OPINION: “Swelce” Is The Newest Celebrity Power Couple

By Dawson Beard, Skyline Desk Chief

ALPINE - I will get my first point out of the way now as it is a very unoriginal comparison. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are the new Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe, not only in terms of their influence and star power, but they also bear a striking resemblance to one another. One of the biggest athletes in the country is dating the most popular blonde in the entertainment industry (cue Spider-Man meme). 

I only wish that this blossoming and flourishing couple could keep to themselves more as their predecessors did. While complete privacy and silence is impossible for a couple of Swift and Kelce’s status, efforts can be made to lessen the in-your-face nature of “Swelce.” 

Not all public displays of the relationship are inherently intrusive. Personally, I am a sucker for those clips of Taylor Swift finishing a set at a concert, running into the arms of Travis Kelce backstage, and giving him the biggest kiss to the delight of the fans in attendance. However, there are things I wish could quietly disappear from our television screens in the near future. 

First, a message to the NFL – stop showing Taylor Swift every time Travis Kelce touches the football! We get it, they’re dating, and everyone loves Taylor, but that was made clear by about the 1,003rd time she graced our television screens with her presence at a Kansas City Chiefs game. It’s smart from a business standpoint to show her frequently as girls aged 10 and up are only watching football to see their pop music idol, but running counter to that is the alienation of the fanbase who watch football for, you know, football. 

Also, just to preface this next point, I am not of the belief that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are agents paid by the Democratic National Committee or the Pentagon who are secretly promoting an agenda to get President Biden reelected. However, the two have made their politics clear as Kelce outwardly pushed Americans to get vaccinated during the pandemic, and Swift has pushed many social justice issues over the years. They are obviously expected to be big players in influencing this year’s presidential election.  

I have always had a huge problem with celebrities openly endorsing political candidates, regardless of party affiliation. This is because politicians rely heavily on celebrity endorsements, because they know that a celebrity's opinion carries immense weight with uninformed voters. Joe Biden, for example, was backed by celebrity endorsements from The Rock, Cardi B, Billie Eilish and many more. Something tells me that the average fans of these individuals are not particularly aware of politics, and simply believe what their favorite entertainers tell them to believe. 

Simply put, you should vote for someone because their ideas, values and principles align with your own, not because Taylor Swift told you to. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce as a couple, and I am happy that they seem to be genuinely in love. I just think they would be so much better off if their every move and statement wasn’t a public spectacle, and if their relationship wasn’t used for others’ personal and political gain.