"Bad Blood" Wins Video Of The Year, Of Course

The competition was fierce for the Video of the Year winner at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. The options to choose from were "Alright" by Kendrick Lamar, "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran, "7/11" by Beyoncé, "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar (yes, Lamar is on here twice), and "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson. I know, I know. I can't even get to the end of that sentence without being confused about which of those amazing videos deserved to go home with the award, so I can't even imagine how a winner was chosen. But chosen they were, and, when you think about it, it was hardly a surprise that Taylor Swift won the Video of the Year award at the 2015 VMAs. After all, the music video for "Bad Blood" was one of the most highly anticipated, and highly talked about, videos; heck, people are still talking about it.

Of course, it isn't just the video that stands out as incredibly impressive. Swift took to the stage to accept her award for Video of the Year, and gave an epic speech that was inspirational, heartwarming, and intensely memorable for the feminist themes that she packed into just a few sentences.

"This video was such a collaborative effort. These women helped create their parts, helped write their roles, and decide what they wanted to be. There are two women in the video that I've named cats after. I love them so much and, to the fans, the fact that you would vote and give us this bonding experience that we will have forever, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I know there's been a lot of discussion about this video and what it means, but I'm just happy that in 2015 we live in a world where boys can play princesses and girls can play soldiers."

She is referring to the discussion surrounding the rumor that "Bad Blood" was written about Katy Perry, but the fact that Swift took this moment to take the attention away from that feud and to put it on the progression of a world that is slowly allowing there to be less of a divide between what girls can and can't do and what boys can and can't do is amazing. Because, at the end of the day, "Bad Blood" was never about which pop star Swift did or didn't like. It was about getting to spend a day of "work" pretty much just playing with her friends. Having a girl squad of women that support you can win you Video of the Year, and this was a perfect choice to end an amazing night.

Watch the video again below.

Image: TaylorSwiftVEVO/YouTube