Taylor Swift: Miss Americana

The parents dragged me into watching this documentary film when we were having the dinner and it was nice for a change that we get to see the actual real Taylor Swift. It was interesting to see behind the scenes of the Kanye West situation as well as developing the music she is well known for.

If you run out of movies or any series ideas you like to watch, I recommend this to anyone whether you're a Taylor Swift fan or not!

This documentary gives you a great inside look into some of Taylor Swift's songwriting and business decisions. She is smart and savvy, but it also shows how lonely being a mega-celebrity can be. While it brushes against some pretty serious topics - her self-imposed isolation, her mom's cancer, and her body image/eating issues - it doesn't go as deep as I would have liked. Clearly, Taylor is pretty protective of her privacy, which is understandable. One of the parts of the documentary that goes the deepest is when she discusses how her people-pleasing personality had led her to validate herself by the approval and praise of strangers. The best part of all though was her frank discussion and an inside look into why she chose to become publicly political. It's a brave move, and you can only applaud her for it, whether you agree with her politics or not.

When I heard about this documentary, my expectations were relatively low. I was a fan of Taylor Swift's music in the 2000s and early 2010s, but over time, I guess I just drifted away. Upon hearing about the documentary, I thought maybe it would be some "believe in your dreams" bullcrap to inspire the younger fans. I was wrong. Taylor shows how she deals/dealt with real issues that everyone can relate to. From feeling alone, the need to be the best you possibly can, and eating disorders, it stunned me. The documentary shows us Taylor's life from a new perspective, HER perspective. I would've never guessed that she felt that way at the VMAs. The documentary also shows the results of callout culture, and how she coped with it. Taylor has gone through a lot these past two decades, and the documentary shows everything in a new light. Does this documentary make me want to go listen to her music? Yeah, but not the same way I used to. Do I have more respect for Swift? Undoubtedly. I give Miss Americana a 9/10

This is a very revealing portrait of a very talented artist, and how she came to be. But aside from detailing the ups and downs of pop stardom, the film really comes into its own as Ms. Swift does herself - with the awakening of her social conscience and using her voice for causes of justice. As for those who are bashing the artist and the film here... "you need to calm down."

Miss Americana is as insightful a pop artist documentary as you could hope for, but by keeping some moments private, Swift reminds us that we'll never know the whole story. And really, what gives us the right to?