Beautifully Unattainable

Set in an African Savannah in the 1950s, surrounded by wildlife and cameras, Taylor Swift brings us one of her latest music videos Wildest Dreams. The project was directed by South Korean Joseph Khan, which was also involved in other of Swift’s projects such as “Bad Blood” and “Blank Space”. Wildest Dreams tells the story of two actors, Taylor Swift and Scott Eastwood, who are making a movie, non-coincidentally titled Wildest Dreams. At first glance, the video is about these two actors that have an on-screen and off-screen relationship that comes to an end when the movie production concludes, and each of the characters has to return to their own lives. However, once one analyzes the music video with the song lyrics, Wildest Dreams is about a doomed romantic relationship between two star-crossed lovers that is worthy only for its memories. This romantic yet superficial relationship is beautifully unattainable and ill-fated, in fact, it is the “Wildest Dream” that the narrator, Swift, is talking about.

Swift that was once a sweet teenage girl, writing songs mostly about perfect loves and sweet romances, now writes songs and creates music videos that try to more accurately resemble real life. A love story that is destined to fail is the main theme that surrounds this astonishing video. From the start of the song, Swift uses juxtaposed words and phrases to hint that there is something bad happening in the relationship. Swift says things like “He’s so bad but he does it so well” and “I can see the end as it begins” displaying an evident conflict existing between the two characters and their troubled relationship. He is wrong for her and she knows it but she does not care, not yet at least. Taylor’s immense desire to have someone is stronger than the reality of the situation and makes her keep holding on, creating this fantasy of a perfect relationship but actually she is just fooling herself. All the juxtaposition she uses is to alert the audience and herself that all those moments she is living and all that magic she is feeling will eventually vanish.

This whole idea is encompassed in the first shot the couple films for their movie. Swift and Eastwood share a kiss once the director gives the signal and the shot is just perfect: rightly timed, with a picturesque setting, the characters perfectly placed in the middle of the portrait, surrounded by matching warm colors, full of passion and in simple words fairytale-like. However, at the same time the shot and the moment itself is pure illusion, just like a dream. The audience can see the cameras, the crew, and the director who are filming the shot. The whole moment is completely made up. This gives the idea that these kinds of relationships are too good to be true, and therefore unreal just like the love stories we often see in films.

Nevertheless, Swift also wants to make the point that even though these relationships are doomed from the beginning, they are still worth having for the memories they bring. In other words, from time to time one should get into a relationship with no future simply because the unforgettable memories and breathtaking moments will compensate for all the negative things that happened. In the video, when Swift is thinking about those worthy memories, we see flashbacks of the good memories lived with her lover. These shots, unlike the others we have seen, are more “real” and seem more “authentic” in a sense since we do not see the cameras, crew or director anymore, we only see her and her love interest. With this recollection of memories, the audience can relate and sympathize with Taylor.

Still, to what extent are these flashbacks and these memories entirely real is completely uncertain. They might be only a product of Taylor’s imagination, maybe she modifies them, or maybe they’re just a dream. The one thing that it is known for sure is that the memories she makes, or thinks she makes, with her lover are the only thing that stays with her when the movie is over. Once the production concludes, the relationship ends and the characters part their individual ways. Swift and Eastwood are brought back to reality when you see the green screen and realize that the jungle and the wildlife they were immersed in was all an illusion just like their relationship and the love they shared. This is the tragic yet inescapable reality of star-crossed lovers, they just form part of a dream that will eventually end when one of them wakes up. 

The real question about Wildest Dreams is what is Taylor Swift really singing about? Maybe she wants to make the point that relationships among celebrities are just a fantasy trying to imitate what they will so frequently do in movies but at the end of the day completely superficial, fake and just for the media. Personally, I believe the song and the video are about Taylor Swift herself and her romantic relationships that are doomed to fail. Swift is always in the media, presuming her new boyfriends every year, however these relationships never last that long. Wildest Dreams is about Swift and her struggle in finding real love. She only has memories of her relationships but to what extent are the memories she makes with these men real? To what extent are these relationships authentic and could they ever be? Maybe it is all created for the media and for this reason the illusion of encountering true love is just Swift’s wild dream: fleeting and unattainable.