Taylor Swift makes history as the first female solo artist to win the award for Best Direction at the MTV Video Music Awards 2020. The pop star directed and starred in ‘The Man,’ her gender-bending music video from her album Lover, introducing the main character and Taylor’s alter ego, and making references to toxic masculinity and double standards in society.
The 30-year-old singer competed on Sunday night against ‘Blinding Lights’ by The Weeknd, ‘Adore You’ by Harry Styles, ‘Don’t Start Now’ by Dua Lipa, ‘Xanny’ by Billie Eilish, and ‘Say So’ by Doja Cat. Taylor took home the well-deserved award for her directorial debut, and gave her acceptance speech in a pre-taped video.
“Guys, this is amazing. This is the first video I’ve ever directed on my own,” Swift also took time to name the film crew, being grateful for the opportunity and thanking everyone who believed in her skills as director, “‘My DP, my AD, my editor, Ethan, Joe, Bill and his team for turning me into a guy, which was very thrilling,” also including the producers who supported her decision to direct, “Rebecca Skinner and Jil Hardin. Thank you for that.’
Taylor’s ode to feminism in ‘The Man’ is brilliantly put together with different pop culture allusions, from mentioning and reenacting Leonardo Dicaprio in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ to referencing the talked about sexist behaviors in the tennis court, and slightly coming for Scooter Braun, the executive who owns the master recordings from her first six albums.
Swift also thanked her fans for their generosity and constant support by saying, “you are the only reason the industry cares about anything that I do.”