Netflix’s Taylor Swift documentary Miss Americana is surprisingly enjoyable, even for someone like me who is relatively indifferent to celebrities. Directed by Lana Wilson, the film looks at the singer-songwriter’s latest 15 years during which she has reinvented herself – or at least that’s what she wants us to believe.
The first part of the documentary focuses on the 30-year-old singer’s ambition and the downside of fame, including her struggle with eating disorders. While we might think Taylor Swift is living the dream, she admits to often feeling lonely, even after becoming the first female artist to win the GRAMMY’s Album of the Year award twice.
The second part of the documentary covers the singer’s transformation. In the film Taylor reveals that the experience of sexual harassment led her “to take the masking tape off [her] mouth forever” – resulting in her songs becoming political.
But several scenes in the film appear artificial. In the best documentaries you forget that the people are in front of cameras. Whereas with Miss Americana you often get the impression that the scene has been scripted so as to ‘reveal’ the exact ‘transformation’ that the artist wants you to see.
Many suspect that Taylor’s sudden interest in politics is just another way to stay famous. On the one hand I think there is nothing wrong with that. But on the other I worry that what we are watching is an exercise in pleasing the fans, and that she did not in fact reinvent herself in the way that she wants us to believe she did.
Watching Miss Americana reminded me that we do not listen to a song only for the song, but also for the person holding the microphone. Indeed, I am more likely to listen to Taylor Swift now that I know her better, or at least now that I think I know her better. Before seeing this film I had no idea her songs were so political.
Miss Americana also made me realise that I fell into the trap of judging Taylor Swift too quickly just because of the way she looked. It’s not as if I am suddenly idolising her, but the film has definitely shown me that there is more to her than I thought. Maybe the power of the “dumb blonde” stereotype is stronger than I think, especially if it has influenced a blonde girl like me who does not like stereotypes!
In one of her songs Taylor sings, “Stressing and obsessin’ ‘bout somebody else is no fun”. Whereas this film reminds you that the person she is in fact obsessing about is herself!
Taylor Swift is 27 now. When is she going to stop singing songs about herself like some self-obsessed teenager?
— Wes W (@CaptFacetious) November 14, 2017
But at the end of the day, what is wrong with that? Although Miss Americana left me with mixed feelings, my verdict is that this documentary is well worth watching.