Dominic Sherwood, who co-starred in the video, doesn't have a great deal to do in it other than look pretty and stare broodingly into the camera, both of which he excels at. Sherwood's real-life heterochromia (he has one blue eye and one brown) add to the strong visuals of the video.
This is probably Taylor's most suggestive video to date (though extremely tame compared to most other music videos nowadays) and I want to be the first to say: Nipple. Tay Tay touched a nipple.
I'm glad that she doesn't feel restricted by her squeaky clean image. I've seen something like this coming for a while. Over the last couple of years, Taylor has shown a lot more strength and security within herself, and seems to be a lot more comfortable with both her femininity and her body, but not in a "look at me, I'm sexy" kind of way so much as an empowered, independent sort of way. She's still conscious and aware of her role model status, but she's also twenty-five years old now and it's ok for her to be doing things like this. That should go without saying but it seems some people need reminding. The video is much more sensual than sexual. The song itself contains mildly suggestive lyrics, though it's by no means the first Taylor Swift song to do so. It"s still extremely tasteful, and I'm hoping the media doesn't make a bigger deal out of it than it necessary but they probably will, because that's their job.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the wicked cool Taylor's-body-is-a-looking-glass effect. With all the work that obviously went into this video, it's no wonder it took so long to come out. I hope there's a making-of video.
