Weekly Journal: Framing is here to stay and imprison, even in the fiercest “Getaway Car”
Even the most typical “good girl breaks free” icon may not be able to get that far away from the notion of framing.
Taylor Swift is not only a famous singer but also a genius lyricist whose work always integrates sophisticated implications. Released as part of the album Reputation, her song Getaway Car presumably centres on a woman who flees from her relationship to run away with another man and eventually leaves him as well. It is a manifestation of framing with various frames being woven into the lyrics.
Framing is material existing both outside and inside text that adds to the interpretative process and “imposes constraints on the way we interpret what we read” (1). A prominent aspect is extratextual framing. This act, though “unspecified by text”, is “always involved”, in that we use outside knowledge, mostly stereotypical one, as supporting information when reading the text (1). Accordingly, the runaways are depicted as traitors, whose short-lived fling draws on the common belief that the bad never wins. Therefore, the act of extratextual framing guides us to the outcome that they could never get far together.
Besides, the song relies on intertextuality as another framing feature to embed its message. According to MacLachlan and Reid (1), “intertextual frames relate one text or text-type to another”. In this case, the song (our text) makes a reference to Bonny and Clyde, the infamous American criminal couple (another text). Without this knowledge, one may deem the line:
“We were jet-set, Bonnie and Clyde”
as an introduction of names due to its grammatical structure, which barely makes sense. Conversely, one with such understanding can easily associate the duo with being rebellious, travelling places and committing crimes.
My interpretation, however, is just one way of reading the text, as Thwaites and colleagues suggest that “[texts’] frames … can always be redrawn by readers” (2).
References
(1) MacLachlan, G. L., & Reid, I. (1994). Framing Occurs, But There Is No Frame. In G. L. MacLachlan & I. Reid, Framing and interpretation (pp. 1–18). Melbourne University Press.
(2) Thwaites, A. G., Davis, L., & Mules, W. (1994). Genre and Intertextuality. In A. G. Thwaites, L. Davis & W. Mules, Tools for Cultural Studies; An Introduction (pp. 88–110). Macmillan Education.
Weekly Journal is a series of reflective writings created in 2020 as I studied Communication Theory & Practice, republished in 2021.
