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Taylor Swift going back to the nineties in her new video promoting the second single from “The Life of a Showgirl”, “Opalite“. The video dropped earlier today on Spotify and Apple Music, with the video becoming available on YouTube February 8th at 8 a.m. EST. As one of the main Swifties in office, I’m here to break it down and give my thoughts on it.
The video starts with a vintage-style infomercial promoting a spray called “Opalite” that claims to fix all problems- including friends, coworkers, and relationships. The following scenes portray Taylor making cootie-catchers and friendship bracelets, swinging on a swing set, going out to a karaoke bar, and even doing a home workout! She’s definitely got a difficult partner in all of this as it’s a rock that has come from a box stating “My Best Friend”. The scenes cut over to the male lead of the video, played by Domhall Gleeson, who seems to be having similar struggles with his partner, a cactus that keeps pricking him without fail. Both decide to order the Opalite spray, hoping for a cure-all. When Gleeson sprays the cactus and Swift herself, the cure to their problems is found to be each other. With plenty of cameos throughout the video (including Graham Norton and Lewis Capaldi), there are loads of Easter Eggs to unpack.
I, personally, loved the video. I think the infomercial gives off Sabrina Carpenter vibes (which gives me hope for a video of the title track: “The Life of a Showgirl featuring Sabrina Carpenter“) with the nineties vibe giving a nostalgic feel throughout. As I said before, we love a good cameo and this video was full of them. The main cast of the video all came from an episode of The Graham Norton Show, a British late-night show that hosts a variety of guests all on one couch. The episode in question was one in which Taylor was promoting her latest album and an off-hand comment from Gleeson about how he wanted to star in one of her music video sparked this idea. Along with cameos from her Eras Tour dancers throughout, this was an easter egg ridden video.
I think there’s also a lot to be said about some of the underlying subtext within the video. Swift has seemingly had some troubles finding people okay with sharing the spotlight with her and not dimming her shine. A rock, bland with nothing to add to any situation, is both a perfect throwback to the pet rocks we all had and a great metaphor for people in her past (though I won’t be naming any names, I definitely could make some guesses as to whom.) I also like the small touch of Gleeson spraying the cactus but Swift spraying herself, showing that in past relationships, she feels or was made to feel like the problem. “Anti-Hero” callback, anyone?
Overall, I think the music video was fun and creative, showing off Taylor’s directing skills once again. I think her music video concepts are always something unique, even if she takes inspiration from other artists. Who knows what moves she’ll make next but know we’ll be here talking about all of them.
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