Can Taylor Swift Survive Kim Kardashians Snapchat Burial?

In the post, Swift called Kims snap a character assassination, and shes right. What really happened may no longer matter. The script has been rewritten. The personathe perfect Taylor Swift character that a squad of people worked so hard to cultivatehas been murdered. That Taylor Swift is dead, at least in the eyes of gossip-mongering social media addicts scarfing down the popcorn watching the soap opera of the last 24 hours.

Swift had tried, and failed, to hurl Kanye West and Kim Kardashian under the bus, once again asserting herself as the very best daughter. But Kardashian tip-off off the driver. Now that proverbial bus has gone in reverse and its Swift under its tires.

R.I.P ., girl.

But for all the hashtag-partying on her meme tomb, its worth exploring if the traumata to Swifts persona are really fatal. Is it possible to mend the damage?

It must be said that the prognosis isnt gooda brief scroll of Twitter builds that clear, even as Swifts fans and celebrity friends defend her, and the typical and at this phase embarrassingly antiquated who cares what the famous-for-doing-nothing girls do Kardashian write-offs roll in.

As complicit as pop culture and celebrity rumor consumers are in feeding into the artifice that has, well, pretty much eternally defined the entertainment and celebrity industry, its still a cardinal sin to betray them. The penance for doing so is levy, if even insurmountable.

Swifts authenticity had already been in question following the increasingly groan-worthy relationship with Hiddleston, which, whether or not it genuinely is, suffers the tomb predicament of appearing to be fake.

Casting aside, again, the more complicated tints of the controversy and evidence, the court of public opinion has ruled in the People v. Taylor Swift. The verdict: guilty of constantly duping and using us. Punitive damages: our trust, the loss of which is worse for the modern celebrity than, tell, losing Twitter followers, record bargains, or endorsement contracts.

Its all a fascinating insight into the celebrity machine. Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, and any major celebrity, for that matter, are merely the visible tips-off of very vast, very calculating icebergs. The army of people constantly fretting over a celebritys branding, promotion, security, and opinion operate largely unseen under the surface.

But being that tip of the iceberg sometimes leaves you uncovered and vulnerable. Sometimes youre propped up strong and tall by the work of that underwater base, capable of destroying ships, evenor, in this case, goodwill toward one of the worlds most gee-golly celebrities.

In this particular situation, whats a melting iceberg to do?

Swift and her camp, as we mentioned before, are experts at controlling the media to rescue an intended narrative.

Criticized for her talent? Release a ballad called Mean. Slut-shamed and called a maneater? Own and then eviscerate the characterization in the Blank Space video. Get embroiled in a misguided and misinformed Twitter spat with Nicki Minaj? Make revises during an awards depict performance. Find yourself feuding with Katy Perry? Assemble an Avengers of Glamazons to defend you in Bad Blood .

Even when it comes to Kanye West, who Swift has been dramatically intertwined ever since he crashed her mainstream coming out party at the MTV Video Music Awards, shes cannily capitalized on the controversy in her own favor, making amends by presenting West with the Video Vanguard Award on MTV in 2015.

Would a move from the Taylor Swift playbook work now?

Does she address it in ballad? Spoof it in a video? Send the message that shes over it by appearing together at an awards display? Continue on the attack?

And if not one of those, does the usual 2016 Celebrity Image Makeover tactic run: a self-effacing viral bit on a late-night talk display, or a winking cameo on a buzzy slapstick?

Ordinarily the entertainment news cycle has the memory of an elephant( or a flyI can never remember which is the forgetful one, in true entertainment news novelist sort ). But the Taylor Swift/ Kanye West news cycle has, thus far, had a shelf life of nearly seven years.

Moving on or ignoring it isnt sufficient , not at this crossroad. She likely wont be allowed to escape the inevitability: a paragraph referencing the conflict and Snapchat scandal in magazine cover story and profile written about her , no matter whats going on in her career, in perpetuity.

In the absence of public trust, then, Swifts best bet is candor. And not candor-as-performance, the kind of scripted truth-telling weve become accustomed to. The tell-all interview event is a step. But saying something meaningful in it is a must. It voices stupidly basic to offer say something meaningful as advice. But in todays fabricated advertising machine, it might be the culture shock needed to repair the damage.

Theres no denying the layers of misogyny in this controversy. The pleasure with which we are taking sides between two strong, powerful, and important females, likening them to dueling soap opera divas and dancing on the tomb of the one who has been taken down, so to speak.

We ensure male entertainers get caught in far more damning scandals all the time, and it always blows over, and quickly.( Here is where I dutifully convey my skepticism that Chris Brown is still a successful entertainer .) But Kim Kardashian defends her and her husbands reputation against Taylor Swift, and we turn the latter starring into a gravestone meme.

Celebrities can always come back from the dead, musicians especially. Usually all it takes is the next great ballad, and all is forgiven. It wont be that simple for Taylor Swift. Please welcome to the stage: some humility.