Grossing millions this summer, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie were incredibly successful. Fans show up nationwide in their bejeweled outfits as a specific album and in an all-pink ensemble.
Swift’s audience is predominantly female and lived each ‘era’ alongside her. “I like Taylor Swift because she’s a lyrical genius, her mainstream songs are catchy and good. But if you dig a bit deeper, you can see how good her writing actually is,” sophomore Sofia Escobar said.
In addition to purchasing tickets that easily go for thousands, “swifties” also purchased drinks, hotels, plane tickets, and merchandise. With 17 years of singing and performing under her belt, Swift has been able to accumulate this extensive following as she’s “been super relatable through her songs,” Escobar said.
After the Ticketmaster fiasco, refer to article, “Taylor Swift fans have bad blood with Ticketmaster; millions unable to purchase tickets”. Swift is on track to become the most profitable performer in concert history, breaking Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” record and is set to gross $1 billion. “I think that with what’s going on right now in society, there is so much female empowerment during the tour with Taylor breaking so many records,” Escobar said.
The non-stop three-hour show is filled with a 44-song setlist and one (or two) acoustic surprise song(s). The setlist is composed of her 10 studio albums: Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, Reputation, Lover, Folklore, Evermore and Midnights. The 33-year-old singer-songwriter is set to continue the tour internationally before returning to the U.S. during the North American tour. If you weren’t able to snag tickets and don’t want to wait till the fall of 2024, her “The Eras Tour: Concert Film,” premieres in theaters on Oct. 13.
During the Jul. 21 double feature event, Barbie not only beat Oppenheimer, grossing almost twice as much in box office sales but also, post-pandemic, was the largest three-day opening weekend with both films beating their respective projections. The Barbie production spent $150 million on marketing and was heavily promoted on social media.
Director Gerwig became the highest-grossing female director and Barbie had the biggest North American opening for a movie directed by a woman. Her achievements are especially extraordinary being that there are few women in the directing industry and only three have won best director in Academy Award history.
The film depicts feminism in our society by showcasing the oppression of women in the “real world.” emphasized by America Ferrera’s monologue and Margot Robbie’s character catcalled by construction workers, juxtaposed with the President, Lawyer, and Physicist Barbies thriving in “BarbieLand.”
The biggest blockbuster of summer featured songs such as Nicki Minji and Ice Spice’s collaboration “Barbie World.” Additionally, fans loved songs like Dua Lipa’s “Dance The Night” and Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For,” which notoriously made viewers cry at the end of the film, as well as Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” song. “I was singing it at work yesterday because I was cleaning. And, it just made me feel important,” sophomore Alek Bargman said.
Another smashing sensation this summer was the Renaissance World Tour effect, better known as Beyoncé Bump, because with every performance, similarly to the Eras Tour, in each city, there is an influx of tourists staying in hotels and businesses thriving.
