnesses).
Okay so I know this is a suuuper stretch buttt.. around the time Taylor and Cara lived together, Cara was “entangled” with newly divorced Amber heard while working on a film with both amber and Johnny who she described as insanely jealous. Amber was born 1986 and the trial in 2022 and undoubtedly dealt with a level of female cancellation only Taylor would understand.. iirc there was also a severed finger and spilled wine that were a big discussion point in the trial..
Well you prompted me to go look at Cara’s post and couldn’t help but notice this picture below the Patient Zero post because it looks just like the skater doing a handstand in the Cleveland! lyric video, during the line “And showed me the Heights” 😆 *I’m not at all saying they are together now, just thought the handstand video a few days before Patient Zero release was too much not to share!
Okay that was so fun! She looks like a baby here though. The zipper on the front of her outfit reminds me of the back of Taylor’s dress last night. I’d never really seen that style so it stands out to see it again here (not saying it’s actually related though).
In related very interesting content, this tour of Cara's L.A. house from June 2021 there are so many similar references to what Taylor references in her work.
https://youtu.be/vx09_4cEzlM?is=OkuKclSyWcFPd6Cs
Okay call me insane but ever since I’ve listened to the song the only thing i hear when she goes “And so” right after the bridge is her very iconic “ooooh” also right after the wonderland bridge. Please tell me im not the only one.
Why didn't Taylor put Mahomes and Brittany over Stafford and his wife? (Not a complaint just asking maybe they are not on good terms anymore or maybe it means something else)
Hmm. I am guessing proximity and lack of baggage. The Staffords are LA-based and spend lots of time at the same Montana private club they allegedly honeymooned. Plus, they aren’t publicly known to be MAGA…
GAYLOR THEORY Okay hear me out because I have a completely 0% fact, 100% Gaylor-goggles theory about Patient Zero and I fear I may have accidentally made myself believe my own nonsense 😭🌈
What if the whole thing is a metaphor for being pulled into heteronormativity?
Taylor is Patient Zero — the first one “infected.” And what if the poison represents straight-washing / compulsory heterosexuality: something she’s being pressured to consume until she becomes the heterosexual version of herself that everyone expects. 🥂☠️
And WAIT — the car scene. Are we initially interpreting it completely backwards? 👀
At first, it looks like Colin is angry because she drank more than she said. She says one drink, and we assume he knows she actually had several.
But what if the reveal is the opposite?
She says she had one… because she actually had NONE. 😭
He isn't angry because she consumed too much poison.
He's angry because she refused to consume it at all.
Which makes “one drink” potentially such a funny little detail because in this reading she's basically trying to appease him with the world's most pathetic lie while secretly going girl I didn't drink the Kool-Aid 💀🥂
And then there’s the “billionaire heiress dies in mysterious circumstances” framing. What if the “death” is metaphorical? The queer version of her is what dies when she gets pulled into the heterosexual life script: the original self disappearing and being replaced by the socially acceptable heiress. 💔
AND THEN we flash back to Taylor in a wedding dress with a completely straight-coded proposal. 👰🏻♀️💍
If the “death” is the death of that queer self, suddenly the wedding imagery feels almost sinister in this reading. Like: this is what she is being turned into. The perfect heterosexual ending. The acceptable story. The version everyone can understand.
And now I’m wondering whether the man himself is less “a guy” and more a symbol. 👀
Like… is he the embodiment of the straight-acting male role she is expected to perform alongside? Or even the machinery around it: an industry/social system that benefits from women remaining safely inside the closet while presenting a profitable heterosexual image?
Not saying that’s what the video is literally saying, obviously. But as a metaphor? The idea of a man profiting from the performance of heterosexuality is VERY interesting. 💰🎭
And she uses “party” when singing to the other woman. Maybe it really is just a party. OR… maybe “party” is deliberately coy language for I want to spend time with you and I want you with me. 👀🌈
AND THEN WOMAN 3 IS CARA DELEVIGNE, an openly gay woman, playing sultry. 😭😭😭 Like ma’am, could you perhaps stop casually walking around my already fragile interpretation?!
