‘Miss Americana’: more of a montage than a documentary
Let’s just say it: shamefully, I’ve always been a Swiftie. Taylor Swift’s debut album was played on repeat in my mom’s Toyota Highlander when she drove me to my fourth grade playdates and “Speak Now” carried me through a humiliating seventh grade breakup. “1989” colored the darker days of my junior year of high school, and I proudly bopped to “Reputation” as a college sophomore. I’m still processing “Lover,” its impact is to be determined, but “Cruel Summer” was my song of the decade (when it only had three months to be considered; that’s embarrassing).
Taylor Swift’s recently released documentary focuses on her career successes and hardships, but lacks a genuine vulnerability.
Maybe I asked for a guitar for my birthday, just to make the song “Teardrops on My Guitar” a reality. Maybe I sobbed at her concert the same year (I was quite the dramatic tween).
This is all to say, I was excited when Swift’s new biographical documentary “Miss Americana” was available in my Netflix queue. But for all the honest moments that the film included, which were welcomed for their vulnerability, the film as a whole felt performative.
The film circles around the prolific singer’s post-“Reputation” phase, as she retreats to an isolation of luxury couches and European getaways. In the film, recently released on Netflix, Swift shines a light on previously unseen sides of her personality as she produces her album 2019 album “Lover,” and speaks candidly on her need for applause, her mother’s health, her eating disorder and her decision to take a public political stance.
These topics, like Swift’s battle with an eating disorder and the pressures she felt to perform, were incredible to hear about, and seeing her speak clearly and firmly wasn’t something that had previously been publicized. But when it came to the hard topics, they were talked about for 30 seconds and then it was on to the next tour clip. It felt more like a montage or summary rather than a story. Although I felt for Swift as much as a poor college student can, I wanted to root for her on my own instead of feeling like I had to.
The film rehashed the 2009 Kanye West debacle and the problematic callout of Swift in West’s song “Famous.” Through this, “Miss Americana” addresses the public’s distaste for Swift due to her years of self-victimization, which is a narrative that loves to be thrown at famous women, Swift often being the center. There are copious shots of her being villainized in the media and her body being objectified regardless of what it looks like (too skinny, too fat). Yes, it’s impossibly hurtful, but though you watch her fresh, new confidence become beautiful and sustainable, she doesn’t shirk off her self-victimization; rather, she continues to lean into it.
Throughout the documentary, there is a focus on publicly announcing Swift’s political opinions, specifically regarding the 2018 midterm elections. Most notably, Swift, who was once idolized by the alt-right community, defies her father and public relations team in order to stand up for her passion for LGBTQIA+ equality and political visibility.
Perhaps it was the fault of the production or simply just the nature of the music industry, but the entire film felt calculated. It’s best summed up by the moment where she says herself, while eating a burrito in the studio, that “(her) life is planned, like, two years ahead of time.”
Nonetheless, it was refreshing to see Swift go against what she did for so long, and it was shocking to see how restrained she was by talk show hosts and how praised she was for staying silent; she truly was created to appear as a silent, subordinate woman.
The documentary covers a lot of ground, causing quite a fragmented narrative. Due to this, though overall endearing and entertaining, I found myself wanting more. I want to know more about how she’s overcome her body image issues, as that remains a pertinent problem for women everywhere. I wanted more details on her secret romance. I want to know more about how she doesn’t have the internet on her phone. I didn’t want to see just what was happening to her in the media and in her career.
The focus was supposed to be on her internal self, learning some key adult lessons: self-love, mental sustainability and gratification. I felt it peeking through the whole time. That’s where the documentary is redeeming. But too often it chose to deviate into a highlighted montage of her career, when it could’ve been rich in personal content. But no matter what, I love Taylor Swift. She doesn’t need to try and impress me.