Cinephiles, we’ve got a real dilemma on our hands here. The Barnyard Cinema has the opportunity to show the documentary of the Taylor Swift tour.
Ready for It? In your Wildest Dreams, did you ever think we’d get Tay Tay on the silver screen in the Methow? I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22 and I say they should go for it.
But we need to approach the arrangement with Eyes Open, because there’s a catch (there Forever & Always is a catch, or a Glitch, or a Hoax, we know that All Too Well).
“The terms are tough,” says Barnyard co-owner Genevieve Cole. In order to bring “Taylor Swift: the Eras Tour,” Barnyard must show the film every Thursday-Sunday for a month. They can play other films (Genevieve refers to it as “patchwork programming”) Monday-Wednesday, but on weekends Taylor Swift will dominate the big screen, as if she were The Last Great American Dynasty, which she very well may be.
Now hang on a second, You Need to Calm Down. Don’t fault Genevieve and certainly Don’t Blame Me; terms like these are Nothing New — they’re the Mastermind of a capitalist society. Similarly, the required pricing of $20 adults/$14 kids presents a paradox for audiences. Only the Young want to see the film, but only the old can afford to. Call it What You Want — Long Story Short, it’s a classic Labyrinth of content licensing.
Still, these are Champagne Problems, folks. Taylor Swift is Never, Ever going to play at the Winthrop Barn, no matter how many folding chairs we promise to sardine into the space. The Eras Tour documentary is the closest most of us will ever get to seeing this pop-culture icon onstage. If this matters to you, Speak Now. But tell Genevieve, not me.
August is behind us; we’ll be Back to December before we know it, and then for a while it will feel like it’s Forever Winter, Cardigan season, everything white. Shall we fill the fall with the golden girl’s glow? In other words, will Happiness be ours, or will we be Haunted with regret, lamenting that we Should’ve Said No?
Four days a week of Taylor Swift for a whole month sounds like a big lift for this small community, but perhaps I underestimate us. After all, I’m pretty sure “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Barbie” were brought back by popular demand after long runs at Barnyard. And I know there are people out there already rooting for what would essentially be our own Taylor Swift Epiphany. Whatever Barnyard decides, there will be people unhappy with the choice. C’mon folks, Shake it Off.
Note for the Swift-impaired: the seemingly random capitalizations are all Taylor Swift song titles.
