The Bait of Ophelia

Taylor Swift’s New Era and the Travis Kelce Effect

I’m no Taylor Swift historian but I believe her latest album is the first one she has written since she’s been in a relationship with Kansas City Chief football player, Travis Kelce. From the outside looking in seems she’s happy for once. Much of Swift’s previous discography includes songs of heartbreak, bitterness, and sometimes rage against former scored lovers. It has long been the joke that if a man were to get into a relationship with Swift, he’ll soon find himself in a future song lyric.Well, that has happened with Kelce. But these song lyrics are a turning point for Swift. She’s happy. She’s fulfilled and she has been saved from a tower of depression.

Understanding “The Fate of Ophelia” and Its Shakespearean Roots

The lead song on her latest album is titled, The Fate of Ophelia. In it, Swift compares herself to the heartbroken, titular character that is the scored love interest of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In the play, Hamlet rejects her harshly (“Get thee to a nunnery”), contributing to her emotional breakdown. She eventually drowns in a river while singing and gathering flowers. It’s assumed she took her own life.

In Swift’s song, she claims that Kelce has saved her from Ophelia’s fate. She says she’s “no longer drowning and deceived, all because you came for me.” She was sitting alone in her tower when he dug her out of her grave and saved her heart from the fate of Ophelia. Therefore, she is pledging allegiance to to his team, his vibes, his character. This is a stark difference from the avowed feminist that Swift has claimed to be in the past. A man has saved her? Funny how love can do that. These are very powerful lyrics set to very poppy music that has many women (and no doubt some men) singing and dancing to the atmosphere the song creates.

The Cultural Impact: Romance, Role Models, and the “Bait of Ophelia”

For a woman who had something like 14 partners in as many years, this is a breath of fresh air for all of her fans. This is nothing, new, however, as the music industry has always elevated romantic love as the ideal and the pinnacle of life.No doubt many young women will be yearning for their Travis Kelce who will save them from their depressing singleness. Swift has always been a problematic role model to young women because her influence is so great. But this reversal of fortune also brings with it some potential problems.

While I’m happy that young women can avoid the fate of Ophelia, they also need to look out for the bait of Ophelia. A relationship, a man, is not your savior. Yes, God has created marriage to be a completion of sorts. Woman was made from man and for man. There is a supernatural completion and union that occurs when men and women couple together. It’s biological. It’s natural. It’s biblical. It’s how God created people. And even though these unions in many ways do complete us, they don’t save us.

Relationships, Marriage, and the Limits of Human Love

Your spouse/fiance/friend is not your savior. I’m called to love, protect and provide for my wife. She does complete me. But I am not to be obsessed with her. She has not saved me (although she did help me graduate college). And she is a treasure that has kept me from no doubt many sad and lonely nights. But she’s not my savior.

One of the reasons we love hero stories is because Jesus is the ultimate hero. We all have this desire to either be a hero or root for a hero because this is how we’re created. When we do heroic things for people we show a little bit of the Gospel. We point towards Jesus’ self-sacrifice on the cross for our sins. He saved us when when we were dead in our sins. We had no hope. He gave us hope. We were at odds with God and deserved his judgement of our sin. Jesus made us right with God. He reconciled our relationship with our Creator. Jesus saved us from many bad possible fates.

Finding Our True Savior: A Christian Call to Identity in Christ

So, let’s be happy that Taylor Swift is finally in what seems to be a healthy relationship. She deserves it (especially if some of the things that she’s written about in her songs happened to her). But let’s not take the bait of Ophelia. Relationships do complete in a way. But they do not save. That is something only Jesus can accomplish. And his love is more perfect than any spouse or partner. Let’s pledge allegiance to our identity in Christ. He will never disappoint.