Taylor Swift: 'Ready For It?' music video teaser proves controversial
Pop star appears in '...Ready For It?' trailer that recalls Ghost In The Shell and Blade Runner
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Your support makes all the difference.Taylor Swift shared a teaser for her forthcoming music video for "...Ready For It?" this week and fans lost their collective minds.
The pop star appeared in a nude bodysuit that made her appear naked in parts of the video teaser, which also included a robot and a few action sequences.
The Telegraph appeared to accuse Swift of hypocrisy by pointing out how the singer once claimed she did not need to remove her clothes to sell records.
The Daily Mail said the footage of Swift was "shocking" and was alarmed because it was unable to tell whether she was wearing underwear.
Fans have pointed out that many scenes in the teaser recall those from the controversial reboot of Ghost In The Shell starring Scarlett Johansson, along with the film Blade Runner.
The film caused uproar over accusations of "whitewashing", as Johansson took on the role of a character who was originally portrayed as Japanese.
Swift's nude bodysuit strongly resembles the one worn by Johansson in the film. There is also a scene where Swift shatters a wall of glass that appears to have been inspired by a prominent scene in Ghost In The Shell.
There were mixed reactions as some fans appeared to enjoy the tribute, whilst others questioned how appropriate it was for Swift to appear in an apparent Ghost In The Shell-inspired video given the film's controversial history.
At least three of Swift's other music videos have been accused of whitewashing, appropriation, or perpetuation of black stereotypes.
In "Shake It Off", rapper Earl Sweatshirt said scenes in the video were "offensive and ultimately harmful", and accused it of "perpetuating black stereotypes to the same demographic of white girls who hide their prejudice by proclaiming their love of the culture".
The director of her "Wildest Dreams" video was forced to defend it against accusations of having "racist connotations" due to its setting in "Africa, 1950".
Jospeh Kahn, who also directed Swift's recent video for "Look What You Made Me Do" and is behind the upcoming "... Ready For It?" visuals,, said the video for "Wildest Dreams" was based on "classic Holllywood romances like Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton... the reality is not only were there people of colour in the video, but the key creatives who worked on this video are people of colour."
Swift donated the proceeds from the video to the African Parks Foundation to help protect endangered animals.
Kahn was also forced to defend accusations of appropriation in "Look What You Made Me Do", as Beyonce fans accused him of lifting scenes from the Lemonade artist's video for "Formation".
The full video for "...Ready For It?" drops on Thursday 26 October. Swift's new album reputation is set for release on 10 November and will undoubtedly be one of the biggest records of the year.
It is being released via Big Machine Records and will be supported by a tour - the dates for which have yet to be announced.
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