Taylor Swift Gets a Bad Rap (Can't Believe I Just Said That)

Girl can dish it out, apparently can take it, too.

Taylor Swift has basically irritated me by her particular brand of narcissism. I admit to casually liking a couple of her songs, but that's like appreciating an occasional Snickers bar, if you know what I mean. Okay, she's cute, too.

Watching her parade around in her performances, especially when "sharing" the stage with others, again, is irritating. She's a star, fine. Now, grab some humility for being lucky.

Now that I've got that out front, let's look at the case of her new song, one categorically aimed at establishing her pop (non-country) cred, "Shake It Off," and the criticism it's getting, especially from blacks who feel stereotyped.

To get the gist of this, read this article in the NYTimes. The black contempt is shown in the article, though defenders are presented, too.

My take is that Swift's latest is straight-out fun pop, catchy, with a reasonably up-beat message: Don't sweat the small stuff (from the players, the fakers, the haters) and dance, however you define dancing.

What's likeable about the video is that OMG Taylor is self-deprecating, having fun at her own expense. So we've got suitably unserious fun pop, with an upbeat, inclusive message, along with Swift letting people know it's okay if you're white and not as good a dancer as Beyoncé. She can "shake it off" regardless. She's celebrating her limitations and enjoying it!

I say props on the progress, girl.

Now I can go back to being a grumpy old man.