Lately I’ve been dressing for revenge
We're deep diving "Vigilante Shit" on this week's new AP Taylor Swift podcast episode
This week we deep dive Eras tour favorite Vigilante Shit from Taylor Swift’s album “Midnights.” We discuss the meaning of “vigilante,” how the song challenges traditional gender roles, and the many potential pop culture references and parallels that make the song fit into the broader cultural narrative of women reclaiming their power. Is "Vigilante Shit" a feminist anthem or just a really fun revenge fantasy? Listen and find out!
🎧 Listen above and ⬇️ scroll below to read Jodi’s extra credit analysis of some of the vigilante moments in pop culture we discussed in our episode!
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🎒This Week’s Extra Credit - Brought to You by Jodi
Lyrics tell a story, but a performance brings the story to life. The Vigilante Shit performance during the Eras Tour added a new layer of storytelling and understanding to one of the more metaphorical songs on Midnights. With the props and choreography, the performance revels in the power and joy of taking justice into your own hands, with flair.
To my musical theater-obsessed eye, the choreography immediately reminded me of The Cell Block Tango from the musical Chicago. The song tells the story of the “6 merry murderesses of Cook County Jail” who each took revenge on their husbands for their infidelities and indiscretions by murdering them. However, they insist, “he had it coming, he only had himself to blame.”
This song is the epitome of a female revenge fantasy. Are these women vigilantes? According to Oxford Languages, a vigilante is “a member of a self-appointed group of citizens who undertake law enforcement in their community without legal authority, typically because the legal agencies are thought to be inadequate.” They are a self-appointed group of women who have each taken matters into their own hands to murder their husbands. Whether they’re technically vigilantes or not, this was just one of a few pop culture revenge fantasies that we referenced in our Vigilante Shit deep dive, and I want to take some time to give the others space.
“You can’t sit with us!” Mean Girls
Mean Girls may be our most referenced movie on the podcast, and for good reason. It’s a Millennial favorite that typifies early-2000s high school social circles. It’s also a classic “revenge fantasy against popular girl” trope that has major Vigilante Shit vibes. Initially, Cady, Janis, and Damien work together to sabotage Regina George’s popularity by making her friends and her boyfriend turn against her. However, as Cady slowly takes Regina’s place in the popular circle, we see her start to ditch Janis and Damien’s weekend hangouts to do her own “major Plastics sabotage”:
So on the weekends
I don't dress for friends
Lately I've been dressing for revenge
Revenge takes over Cady’s life. While she starts out as a vigilante acting against the popular Plastics, she eventually becomes one of them as the popularity gets to her head, making her more of a villain than a vigilante.
“We have the check stubs, from separate accounts” - Hamilton
Ok, this one isn’t a female revenge fantasy. But we were SO excited when we made a connection between Vigilante Shit and another pop culture character that wanted to take matters into their own hands—Aaron Burr, specifically from the musical Hamilton (why am I specifying “from the musical”? Because even I can admit musicals aren’t the most historically accurate.) Throughout the musical, Burr is fueled by both his desire for power and jealousy of Hamilton’s meteoric success. When he finally spots Hamilton’s weakness (women…shocking) Burr takes matters into his own hands (alongside Thomas Jefferson and James Madison) to confront him about it to make him step down from office. While technically Hamilton is the one that publicizes his own affair, Burr has the proof and forces his hand:
She needed cold hard proof so I gave her some
She had the envelope, where you think she got it from?
Now she gets the house, gets the kids, gets the pride
Picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife
Hamilton is forced to reveal his affair publicly, bringing shame to his wife, Eliza. The proof—actual letters, in envelopes—is out there. Hamilton’s wife knows. And while this revelation didn’t ruin Hamilton’s career, Burr did get his ultimate revenge when he killed Hamilton in a duel.
“John Tucker, there's only one guy out there for me, but you are not him.” - John Tucker Must Die
I totally forgot this movie existed until someone brought it up on the episode, and it wasn’t until writing this Extra Credit that I Googled the film promos (above) and saw their tagline is almost a direct line in the song:
Don't get sad, get even
John Tucker Must Die follows three ex-girlfriends of a serial cheater (John Tucker) as they set him up to fall for the new girl in high school, just to watch him get his heart broken. It’s a perfect encapsulation of the female revenge fantasy narrative in the song: Guy does bad things. Lady wants revenge for those bad things. Lady finds another Lady who also wants revenge on Guy for bad things. Ladies take revenge.
One by one, they all realize they were dating John Tucker at the same time. And one by one, they realize they need to work together to get back at him:
Picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife
These women know exactly how to manipulate their ex because they all played the part of his perfect girlfriend:
Ladies know what people want
Someone sweet and kind and fun
The lady simply had enough
So, they get the sweet, kind, fun new girl in town on their side, and coach her to be the perfect target for John Tucker to fall in love with—before they take it all away and break his heart. They’re the perfect teenage girl vigilantes, because who doesn’t want to see a cheating ex get taken down and manipulated the way he manipulated others?
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At the heart of all these stories, we see women (and Aaron Burr) taking matters into their own hands, whether through calculated revenge, seizing power, or simply reclaiming control over their lives. Vigilante Shit taps into that same energy, giving us a chance to revel in the thrill of sweet revenge. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour performance takes it up a notch, adding layers of drama and storytelling that make the song less Law and Order and more Chicago—less actual crime, more theatricality. The song is not just about getting back at someone—it’s about reclaiming control, finding empowerment, and enjoying the ride, even if it’s a little over the top.