Miss Americana sounds like a good title for an Oscar-nominated period film. It is actually a documentary film about popstar Taylor Swift. And it isn’t just any documentary. It is the highest-rated biographical documentary on Netflix by a musician in the history of IMDb.
The documentary takes a look at Taylor’s life at various stages of her career. Netflix describes it as a “raw and emotionally revealing.” But is that the case? Miss Americana has it’s good and bad moments. So, here’s why you should watch it (and why you shouldn’t).
Watch: Amazing Music-Making Sessions
These scenes alone place Americana among the best music documentaries on Netflix. We get to see just how talented Miss Swift is as she crafts lyrics and sings her heart out. Watching her doing what she does best brings joy to the heart. She is like Wolfgang Mozart at the orchestra or Catharina van Hemessen with a paintbrush.
The focus while writing songs, the singing and the piano sessions that are made even better by cats roaming around will stay in your mind long after you finish watching the documentary. Those who have ever doubted her talents will have their minds changed.
Skip: Her Childhood And Friendships Aren’t Properly Explored
Taylor’s interactions with her parents make her very relatable. But mummy and daddy aren’t given the chance to say much about her except being supportive of her career. Quite a shame because these could have been heart-warming moments. The only angles that are explored about her parents are her mother’s ailment and her father constantly worrying about her safety.
The documentary neither explains how Swift was raised nor the moments that led her to be a champion for female rights. Taylor’s friends are also left out of the documentary, thus making her seem more like a loner. A number of supermodels like Karlie Kloss and Martha Hunt were said to be part of her squad. So, why aren’t they featured?
Watch: Emphasizes The Evils Of Sexual Harassment
Miss Americana addresses the 2013 incident where Taylor was groped by a radio host during a mett-and-greet. The host was fired so he went ahead to sue Taylor. However, Taylor counter-sued for only a dollar and won. In the documentary, she explains that she only demanded $1 because it was never about the cash.
She simply wanted to encourage other women to stand up for herself. She also explains that she didn’t feel better after winning because the process had already left her with scars. She goes on to emphasize that no woman should have to go through this.
Skip: The Politics
Politics is often divisive. It’s normally advisable for celebrities to stay out of it in order to avoid alienating sections of their fanbase. However, Miss Americana goes on to allocate plenty of minutes to politics. Initially, Taylor had previously vowed to never be involved in politics. She even took a back seat during the intense 2016 campaigns. But recently she has gone all in.
The documentary suggests that more than 50,000 young people registered last minute during last year’s mid-term elections after Taylor urged them to vote for Democrat Phil Bredesen. However, spikes in voter registration just before an election are influenced by several aside. The politics take the fun out of the documentary as opposed to adding to it.
Watch: It Shows Us Her Desire To Be A Better Person
In Miss Americana, Taylor emphasizes the importance of maturity and becoming a better person. “I’m trying to be as educated as possible in how to respect people,” she says. She also confesses that she felt stuck at the same age ever since she became famous but she’s now beginning to feel like a grown-up.
Swift also resists the urge to show off her boyfriend on camera. Her love-life has sometimes overshadowed her music so she’d rather keep this private. And when she realizes that her album Reputation wasn’t nominated for a Grammy, she is only a little shocked. “This is fine,” she says. She then vows to make a better album next time.
Skip: It Feels Like A PR Exercise At Times
The general message from Miss Americana seems to be: “Listen! I might be a little imperfect but I am generally awesome! Okay? Thank you very much.” At some point, it becomes rather obvious that the documentary was made for the sole purpose of making her appear like an angel. After all, she even confesses early on: “My entire moral code is a need to be thought of as good.”
There are no instances where she admits that she might have been wrong or that she isn’t perfect. It could have been better if she took some time to address personal flaws, kinda like what Kevin Hart did in Don’t F**k This Up. But since she doesn’t, it’ll be impossible for her critics to change their general perception after watching the documentary.
Watch: The Kanye West Incident Is Addressed
This is an unfortunate incident that Taylor Swift will always be associated with. Luckily, it isn’t ignored. We are shown that Kanye’s interruption was actually the lowest point in her career. She suggests that the moment pushed her to do many things. “It was a catalyst for a lot,” she says
Taylor also explains that she thought she was the one being booed when Kanye came on stage and not him. This broke her heart. Another incident with Kanye also broke her. In 2016, she faced backlash after she denied approving explicit lyrics to Kanye’s song “Famous.” Kim Kardashian later provided evidence proving that she did indeed approve. She addresses this saying that she wishes the focus was more about her music than all the other things.
Skip: Too Many Concert Scenes
Most people will feel the urge to watch this documentary must have already seen plenty of Taylor Swift’s performances. However, Miss Americana still goes on to pack plenty of her performances within the limited time that it has to tell varied stories.
The performances also seem to pop up randomly, thus making the documentary appear disorganized. The studio sessions were enough to cover the music side of her life. The rest of the documentary ought to have focussed on addressing not just the elephant but the herd of elephants in the room,
Watch: She Talks About Body-Shaming And Her Eating Disorder
Taylor confesses that the media was actually indirectly responsible for her body dysmorphia and her eating disorder. The way her body was talked about made her avoid food completely at times. Since she is a megastar, she never wanted to be seen as overweight.
Avoiding food made her feel like she could collapse on stage at times. “It’s not good for me to see pictures of myself every day!” Her revelations are touching. It is often assumed that only obese people suffer from body-shaming but Taylor’s documentary reveals it’s a widespread issue that it should be addressed.
Skip: Issues Are Only Addressed On The Surface
Credit should be given to Taylor for addressing topics that might be sensitive to her. However, these topics are only addressed on the surface. No one in the documentary challenges her to dig deep and offer a bit more explanation. Instead of offering new perspectives of the things that have been said about her, she simply confirms or denies them.
In a way, this is an intelligent move on her part. It would be unwise to feed more information to the media that had already been cruel to her. But what’s good for Taylor is bad for the viewer. We want to be entertained and to be informed by documentaries like this. In short, we want juicy gossip straight from the source.
