MOVIE REVIEW — Miss Americana
A Deeply Personal Look Into the Life of America’s Biggest Popstar — ★★★★☆
One goal I’ve set for myself in 2020 is to watch more documentaries, meaning I’ll have to actually watch some, as I believe I only watched ONE in 2019 (I know, bad). Doing some research before I came back to writing this past week, I now have a pretty varied menagerie of documentaries for the coming year, including (note: click the name of the movie to be linked to their respective IMDb pages for more info):
- Siempre, Luis — dir. John James
- Tread — dir. Paul Solet
- Vivos — dir. Ai Weiwei
- On the Record — dir. Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering
- The Dissident — dir. Bryan Fogel
- Dick Johnson is Dead — dir. Kirsten Johnson (official Twitter for this movie found, here)
- Assassins — dir. Ryan White
And lastly, Miss Americana. This final film was released at the end of January onto Netflix after premiering at Sundance. Not being a Taylor Swift or so-called “Swiftie”, I had no prior expectations or interest in the piece, but as reactions poured out of Sundance and the trailer hit the web, I have to admit, my interest was piqued. As a 20 year-old, I’ve kind of grown up in the age of Swift’s rise to stardom, recognizing her popularity skyrocketing through my middle school and high school days, but truthfully, outside of her big singles like 22 and We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, I have only heard a handful of her music. Now, this is going to be an interesting review for me because its my first time actually writing about a documentary, so bare with me as we take this journey into the world of America’s biggest pop sensation together, diving into the world of Miss Americana!
Americana: materials concerning or characteristic of America, its civilization (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
As catchy as some of her songs may be, this documentary is less worried about Taylor Swift the songwriter and musician (though there are several behind the scenes looks at that aspect of her life) and much more invested in showing a side of the 29 year old superstar that the vast majority have never seen or even knew existed. Something I was genuinely shocked to find out is just how left-leaning it seems Swift is, as most would tend to assume that a White, Christian girl from Tennessee would not be on a hypothetical boat with Liberals, though that is definitely part of the issue that this piece is trying to break down. A person’s identity, no matter their popularity or lack thereof, should not be defined from where they came from, what they look like, what gender they are, or what sexuality they are, rather it should be explored and determined by them. This is one of the many issues that have seemingly plagued Swift since her earliest days, even before the fame, as she was pigeonholed by managers, producers, and even her parents into what she “needed” to be. One of the more concerning moments in regards to this came at a point when Taylor sat her parents and part of her managerial team down to discuss her wanting to take a stance politically, something she had remained silent on for the entirety of her career up until this point. All of the men in the room tell her not to do it, how bad it will be in breaking her perfect image, while her mom seems to tow the line as Swift is almost breaking down in tears before just saying she wishes her father could forgive her because it was something she had to do. This plays incredibly well into the ending as she sits down for one final moment of reflection, discussing the treatment of women, as she goes on about not believing in sluts or bitches anymore, now just knowing that women are women, and that they should not be told how to act, how to vote, or what to say.
Again, as mentioned before, I’ve never been a “Swiftie” before, but this is an incredibly engaging and endearing documentary that manages to build empathy for a woman who has been bombarded with hate ever since the Kanye West VMA moment (which heavily plays into this entire narrative), despite not doing anything heinous to warrant it. Some may find her personality annoying or might not enjoy her music, but its no reason to just hop onto Twitter and share with the world how much you hate her or to wish death upon her. Slut-shaming and body-shaming are two of the other issues Swift dishes out info on, with most people knowing how she has had one of the most publicly covered relationship-runs, with the media practically blowing up anytime she’s spotted with another man. With the body-shaming, it puts it into perspective that just because she is one of the most famous people in the world, it is not like she isn’t human. She still has anxiety. She still has mental issues. She is one of us… just a lot prettier, much wealthier, and significantly more famous.
Lana Wilson served as the director for Miss Americana, and having not seen any of her prior work, I have nothing to really compare this to for her. That being said, her mission is clear; make T-Swift look as empathetic as possible, while also getting some truly great behind the scenes coverage of her life. For that, the film exceeds spectacularly, especially considering how short of a runtime it punches with (1 hour and 25 minutes), accomplishing so much in such a short time. The one area that it really lacks in is pacing. While the first half of this moves along like the beat of a drum, the last 30 minutes or so, slows down and feels as if it was just edited together weirdly (?), with it having multiple places it could have ended off at. Regardless, it is still greatly impactful, even for those like me who have little prior interest in Taylor Swift as an artist.
In regards to Swift’s political side being featured, it raises some glaring concerns with women in American politics, namely in the Republican Party, as its pointed out that a vast majority of them are voting in favor of anti-female laws. How anyone, male or female, can think that voting against laws preventing or aiding in the prosecution of those involved with stalking, harassment, assault, or rape, is mind-boggling. This is less about Taylor Swift, and more about just common decency, but come on. Marsha Blackburn is indeed, “Trump in a Wig”. The good news coming from this though is that the day after Swift went public in her opposition to Blackburn, 51,000+ new voters registered. That is actually insane. Young people in America need to both read up on the politicians running this fall and need to register to vote, but most importantly, they NEED to get out to their place of voting this November. We all saw what happened in 2016, after months of saying it would never happen, and here we are, potentially heading into four more years with President Trump. If you are reading this and you are not registered to vote; do so. I don’t care who you support in the presidential race, but voting is arguably more important now than it has ever been in American history.
Serving as the first truly introspective piece into the life of America’s biggest popstar, Miss Americana hits nearly every mark its going for, with some pacing issues. The editing is on point, the music is as catchy as Taylor’s music can possibly be, and as a person, Taylor Swift comes off more human that probably anticipated, easily building empathy for her as the viewer is brought in close to see the negative effects the constant harassment, media attention, slut-shaming, body-shaming, and criticism has had on someone who has been in the spotlight since she was just a teenager from Tennessee. But then again, maybe that’s why she is “Miss Americana”. Constantly targeted online, shaped by men into the perfect image, Swift is the poster-child of facing the toxicity of American culture in 2020. This film somehow made me go from not caring about Taylor Swift, to having a newfound respect for the girl who was the butt of so, so many jokes following the 2019 VMAs.
I promise that you’ll never find another like me…
Miss Americana is streaming on Netflix.
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If you enjoyed this read, maybe check out another one of my articles here on Medium? Here’s my review of 2019’s Hustlers (or just click on my profile link and check out what else I’ve got)!
