There are almost no firsthand accounts of what it’s like to be friends with Taylor Swift. It makes sense; she is the most famous person in the world, and who would want to jeopardize their relationship with her by revealing to the masses that she’s a real person? This is what makes Tavi Gevinson’s new zine, Fan Fiction,so fascinating. It’s 76 pages of reflections of her time both as a Swiftie and as Swift’s actual friend, though as the title suggests, it’s intentionally ambiguous how much of it is “real.”
Gevinson, a writer and actor who has previously written for the Cut, broke her zine into three parts. The first, “New Romantics,” is a bit of cultural criticism about Swift as a musician and an idol. The second, “Mirrorball” is more personal, a (perhaps slightly fictional?) account of Gevinson and Swift’s real-life friendship. The third, and the most fan-fic-y of the bunch, is called “Mine.” Gevinson publishes a long email exchange between her and Swift, which reads more like two sides of the author going back and forth.
Maybe your brain space is occupied with things that are useful, like math or the state capitals, and you didn’t remember that Gevinson and Swift were friends. Gevinson writes that they met when she was a teenager and Swift was 22 (Zooey Deschanel apparently facilitated the meeting) and started actually hanging out once both of them moved to New York. In between, Gevinson stayed at Swift’s Rhode Island home while visiting colleges. There are photos of the two of them paddleboarding, if you’re interested.
Around 2014, Gevinson was occasionally spotted with Swift in the city. They went out to lunch. She went to Swift’s birthday party. She went to the 1989 tour. She interviewed Swift for the cover of Elle. Gevinson rose to prominence as the creator and editor-in-chief of Rookie Mag, an online publication by and for girls, and real heads will remember that someone named Taylor makes an appearance in Gevinson’s “Infinity Diaries” project, excerpts from her actual diaries from around this time.
In Fan Fiction, Gevinson recounts this time with precision and angst, wondering if one night in particular — spent alone with Swift in the singer’s apartment — was where it all fell apart. The zine is heartbreaking, funny, and full of just enough details to make it kind of gossipy. It’s so open and honest that you kind of can’t believe it exists at all. Gevinson’s vulnerability is rare, but putting it in the context of her being friends with the most famous person in the world? Unheard of. As we come upon the release of The Tortured Poets Department, it’s a rich text for any Swiftie. I think anyone who self-describes as such has wondered, even briefly, what it would be like to be friends with Swift. Well, now we have a first-person account from someone who isn’t just going to say, “She made us cookies!”
The zine ends with a note: “This has been a work of satire by Tavi Gevinson.” How much is satire and how much is a vulnerable recollection of becoming friends with your favorite pop star is up to the reader. It’s probably Gevinson’s best work to date — and crucial reading for anyone who will be staying up to listen to The Tortured Poets Departmenttonight.
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Olivia Craighead , 2024-04-18 18:20:13
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