Close your eyes and take a deep breath. If you can hear the distant sound of the Magic! song "Rude," congratulations, you have traveled back to 2014. The pop culture scene of that year was filled with distinct features, one of which was the dominance of The Hunger Games imitations in movie theaters. The days of movies trying to replicate the success of Harry Potter and Twilight were long gone. Now, everyone was talking about Divergent and The Maze Runner. In the midst of this, Taylor Swift had transitioned from her country music roots to become a prominent figure in the pop music world with her latest album, 1989. Her songs "Shake It Off" and "Style" would soon become impossible to escape, appealing to both those exploring their identity and the most attention-seeking individuals.
Although these may appear as separate components of the pop culture landscape in 2014, they briefly merged in August of that year. This merger was brought about by The Giver, a film adaptation of an iconic novel that sought to capture the interest of modern teenagers. One way to accomplish this was by incorporating visuals and aesthetics reminiscent of The Hunger Games movies. Another strategy involved casting actors who were beloved by the younger generation. As a result, Taylor Swift joined the cast in the role of Rosemary, alongside a talented ensemble that included Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep. Swift's inclusion in the film gave her third billing, despite her limited screen time. This casting decision exemplified the intriguing and peculiar elements of the time and could not have been more emblematic of 2014.
What’s Taylor Swift Doing in ‘The Giver’?
Image via Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift not only stars in The Giver but also portrays the daughter of Jeff Bridges' character, Rosemary. Interestingly, Rosemary's role in the books is very limited, prompting the film to create a flashback sequence to give her some on-screen presence. In her short appearance, Swift appears with red hair and is ultimately killed by lethal injection. This means that two out of Swift's five narrative film roles have resulted in her character's death. It is clear that Swift's involvement in The Giver is primarily a marketing tactic. At the time of the film's release, the two lead young actors, Brenton Thwaites and Odeya Rush, were relatively unknown. The Giver needed some star power among its young cast, and Swift's high profile made her a suitable choice. This explains her billing in the film, despite her limited screen time.
Taylor Swift in ‘The Giver’ Was Part of a Bad Trend
Interestingly, instead of contributing an original song to the soundtrack of The Giver, Taylor Swift opted not to, despite the inclusion of popular artists such as OneRepublic and Capital Cities in the film's soundtrack. It remains uncertain whether a new composition by Swift would have given The Giver a boost in terms of box office success, but it certainly wouldn't have been detrimental. Despite its attempts to attract a younger audience and the significant influence of its source material in popular culture, The Giver failed to generate success upon its release. It is now regarded as a peculiar footnote in Taylor Swift's career and a regrettable reminder of one of Hollywood's notorious figures. This is due to The Giver being produced by The Weinstein Company, the film studio owned by Harvey Weinstein from 2005 until his arrest. Regrettably, Swift's involvement in The Giver exemplifies the negative aspects of Harvey's approach to mainstream cinema.
Image via Taylor Swift
During his tenure at Miramax and The Weinstein Company, Harvey Weinstein had a strong affinity for star power. It went beyond his mere interest in financing and releasing movies featuring A-list actors; he desired to populate every role in his films with recognizable names. Consequently, projects like the 2002 film Frida saw Edward Norton making brief cameo appearances, while American dubs of animated movies (such as Doogal) turned silent characters into talkative ones, solely to accommodate one more celebrity actor in the voice cast. This tactic, which became increasingly desperate in Weinstein's final years as a producer, was cynically driven by marketing considerations and often triggered eye-rolling reactions.
Productions like Tulip Fever, featuring Matthew Morrison and Zach Galifianakis, often resorted to peculiar casting choices solely for the purpose of attracting media attention and appealing to younger audiences. The Giver fell victim to this trend as Harvey and other executives at the Weinstein Company attempted to replicate the success of The Hunger Games. Taylor Swift's role in the film was of little significance, as her name alone was enough to draw attention. Ironically, The Giver was not the only Weinstein Company release in 2014 that Taylor Swift was associated with. She also wrote and performed the song "Sweeter Than Fiction" for the studio's James Corden opera singer drama, One Chance. Unfortunately, this inspirational film failed to make an impact and quickly faded into obscurity. However, "Sweeter Than Fiction" earned Swift a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song and established her working relationship with Jack Antonoff.
All of this goes to show that Harvey Weinstein and his colleagues were constantly searching for a cynical marketing tactic, evident in their persistent use of Swift's star power throughout their 2014 releases. The Giver serves as a perfect example of how Weinstein ran his movie empire, suffocating potentially successful titles with excessive demands to make them more marketable. Perhaps it is for the best that we have moved beyond 2014. In 2023, we have a plethora of new Taylor Swift songs to enjoy, and our movie theaters are now inundated with The Conjuring imitations rather than Hunger Games replicas. (Yay for "progress"?) While Taylor Swift may want her fans to associate her with songs like "Tim McGraw" or "getaway car," I doubt she even remembers, let alone hopes for her fans to remember, her involvement in The Giver.
The Big Picture
In 2014, film theaters were dominated by The Hunger Games knock-offs like Divergent and The Maze Runner, shifting away from Harry Potter and Twilight franchise mimics.
The casting of Taylor Swift in The Giver exemplified Harvey Weinstein's tendency to employ well-known names for calculating marketing strategies, a pattern that pervaded his entire career.
