Love Story (Taylor's Version) - A queer AMV 💕
Hello there! You might not remember me since I last uploaded a video in November 2018. My real name is Vincent, my channel name used to be "blackdog" but I recently changed it to "unicornjazz". I had to stop editing in 2018 because my old laptop got worse and worse, and basically wouldn't let me edit anymore. Now I have a new and much better laptop, so I'm able to edit again! enthusiastically throws hands up in the air I love editing fandom videos so much and I can't imagine to stop doing it forever. I will definitely revive this channel but please don't expect regular uploads. The older I get, the more work I've got to do (e.g. university, garden work, ...), so bear with me! To summarise: I'm glad to be back! 💖
If you're interested in the details of WHY I made this specific video, continue reading here:
Why this song? First of all, I became a huge Taylor Swift fan while I was gone from the editing scene. Secondly, I saw this meme where it said "Which is more gay? Being gay or Taylor Swift explaining Love Story (2008)?" And then there's a screenshot of an old Billboard article where Taylor said that the song is about "a love that you've got to hide because for whatever reason it wouldn't go over well." She continues:"I spun it in the direction of 'Romeo and Juliet'; our parents are fighting. I relate to it more as a love that you cannot really elaborate on -- a love that maybe society wouldn't accept [or] maybe your friends wouldn't accept." ...Sounds pretty gay or queer in general, doesn't it? (ɔ◔‿◔)ɔ ♥ I'm not saying that it was Taylor's intention to make the song queer but the meme actually gave me the idea for this video.
Another reason is my desire for the world of anime to change in regards to queer (mis)representation. Queer representation has definitely improved the past few years but I think there's still a lot of room for improvement. Even when queer characters do appear in anime, they are often one-dimensional or rapey. Not even the anime I used for this video are perfect, especially not Strawberry Panic! Which is of no surprise since it came out in 2006. Not only the animation quality didn't age well but also the cliché storylines and characters. Strawberry Panic was the first girls love anime I watched, so I feel nostalgic about it but I recognise that it's flawed. I still recommend watching it if you're in the mood for overdramatic lesbians hanging out in a Christian boarding school.😂 I want to mention two queer anime tropes (though they also appear in heterosexual relationships) that annoy me to death: 1. There is always a dominant and a submissive person in a relationship. 2. Non-consensual actions are hot for some reason. Please tell me if you feel the same! I hate to say it but even the more modern anime I used in my video sometimes have an issue with how they portray non-consensual touch, like continuing to kiss a character even after they've said "No" or "Stop". We really shouldn't normalise or downplay this stuff, it's harmful. Especially to young people who might think that this kind of predatory behaviour is "sexy" or that they're expected to endure such behaviour in real life. Yeah, that's all I wanted to say about this. Wait, there's one more thing: PLEASE MAKE MORE TRANSGENDER CHARACTERS, DEAR ANIME INDUSTRY! There is literally only one anime focused on being transgender and it's "Wandering Son". I originally planned to use trans characters and their canon romances in my video too but ultimately decided against it because there's almost nothing to work with.😭
I hope you enjoy my AMV! It's a lot of work to edit a full-length video.😵 I did my best and I'm actually proud of how it turned out. I tried to make it as sappy and romantic as possible, so maybe it's not for everyone. Peace out!
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Credits:
Song:
Love Story (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift (2021)
Anime:
Bloom Into You (2018)
Fragtime (2019)
Given (2019, the movie is from 2020)
Strawberry Panic (2006)
Umibe no Étranger (2020)
Yuri on Ice (2016)
