Director: Lana Wilson

Staring: Taylor Swift

Rating: TV-MA

Miss Americana (also known as Taylor Swift: Miss Americana) is a 2020 documentary film, directed by Lara Wilson, that follows American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and her life over the course of several years of her career. It was released on Netflix and selective theaters on January 31, 2020.

“I woke up at five in the morning the day the documentary came out, in a dire attempt to watch it all before I had to go to school. Watching her grapple with the struggles and exploitation that came along with her fame was definitely eye-opening,” said Madison Dwyer, a junior at Palo.

Miss Americana mixes home movies, diary readings, press clips, awards- show tape, and studio footage to tell the story of Taylor Swift’s peaks and valleys.  It covers her journey from her being a struggling as a gifted teen musician imploring partons at tiny performances spaces to request “Tim McGraw” on local radio to scaling the peak of the industry as one of the few acts to win an album of the Year Grammy twice to falling from grace in the Reputation era.

Noor Januja, a sophomore at Palo Verde says“ the documentary was very one-sided towards her new self, supposedly independent and political.”

The film also demonstrates the extraordinary talent, ambition, and luck that Swift must have needed to get where she is. And it boasts a few glimpses into her songwriting and recording process, and into what appears to have been an agonizing decision.  The film/documentary talks about Taylor Swift, the singer-songwriter tells of the pressure she feels to constantly reinvent herself, lest her fans lose interest.

“Even though I am not the biggest fan of Taylor, perhaps this could shift my point of view on the type of performer or artist she is,” said Nicole Macario, a sophomore at Palo Verde High School.

One of the goals of the documentary was to deliver the audience with new, improved Swift. The film also tries to change the viewer’s perspective on her. They try to change the old, isolated Taylor into a suitable, desirable woman who pleases society’s needs.

The documentary does meet and exceed its expectations but does have some dents in it.  The film itself felt a bit rushed at times, as if the producers tried to cram everything into a time length that the audience could easily watch.

I would rate this film/documentary an 8/10 because in it Swift acknowledges how formative some of the incidents that have been in her life, for ill and good. I think that the markers of this piece were aiming to make this an inspiring story for young women who admire Taylor, but the documentary seemed to fall apart.