Taylor Swift director denies 'Wildest Dreams' video is racist
Joseph Khan: 'There is no political agenda in the video'
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Photo: Wenn
The video director for Taylor Swoft's 'Wildest Dreams' has responded to the criticisms of the video that claim it depicts a "colonial fantasy".
'Wildest Dreams' follows a colonial era actor, Swift, as she negotiates a passionate romance in an undisclosed African location. It features Savanna backdrops and perfectly positioned wildlife creating the authentic African exterior, albeit with a largely white cast.
The internet struck out at Swift and the video producers for their 'lack of tact and historical sensitivity'.
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Director Joseph Khan has since responded to the lambasting saying in a public statement:
"'Wildest Dreams' is a song about a relationship that was doomed, and the music video concept was that they were having a love affair on location away from their normal lives. This is not a video about colonialism but a love story on the set of a period film crew in Africa, 1950."
"There are black Africans in the video in a number of shots, but I rarely cut to crew faces outside of the director as the vast majority of screentime is Taylor and Scott."
"The video is based on classic Hollywood romances like Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, as well as classic movies like The African Queen, Out of Africa and The English Patient, to name a few."
He continued: "The reality is not only were there people of color in the video, but the key creatives who worked on this video are people of color. I am Asian American, the producer Jil Hardin is an African American woman, and the editor Chancler Haynes is an African American man. We cast and edited this video. We collectively decided it would have been historicially inaccurate to load the crew with more black actors as the video would have been accused of rewriting history. This video is set in the past by a crew set in the present and we are all proud of our work."
Watch the video for 'Wildest Dreams' below
Khan concluded: "There is no political agenda in the video. Our only goal was to tell a tragic love story in classic Hollywood iconography. Furthermore, this video has been singled out, yet there have been many music videos depicting Africa. These videos have traditionally not been lessons in African history. Let’s not forget, Taylor has chosen to donate all of her proceeds from this video to the African Parks Foundation to preserve the endangered animals of the continent and support the economies of local African people."
For those that are still Team Taylor, Ryan Adams', now finished, 1989 covers album is in the pipeline and is due for release very soon supposedly.
In other Taylor Swift news, the fan that lunged at the popstar during a concert has been charged with misdemeanor battery and obstruction and has had his bail set at $35,000 (£22,000).
Photo: Wenn
