REVIEW: Miss Americana

If you haven’t already watched this documentary, warning there may be spoilers!

As a kid I was a hard-core Taylor Swift fan and I had a shelf full of her CDs (when CDs used to be a thing). After looking through Netflix’s endless options I decided to revisit my 12-year-old self and watch her documentary. 

At first I was confused about the name of the documentary, Miss Americana, however after watching it, it makes clear sense. Taylor takes us through her journey of self-growth after being labelled as the ‘good girl’ which caused her to hang on to everyone’s self-approval of her. Unfortunately, this persona that Taylor was forced to adopt saw her become politically inactive. However, we see Taylor fully embrace her new growth and instead advocate for what she believes in, human rights.

Taylor opens up about her sexual assault trial, speaking on her struggle in the court room and her battle to win the case. This is inspiring to see, especially given Taylor’s young following, helping young people to stand up for what they believe in and what’s right. We also see Taylor talk about her mental health, including her struggle with body image after constantly being in the public eye. From this we are able to have a glimpse into the other side of fame. 

Personally, I was shocked by how raw this documentary was as sometimes artists use documentaries as simple PR. Yet, Taylor allows us to see a different side of her which is unlike how she has often been portrayed in the media- especially throughout all the drama concerning Kanye West. I am glad that Taylor speaks out on this and I believe how we represent celebrities is definitely something that within the media we need to work on. 

If you haven’t watched the documentary, please do! Even if you’re not a die-hard T-Swifty fan, it allows you to see another perspective of her and there are important underlying messages, including being politically active, mental health and self-growth. So, grab a hot drink, get comfy and switch off from uni work with this Netflix documentary. 

Edited by Rebecca Curry