I recently rewatched La La Land since it was added on to Netflix. It has been one of my favorite movies since the first time I watched it, but I had not seen it for a while. During the movie, I noticed a parallel between the film’s final scene and this year’s Grammys, as Taylor Swift watched Harry Styles receive his Grammy for Album of the Year.
For those who have not seen La La Land, I will give you a slightly spoiler filled rundown to provide some context for this article. La La Land is an award winning film about an aspiring actress, Mia, and a jazz musician, Sebastian, both trying to make a name for themselves in Los Angeles and fall in love in the process. As they progress in their careers, facing both highs and lows, they reach a roadblock in their relationship, realizing that though they love each other, they are holding the other back from success in an attempt to stay together. They both separate and go onto following and succeeding in their dreams..
In the last scene, Mia visits a club she does not realize is actually Sebastian’s. He performs on stage and the audience gets to see a dreamlike montage of what their lives could have been if they had stayed together. Sebastian finishes playing and we are brought back to the present, where Mia and Sebastian exchange a knowing glance and acknowledge each other, both happy that the other has accomplished their dreams. The message of the movie being that just because a love does not last forever, that does not mean it was not real or true, and that true love does not hold you back in your life.
That brings us to the iconic scene and parallel to Harry Styles and Taylor Swift. The two had an infamous whirlwind romance in late 2012 that ended early on in 2013. There is no clear inside information on the relationship other than the information divulged in each artist’s music, however a decade later it seems that their breakup was amicable. Not only were the two seen at this year’s Grammys having a conversation, but they accidentally recreated the final scene from La La Land.
When Styles stood on stage accepting his Grammy, Swift could be seen standing in the audience applauding him. No one knows if there was love between the two, but there were absolutely some sort of feelings involved. Years later they are able to be happy about the success of the other, even if they are no longer together. That kind of real life movie magic feels more than a little emotional for fans of the two artists.