MISS AMERICANA Gave Me a New Found Respect For Taylor Swift - Sundance Review
I’ll be honest... I listen to Taylor Swift’s music all the time! Mind you, I have three daughters, so Swift’s music has been playing in our household for years! My girls love her and due to the fact that we listen to her music all the time, I have fun singing along to her music with my kids. Yes, I know the lyrics.
While I knew that Swift is a crazy talented individual, I didn’t really know what exactly she put into creating her music. I also didn’t really know anything about her life as I’ve never really bothered to follow any of the gossip or controversial topics surrounding her. This documentary, Miss Americana, covered all of that and dives into the life of Taylor Swift from charming moments of when she was a little girl showing off her musical skills to where she is now in her life and the incredible journey she’s been on to get here.
Before seeing the movie, one of the only things that stuck out in my mind about one part of her life is when Kanye West interrupted her speech at the MTV Music Video Awards and that whole weird controversy. We actually get some insight into that and how that affected her life at the time. There were also several other life-defining moments where she would take hits that she would have to bounce back from.
The doc mostly focuses on how she evolved into the strong, confident woman that she became, especially in regards to speaking her mind involving politics. She was told for years just to smile, wave, and keep her opinions to herself, but that all changed after having to go to court to fight that one DJ guy who groped her. That was a difficult time for her and after that, she emerged not wanting to stay silent about the issues that are important to her. That was a defining moment in her life.
The doc shows the moment that she sat down with her parents, managers, and publicist to tell them she was going to take a political stance and some of them thought it would end her career. Some, like her dad, tried to talk her out of it for fear someone would come after her and try to hurt her. A completely legitimate concern! But, she followed through with it and she had their support.
The doc was actually quite moving, fun and entertaining to watch. I wasn’t really expecting what it delivered, but it ended up giving me a newfound respect for Swift. We get a candid look into her life and what she is like as a person and what her work process is like. We even get to see how she came up with a few of her songs that ended up becoming huge hits and see the “ah-ha!” moments of those songs.
One thing that I really loved to see is how freakin’ hard Taylor Swift works for her music and to stay relevant in an industry that tends to write women talent off when they hit their mid-30s. She is not a lazy person, she completely works her ass off and she has 100% earned what she has. It’s awesome to have such a great talent, but to constantly work to improve on that talent and continue to up your game is no easy feat, but she keeps doing it!
Watching the doc actually made me more a fan of Swift, and mind you, this is coming from a middle-aged white dude. I’m not her target market. My kids are, but I now have a stronger respect for her. It’s not easy being under the microscope and scrutinized for everything you do, every choice you make. This doc shows us what that has been like for her, but no matter what has happened, no matter how low she gets, she manages to pick herself up, dust herself off, get back to work, and create impressive music that wows her fans and shuts her critics up.
