Fearless Swift fans celebrate concert film in Jerusalem

‘I wish it had been even longer,” said Shir, a 16-year-old Jerusalem high-school student, about Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie, the nearly three-hour concert film she saw on Saturday night.

Touching up her makeup after the first showing of the movie at the Yes Planet theater in Jerusalem, she glowed with pride when complimented on her outfit, a pale pink sequined minidress, paired with multicolored rhinestone earrings that matched her nail polish and also matched the nail-polish hues Swift sports in the movie.

Shir wasn’t the only audience member out of the approximately 25 Swifties (two adult women, three young guys and the rest, teen girls) attending the screening who dressed in Taylor Swift attire. A few wore long white T-shirts over black shorts with hats, like her getup from the video for the song “22.” Most of the audience at the screening sat in the back two rows, where they sang, danced, and clapped after each song. They smiled. They laughed. They hugged.

All of which, I imagine, is pretty standard behavior at a screening of the Swift concert movie. But it was extraordinary and maybe a little defiant in the middle of a war ignited by the worst massacre of Jews since World War II a month ago.

I had expected Yes Planet to be empty, and while it wasn’t as full as it would normally have been on a Saturday night, there were people there, most of them families going to the McDonald’s located in the complex. A staff member told me that the auditoriums function as bomb shelters, so there would be no need to leave during a rocket-warning siren, but I didn’t see any notices posted, and no announcements were made.

Of course, the teens are well aware of the situation – how could they not be? One girl, who didn’t want even her first name used, told me her brother was fighting in Gaza. She – and all those I spoke with – understood that the moments of joy they experienced during the screening might seem disrespectful to the massacre victims, the families of those who were kidnapped, and soldiers. But, still, they came.

“My parents were happy for me to come tonight,” she said. “Why not? I’ve been waiting so long to see this. I want to see her in person someday, when this is all over.”

But “this” wasn’t what she wanted to talk about, and soon she and her friends were back to comparing notes on the minutiae of the movie. Most of them agreed that their favorite song was the final one, “Karma,” from her recent Midnights album.

The movie is a filmed concert that Swift performed earlier this year in Los Angeles, as part of her worldwide tour, dedicated to all the different eras in her 17-year career, hence the title. It features Swift singing her hits, with her trademark mix of charisma, sexiness, and vulnerability which made her into a superstar when she was still a teenager.

The tour and the resulting movie have turned her into a billionaire, it was recently announced, and she has 275 million Instagram followers.

Like most beloved performers, she sings each line as though she had just thought of it this second, as though it were an immediate expression of the thoughts passing through her mind.

More than perhaps any other female performer since Barbra Streisand, she has shaped her own style and image, and she has spoken strongly in her own voice, not allowing herself to be packaged like so many young women performers are by record executives.

Millions around the world love her for her emotionally honest lyrics, often about romantic turmoil. Fans have responded to her informal, friendly persona, as though she were a girlfriend they love to hang out with, and she has returned the favor. She speaks directly to her mostly young, mostly female audience during the film, thanking them for their support, which she says allows her to experiment musically.

There is something so likable about the persona she has created that it was easy to see why the fans in the audience were drawn to seek her out when their lives have been overshadowed by tragedy. Nothing could be more reassuring to them than a Taylor Swift concert.

Just the hits

The film includes many of her biggest hits, such as “Shake It Off,” “Look What You Made Me Do,” “Fearless,” “Lover,” “Blank Space,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Love Story,” and “I Knew You Were Trouble When You Walked In.”

But it wasn’t only the songs that were a treat. The show features sets linked to the themes of her albums, with a log cabin for Folklore and a piano covered in vines for some numbers. An even bigger attraction was Swift’s costumes, which she changed every few songs, including several ball gowns, sparkly minidresses, T-shirts and shorts, glittering bodysuits in several colors, and a white gown that looked like a bohemian wedding dress.

Those who aren’t into sing-alongs would be advised to avoid this film, because the audience sang loudly and enthusiastically, especially with some of the most emotional tunes. As I listened, I thought of how much their lives must have changed in the last month, but also saw how much romance still means to them, in spite of everything.

After her rendition of “Karma,” she bid the audience goodbye. Over the credits, which the audience watched eagerly, not heading for the exit or even turning on their phones, pictures of her fans entering the venue where she performed were shown, and I wished she could have seen these Jerusalem fans, at this moment.

As they left the theater, some of the girls were singing “Karma,” from beginning to end, a song that includes the lyrics, “Ask me what I earned from all those tears/Ask me why so many fade, but I’m still here/ (I’m still, I’m still here),” and planning the next time they would see the movie.