Taylor Swift recently released a new Netflix documentary called “Miss Americana.”
The documentary follows Taylor’s life from the start of her career to now. It includes clips from before she was famous, when she was falling in love with singing. The film also includes the many turning points of her career, including all of the good and the bad moments she has encountered. This new documentary is very raw and relatable, even for someone who is a global superstar.
The documentary showcases many elements of Swift’s career, including old and new interview clips and the making of songs from her album’s “reputation” and “Lover.” It gives insight on her music creation process and the creative mind behind her music video concepts.
This documentary highlights the various peaks of her career, like winning album of the year at the Grammy’s for the second time. The motivation and work ethic she has moving forward, even when she has gotten knocked down on many occasions, is truly inspiring.
The documentary starts with a build up of footage from all of her tours: it includes casual conversations with her friends, special moments with her fans and emotionally touching moments with her mom.
One of the most heartbreaking parts of the film is when Swift opens up about the time in 2016 when she felt like she was forced to go into hiding - because of how hated the internet made her feel. She was attempting to recreate the narrative of herself, take back her life and make it better moving forward.
She stepped away and took some time off so she was able to come back to the music scene when she was ready, and she felt happier than she had been in a very long time. She notes that doing by doing this she was truly happy, and that it was happiness without anyone else’s input.
One of the most notable parts of the film is when Swift finally speaks up about politics. She gets very personal about it after being previously silent her entire career - until the 2018 midterm election.
Swift engages in a heated debate with her dad over needing to be on the right side of history. She was finally speaking up about her political beliefs because so many people were fighting just to have basic human rights, and she needed to say something. She speaks about her regret on not speaking out against Trump earlier during the 2016 election.
The documentary also showcases footage of her first political post ever in her career. As mentioned before, this was right before the 2018 midterm elections. She also includes comments and a self-reflection about how spineless it is for her to stand on stage and say “Happy Pride Month!” and then not say something when people are literally coming for their necks. After major criticism on being silent on politics for so many years, she is finally moving forward, finding her political voice and speaking up against the current political state of the country - and this documentary showcases that.
The end credit scene also features a new song that Swift wrote called “Only The Young,” a political anthem that is powerful and moving and represents Swift’s newfound voice for politics.
"Miss Americana" is now streaming on Netflix and will leave you wishing the documentary was longer than an hour and 25 minutes.
I give this documentary 5 out of 5 Swoops.
