Your fave is problematic: Why Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston’s romance angers, confuses his fans

They were the paparazzi shots heard ‘round the world, or at the very least, ‘round Twitter and Tumblr.  On June 15, British tabloid The Sun tweeted a shot of Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston kissing on the beach near Swift’s Rhode Island home.

News of this sort was bound to cause waves in the realm of gossip and celebrity romance. It was a new couple, featuring Swift, famous for writing songs about her exes and fresh off a breakup with Calvin Harris.

“Hiddleswift” was born on those rocks in Rhode Island, and it’s become a monster in the weeks since.  

But what, exactly, about this romance, about this pairing of famous people, caused a furor that rumors that Hiddleston was dating Elizabeth Olsen did not? Why did Swift and Harris’ relationship not launch thousands of tweets instantly? Why does no one question the authenticity of a snap of Hiddleston’s Marvel co-star Chris Evans with comedian Jenny Slate?

Because, to put it simply, Tom Hiddleston used to be the Internet’s boyfriend. And now he’s Taylor Swift’s. And as Taylor knows, breakups are hard.

The concept of the Internet boyfriend has been around for years, but was cemented with rise of Oscar Isaac, the Internet boyfriend du jour since his turn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Hiddleston's reign started around the time of the massive success of the first Avengers movie in 2012, and though we may not have called him the Internet's boyfriend then, one need only remember the prevalence of Loki memes, gifs of his smile and YouTube videos of his Owen Wilson impression.

The image of Tom Hiddleston, to many of his fans, as the perfect Internet boyfriend, does not include Taylor Swift. It does not include paparazzi shots that look staged. It does not include an obvious thirst for this type of fame (even in pursuit of playing James Bond). It does not include 4th of July parties with supermodels.

What it does include is a kind of nerdiness, a passion for the creation of a certain kind of art and a weirdness that has punctuated his public persona so far, and that Hiddleston’s fans (known as Hiddlestoners) share.

The man who appears in character as Loki at Comic-Con, who dances with reckless abandon, and who breaks out into spontaneous Shakespearean monologues in TV interviews, that man does not date a woman as mainstream as Taylor Swift, who wins Grammys and feuds with Kanye West and and is so conventionally attractive and popular. That’s not the Tom Hiddleston the Internet knows.

If someone like Hiddleston is going to date (and that’s a big if) it needs to be someone on the same wavelength his fandom believes he is on. Like another Marvel star. Or an off-beat comedian. Or really, anyone but Taylor Swift. When you see a grainy video of Hiddleston dancing alongside Swift at a Selena Gomez concert, it just looks wrong. Shouldn’t he be at the opera or Hamilton? Why is he wearing a garish and cheesy “I <3 T.S.” shirt and frolicking in the water with Gigi Hadid? Is this all just a Loki illusion? Please tell us it’s all just a Loki illusion.

Faced with the fact that Hiddleston is not exactly the person followers thought he was, most have reacted with anger and disbelief.

On Tumblr, the destination for online fandoms of this sort, the disappointment is palpable. One user wrote, in a post addressed to the actor, “As much as I loved you ... after you seeing you in that ridiculously tacky ‘I Heart T.S.’ tank top… I’ve lost all the respect I have for you and it makes me never want to see you in any movie ever again.” Wrote another, “I (still) trust Tom but I do not trust Taylor - not.one.bit.” One user posted a screenshot of a tweet that read: “Dear Oscar Isaac: Watch Tom Hiddleston and take notes. This is how you make the Internet break up with you...”

But more prominent than the initial wave of anger is a second, perhaps wishful, idea that the whole relationship is a sham. The evidence from so-called “Hiddleswift Truthers” is compelling, which speaks volumes about how odd the whole relationship is. From how staged the photos feel (they are an awfully cliched collection of romantic venues and poses), to the timing (James Bond/Emmy campaigning for him, a potential for new music from her) to the similarities to Swift’s music video for Wildest Dreams, there are aspects of this “relationship” that give pause. Maybe none of it is real, and that’s why we’re having so much trouble accepting it. (When the first photos appeared, USA TODAY reached out to Swift’s representative for comment and has yet to hear back.)

Whatever the answer is about how and why they came together, about whether or not this is all a ruse designed to sell albums and land the role of James Bond, it doesn’t matter. At least, it doesn’t matter to Hiddlestoners who don’t like any possible answer. Whether he’s really dating Swift or it’s a ruse, he still effectively broke up with the Internet.

And they are never, ever, ever getting back together.