Is Jake Gyllenhaal the Next Great American Philosopher?
Jake Gyllenhaal refuses to go down in history as the dude who lost Taylor Swift's scarf.
The crown prince of the mid-aughts somehow philosophized his way out of admitting that Swift's 10-minute-long extended version of "All Too Well" is about him.
Released alongside a short film as part of Swift's re-recorded version of Red, the song sparked a firestorm of backlash against the actor, who was in a brief yet highly publicized relationship with the country star for several months in 2010.
"It has nothing to do with me," he alleged in an interview with Esquire. "It’s about her relationship with her fans."
Gyllenhaal then launched into a long-winded aside on online harassment, which he received much of thanks to his rather unflattering portrayal in All Too Well: The Short Film.
"At some point, I think it’s important when supporters get unruly that we feel a responsibility to have them be civil and not allow for cyberbullying in one’s name," he proclaimed.
"That begs for a deeper philosophical question. Not about any individual, per se, but a conversation that allows us to examine how we can — or should, even — take responsibility for what we put into the world, our contributions into the world."
Gyllenhaal continued: "How do we provoke a conversation? We see that in politics. There’s anger and divisiveness, and it’s literally life-threatening in the extreme."
He ended his monologue with not one, but several questions: "Is this our future? Is anger and divisiveness our future? Or can we be empowered and empower others while simultaneously putting empathy and civility into the dominant conversation?"
Whew.
Gyllenhaal's musings are giving shades of Drake's "HYFR," but never mind that. Keep on keeping on, Jake, and don't stop making "LOX" hoodies.
