Movie Review 

February 12, 2020

By Marisa Silk, Staff Writer

Taylor Swift: Miss Americana Directed by Lana Wilson, Tremolo Productions, Documentary, Not rated, 2020 

1 h 26 m 

Rating: ✩✩✩✩☆

“Miss Americana”, the Taylor Swift Netflix documentary, portrays the haunting, raw, candid look to the effects of being a highly successful woman in the music industry, and a woman in society today that everyone needs to see because of its progressive topics. 

“Miss Americana” is a documentary that is necessary for the youth of America to watch as it represents our evolving society, but also the change that needs to occur. It also truly shows the “real” Taylor Swift that people turn a blind eye when they read cruel, fabricated headlines for a punchline. 

Taylor Swift embodies this generation and has become a strong woman that has endured a great deal of pain because of misconceptions and the need to fulfill a standard all these years. 

For me, this documentary solidifies the artist and person I know Taylor Swift to be based on her intimate, all self-written songs and her actions that contain honest intention. Fans of Swift will enjoy the documentary, but also finally be able to breathe a little because now more people will also learn who the “real” Taylor Swift is behind the misconceptions and fabricated headlines. 

The documentary follows Taylor Swift’s rise to stardom and the toll it takes on her mental state and her reputation. Taylor Swift physically left the public eye for over a year because that’s what she “thought people wanted.” Her supposed feud with Kanye West and dating in the public eye became so much that she decided that people would not physically see or hear from her for a year. This became her space from the public to write her critically acclaimed album, “reputation”, which would portray her own side to the media’s portrayal of her. 

This period of isolation from stardom allowed her to grow and become better than she ever was but also showed her path to get there. There is a moment of addressing mental health that allows people to connect with Swift automatically. It destigmatizes mental health altogether. Her mental state was degrading to the fact that she was “just tired of it. It feels like it’s more than just music at this point...it just gets loud sometimes” as she cries to her mother. 

The documentary truly portrays how the media can twist and cause people of high status to question everything and become insecure, especially as a woman in an industry that continues to be dominated by men. 

The documentary sheds light on topics that come with the pressure of growing up in the public eye and being “America’s Sweetheart.” Swift explains how she dealt with an eating disorder for the majority of her career to meet the standards of how she believed the world wanted to see her as a beautiful, skinny girl. This stands as a great reminder for girls who continually deal with body dysmorphia. She discusses how there is “always some standard of beauty that you’re not meeting.” 

This occurs for women in every aspect of society and it happens to people of all statuses that face pressures. It also is a reminder that women are still held to such standards that are impossible to reach where women must contain the perfect image which does not exist. Swift had to “deconstruct an entire belief system, toss it out, and reject it”, one that has been branded into women’s minds for far too long. 

The documentary truly portrays how the media can twist information and cause the public to turn on someone so quickly and causes detrimental effects to another human being, whether they are a celebrity or not. 

The director, Lana Wilson, perfectly brings to light how misconceptions of the media are detrimental and hide the truth that people overlook when it comes to a headline. There is loneliness even when someone thinks they have everything. The candid, behind-the-scenes footage of Taylor Swift in the recording studio, at her Tennessee home, and shows creates an intimate, emotional connection to Swift and her story. 

The most striking aspect of the documentary is Taylor Swift’s sexual harassment case in 2017 against a DJ who groped her in 2013. Her retelling of the case and the emotions struck me the most because at that moment you feel the struggle of every single woman who has to deal with the scrutiny and stigmas that are still around when it comes to sexual harassment. 

Swift successfully won her case against the DJ for a symbolic $1, but as Swift explains, “you don’t feel a sense of victory when you win because the process is so dehumanizing.” She also explains how her case had “7 witnesses and a photo, what happens when you get raped and there are no witnesses?” 

This case exemplifies the continuous struggles women have to go through and how there is still a long way for society to go until women are treated with equal respect. 

An infamous Taylor Swift quote comes from this documentary that portrays Swift’s strong feminist ideas that are sadly true even with the progress we have made. Swift happily boasts about her successful work and sarcastically remarks, “Sorry was I being loud...in my own house that I bought, with the songs that I wrote, about my own life?” 

Wilson perfectly exemplifies Swift’s position and how a woman’s success is undercut because she is not a man and how a woman has to work twice as hard to gain the status and respect that a man does. The universality of the themes within “Miss Americana” shows that being a celebrity does not isolate someone from the same stigmas that all women deal with. The documentary reflects the double standard. 

Swift also finds her political voice, one she was afraid to share in the 2016 Presidential election because of the mass public scrutiny she was receiving. Swift believed that no one would want to know what she had to say on political topics. It is also a focus that as a female artist she has to be “a nice girl that doesn’t force their opinions on people.” 

However, during the 2019 midterm election came it around. Swift knew that she had to speak her truth. She came out in favor of the Democrat Phil Bredesen and was against the female Republican Martha Blackburn for her anti-feminist sentiments and her views of anti-gay rights. 

Swift becomes a true “Miss Americana” through continuing to voice her political sentiments as shown through her new music, such as the song “You Need to Calm Down” that embraces gay equal rights. Swift’s reinforcement of the importance of voting among her young audience and her vocal action about gay rights is imperative for the youth to see, so more voices are heard. 

The documentary shines a light on the good her work is doing and that people should embrace this, rather than attacking her based on previous notions that this documentary proves wrong. 

This movie does not show the celebrity Taylor Swift, but a woman who is only trying to be successful in a hostile environment that has followed her for so long. Her work ethic and resistance to everything around her is an example for all of us. Swift is no longer “muzzled...it was my own doing.” 

Taylor Swift is a young, progressive, female role model for the eternity of the youth to look up to. It is necessary for every woman, child, and man to see this documentary in order for more recognition of the problems our society contains. With more understanding and recognition, hopefully the stigmas and stereotypes can diminish. “Miss Americana” is just one prime example of the beginning of our more progressive era in the future. 

This documentary is highly recommended to all and is an enthralling watch to see an intimate view of a woman breaking social and political boundaries. Once you watch, you will never view Taylor Swift the same.