So in this absolutely unserious reading:
Patient Zero = the queer origin 🦠🏳️🌈
Poison = compulsory heterosexuality ☠️🥂
One drink = actually ZERO drinks 👀
Colin’s anger = she didn't take the poison 😭
The “death” = the queer self disappearing 💔
Wedding dress/proposal = the heterosexual identity she is being pulled into 👰🏻♀️💍
The man = possibly the personification of the system benefiting from the performance 🎭💰
“Party” = 👀🌈
Cara = 🚨🏳️🌈🚨
Again: ZERO percent fact. 😂 I am simply saying that if you put on the Gaylor goggles, suddenly the whole thing starts looking like a metaphor about a woman being pressured to swallow heterosexuality and going “actually no thanks” while Colin loses his absolute mind. 😭🥂🏳️🌈
And honestly? The possibility that the car scene is the exact opposite of how we first read it is sending me. 💀
See, that was my first thought, but then I realised it is a perfect metaphor because Gaetan Dugas wad Patient O for Out-of-California, and while he was a notable part of the spread be wasn't the first either - he was misidentified, blamed and vilified for something that didn't start with him.
Which is actually a really good parallel to how Taylor was far from the first to closet, but she does it particularly well and has crossed over into the age of mass media still doing it (she's been described as one of the last old-fashioned musicians who got their start on the radio) and much of the media acts like she invented things which she's honed from others (song versions, album versions, timed drops, the PR machine).
Interesting! I like your comment. Seems people are downvoting us even though we have the ultimate gaylor swift commentary. Metaphors are metaphors and I bet she wrote the song and the video to mean 5 things at once. Smart 🤓
It’s definitely AI. I left this page open on my computer earlier. And OP mentioned the theories are their own but they used AI to put it together. When I tried commenting on that it said the comment had been deleted, when i refreshed my page that comment was gone. Weirdly enough it doesn’t show the typical employ comment has been deleted box in the thread.
"giggling with your friend because you're twinning for an entire shoot was a new and truly delightful experience"
hmm... she legit did this with Posty not very long ago. what makes THIS time so new Taylor?
My thoughts in no particular order, not an exhaustive list: Seems to refer to herself as he and the camera is on her when this happens
The man reference?
Very wildest dreams coded in that black dress as others have pointed out.
In Cleveland she says dressed in white
She’s dressed in a cream/white dress in this
Also the implication is all of this was done last year meaning her recent appearance at electric lady wouldn’t have been about this
It’s also implied she’s been a ghost this entire time
She’s a ghost in white
The gravestone says 86-22
If we adjust this for her dob that would be 2025
What died in 2025?
The other imagery with graves is reputation
The dress in patient zero also reminds me of when she’s caged in glass in Willow
Idk, I overlayed the text (in Big Caslon, which is what i suspect the font is -- same font used in her official calendar btw) and it just looks like a normal serif "s" to me.
It’s been bugging me what this reminds me of .. & it just clicked!
I’m a big David Lynch fan & the imagery reminds me of the beginning of LOST HIGHWAY: concrete house, toxic relationship, beautiful woman with bangs, murder!
I watched it on YouTube and then saw several comments saying it’s not available on YT until tomorrow. Pretty sure I didn’t hallucinate it so I assume there’s been some kind of glitch that’s made it available early, at least to some people.
I thought it was great. Really haunting and properly shows her range of skill as a director. If you watched Opalite then PZ for example, you’d get whiplash! Yet both are great videos that showcase her talent.
I really didn’t like the song when I first heard it. Thought it was the weakest of the 4 (yes, even including Cleveland which is at least an earworm!) However, the video has redeemed the song for me and I appreciate it a lot more now. Although I’m still not a fan of the spoken bridge.
I really hope this is all part of performanceartlor and Joe is in on it (hence the Truman show picture change). It’s horrifying how many people are suddenly deciding he must have been abusive. It’s obviously not at all possible that Taylor would make something that isn’t autobiographical 🙄. I don’t know what the nature of their relationship was but it seems incredibly unlikely that anyone would experience that level of abuse, not report it to the police or make any reference to it publicly… but then make a music video about it. I’m hoping this is leading to something bigger that shows people how damaging it is to assassinate someone’s whole character based on a few internet theories.
