Taylor Swift's 'Miss Americana' Is An Intimate Look At The Inner Turmoil Of A Superstar
PARK CITY, Utah ― Taylor Swift’s reign as “the good girl” is over ― at least that’s what she wants us to believe after watching “Miss Americana,” her Netflix documentary that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday night.
The film, helmed by “After Tiller” director Lana Wilson, is an eye-opening look into Swift’s psyche as a female superstar “living for the approval of strangers.” It offers a lens into the post-“Reputation” period of her career, in which she leaned into a new identity: politically charged pop star.
“I needed to learn before I spoke to 200 million people,” she says of her decision to finally share her Democratic beliefs after years of silence. Her team’s longtime approach was to simply stick to the music, hoping to avoid another Dixie Chicks-President George W. Bush backlash in the country music world.
But after she fought and won a groping case against former radio host David Mueller in 2017, things truly began to change for Swift. Then, conservative Marsha Blackburn entered the U.S. Senate race in Tennessee during the midterm elections, and Swift could no longer sit on the sidelines.
She’s “Trump in a wig,” Swift says in the doc, arguing with Blackburn’s stances against equal pay for women and the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking and date rape. Blackburn also believes businesses have a right to refuse service to same-sex couples and opposes gay marriage.
“These aren’t Tennessee Christian values,” Swift asserts. “I live in Tennessee. I’m Christian. These are not my values.”
I want to wear pink, and tell you how I feel about politics." Taylor Swift
Cheers erupted all around the 1,200-seat Eccles Theater in Park City as “Miss Americana” glided through Swift’s social, political and personal journey to self-acceptance. The film opens with Swift playing the piano in her New York...
