How to tackle your own narrative: Hightower, Christmas, or Swift

Going off of what Mr. Heidkamp said in class, everyone has their own narrative. This narrative can be good or bad, and it is up to you how you choose to live with that narrative. In Light in August alone, we see several examples of characters addressing their narratives very differently. There is Reverend Hightower, who refused to be ashamed of his narrative despite society's attempts to drive him out of town. Rather than stand up to his narrative or leave town and escape it, Hightower does nothing, accepts it, and tries to go on with his life ignoring the stigma attached to his name. Then we see Joe Christmas  and after recieving his backstory, we realize has quite the narrative, but doesn't even know himself what it is yet.

When such a powerful narrative is written about you, there are several things you can do in response to it. Maybe you are like Joe and don't know what your narrative is yet. Maybe you choose to take Reverend Hightower's path and keep it looming in the past. But maybe, you embody it, alter it however you choose, and, like Taylor Swift, look awesome doing it.

From the moment we heard her music would no longer be categorized as country, we knew to expect something new from Taylor Swift's new album, 1989. This is exactly what she was going for. She creativity changed directions as an artist and in doing so, sends valid messages relevant to many of the topics we have recently discussed in class, such as changing one's own narrative and reversing Benjamin's MALE/female binary, as she does in her music video for "Blank Space."

As Mr. Hiedkamp was saying in class, Taylor Swift is actively trying to change the well known stigma, or narrative, that comes along with her music and character in the media world. She's the girl obsessed with guys, leaving them left and right, and compiling these dramatically deep emotions into heartfelt songs that serve to personally attack the poor past lover who was stupid enough to fall into her trap. From one guy to the next, Taylor Swift is known for lashing out at small things and over reacting to every situation. While addressing her own narrative, Swift remarks that male artists in the industry do this all the time, but that somehow because she is a girl, this lashing out of heartbreak is not okay.

While simultaneously destroying her own narrative, Taylor Swift also challenges the binary of the typical MALE/female relationship. In her newest music video, we constantly see the guy chasing her around and sitting patiently long enough for her to paint his entire portrait. While discussing her video, an interview lead into a discussion of feminism, where Swift spoke of how she wishes she was taught the real definition of feminism earlier as a child- that feminism is a fight for equality, not a bashing of men. She says that in general and on many different scales, people can get uncomfortable with women doing things that men are "supposed to do." This sort of binary can be seen in Light in August in the relationship between Joe Christmas and Miss Burden. Joe is uncomfortable with the fact that Miss Burden is successful, and when she offers to share this success with him, he doesn't accept it.

In the video for "Blank Space," rather than taking a Reverend Hightower approach and pretending that the stigma doesn't exist, she embodies her narrative. The video serves as a satire of herself, and mainly of the story associated with her character. Rather than defending herself, she embodies it, makes fun of herself, and owns it. When she runs around like a maniac, she is not only smashing the car, the painting, and the house, but smashing the narrative itself.