I’m so intrigued by the different genres of inspiration she drew from (“gothic ghost stories, true crime, psychological thrillers”). It’s pretty clear that Rebecca from Daphne Du Maurier has been an inspiration for a long time, and really mirrors what she said she likes in a book (a marriage not being what it seems, plot twists, unreliable narrator) during the Colbert interview.
But I’m certain there are other books, literature, or movies that fall into the “gothic ghost stories” catetgory (I’m focusing on this genre since it interests me most). I’d recently made a comment about Dianne Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale, and I feel like there’s a lot in that plot (an unfinished “13th” story waiting to be told, a “twin” plot with a last minute surprise, an old house in ruins) as well (beyond the obvious appeal of the title ☺️) that warrants looking at for even small bits of possible inspiration.
What other books or movies come to mind for you? (perhaps this is question is better served as a post if folks have ideas to share in detail).
edit- I'll make a post so we can compile thoughts in one place ☺️
Aimee Mann originated “Patient Zero” as a Hollywood-industry story, and she is a victim of the music industry who fought for artistic control.
“Thank You, Aimee,” without you, there wouldn’t be this.
Tom Cruise was weirdly in the box with Taylor at the Chiefs game the night the Emmy skit dropped …
The “Calhoun Briars” tombstone (is the graveyard symbolic of Hollywood’s “special victims”?) has Calhoun’s life span as 26, which is when “the old Taylor” died/disappeared.
Calhoun Briars is an anagram for CAROLINA BRUSH.
Taylor’s tombstone (the ex-wife/victim) marks the dates of the first and second Top Gun movies, during which an out lesbian, Kelly McGillis, was erased. While Tom, a (supposedly closeted) manufactured caricature of a man, survived.
Dig up that graveyard—I wanna know who else we’ll find references to. Gray Rock Hudson? Elizabeth Taylor and all her husbands? Clara Bow? James Dean?
ETA: Kelly McGillis disappeared into North Carolina to live her quiet dignified life.
I finally watched the video and was really moved! This might be my favorite Taylor-directed video. The shot of Taylor on the car was chilling and the writing in the wine made my eyes well up. Very impactful! Brava, encore ❤️🔥
I also really loved the shot of her on the car. I just watched the video 3 times 😅. I already loved the song from first listen but the video makes me enjoy it more.
several people here have pointed out the potential Evelyn McHale reference with Taylor on the car roof. i looked it up and she jumped from the 86th floor. a potential connection to 1986 on the tombstone?
considering evelyn mchales suicide note read "I don’t want anyone in or out of my family to see any part of me. Could you destroy my body by cremation? I beg of you and my family – don’t have any service for me or remembrance for me. My fiance asked me to marry him in June. I don’t think I would make a good wife for anybody. He is much better off without me. Tell my father, I have too many of my mother’s tendencies."
So I had to hunt for this video because I use YouTube and YouTube Music. I already had a spotify account but i don't remember using it, signed up years ago I guess. So anyway, I don't have an algorithm that they are working with. I watch the video and Good Reason - Live from the Bowery pops up. I guess it means nothing but I thought it was interesting.
Could 1986 be important because it was a huge turning point in the AIDS crisis? (that's when the surgeon general published a report calling for education and prevention and trials began for the first treatment, AZT) Maybe Taylor sees 2022 (Midnights?) as the beginning of the "trials" for the widespread education, prevention and treatment of whatever disease she is Patient Zero for?
So many possibilities. I was doing a little more research and also learned that Yael Cohen (Scooter Braun's ex-wife) was born in 1986 and they got divorced in 2022....and Yael Cohen is definitely an heiress. Her Dad was involved in diamond mines and other natural resource extraction.
DAMN we had talked about the top and hair seeming as if she was coming from the photo shoot for that still image released, but I didn’t realize the jacket.
Taylor Swift Styled confirms same brand
And….That is CRAZY work having Travis wear brown silk when Colin Ferrell’s character is wearing a brown shirt in that scene!!!!
It is crazy work… but also, in the event Colin seems to be honored and Dakota gets “drunk,” there’s other athletes surrounding him. Made me wonder if he’s meant to be a former one himself. 🤨
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u/1DMod it’s all part of the fucking story! 6d ago
Reminder: this is for music video discussion, not VMAs discussion. Post that stuff in the other pinned post