You know who I love? Taylor Swift. And do you know what else I love? Cool documentaries. And do you know what I love even more? Miss Americana, the documentary about Taylor Swift! Let's talk about it!
In case you just woke up from a seventeen-years-long coma, Taylor Swift is a really talented and popular pop singer. She has won the Artist of the Decade Award at the 2019 AMAs (the American Music Awards). And that, right before her performance, is where the documentary ends. "Are you mad?! Why are you spoiling it to us?!" you're probably asking. Well, my friend, there's no such thing as spoiling a documentary, because it's actually just a chronicle of the events of a person's life, which, in Taylor's case, were already of public domain. But, yeah, it's probably best if we start from the beginning.
In case you just woke up from a seventeen-years-long coma, Taylor Swift is a really talented and popular pop singer. She has won the Artist of the Decade Award at the 2019 AMAs (the American Music Awards). And that, right before her performance, is where the documentary ends. "Are you mad?! Why are you spoiling it to us?!" you're probably asking. Well, my friend, there's no such thing as spoiling a documentary, because it's actually just a chronicle of the events of a person's life, which, in Taylor's case, were already of public domain. But, yeah, it's probably best if we start from the beginning.
So, the documentary starts with 2018 Taylor, who was in the middle of her Reputation Stadium Tour. As we all pretty much know, Reputation's release in 2017 marked the end of Taylor's one-year-long absence from the world and the beginning of a new era for the singer. It all started from a feud with Kanye West, when he interrupted her speech at the 2009 AMAs, then, in 2016, the seven-year-long drama came to a head and the creation of the hashtag #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty on Twitter and the release of Kanye's song 'Famous' (where he talked about Taylor in a not really respectful way) where the catalysts of Tay's disappearance.
But then she came back, more powerful than ever and ready to use her voice. And that's what she did with some of her other feuds. She won a lawsuit against the man who had sexually assaulted her at a meet and greet four years earlier and then she made the biggest decision of all.
She decided to break her career-long political silence. She had always avoided talking about politics, but her brand-new attitude towards her public persona and the political circumstances of her home-state (Tennessee) made her take this important decision. I know very little about politics, so I'm going to explain this to you as simply as possible; Marsha Blackburn, the Tennessee senator, was about to win the midterm elections.
This was terrible, because she voted against many things that tried to provide equality, like the Violence Against Women Act, which protected women from domestic abuse and stalking. This last thing was what really touched Taylor, who, with her pop-star life, has dealt with stalking quite a lot.
She decided to use her voice and to post on instagram, encouraging her followers to go vote for Marsha Blackburn's opponent, Phil Bredesen. Tay's team wasn't happy at all about her choice. They were worried for her safety and career. And this bit is where I completely lost it. I cried so hard when she was convincing them to let her do, getting visibly emotional. She was so tired of keeping up this public persona, so tired of always having to be perfect. She took her life in her own hands and started doing what made her happy.
She decided to break her career-long political silence. She had always avoided talking about politics, but her brand-new attitude towards her public persona and the political circumstances of her home-state (Tennessee) made her take this important decision. I know very little about politics, so I'm going to explain this to you as simply as possible; Marsha Blackburn, the Tennessee senator, was about to win the midterm elections.
This was terrible, because she voted against many things that tried to provide equality, like the Violence Against Women Act, which protected women from domestic abuse and stalking. This last thing was what really touched Taylor, who, with her pop-star life, has dealt with stalking quite a lot.
She decided to use her voice and to post on instagram, encouraging her followers to go vote for Marsha Blackburn's opponent, Phil Bredesen. Tay's team wasn't happy at all about her choice. They were worried for her safety and career. And this bit is where I completely lost it. I cried so hard when she was convincing them to let her do, getting visibly emotional. She was so tired of keeping up this public persona, so tired of always having to be perfect. She took her life in her own hands and started doing what made her happy.
Taylor Swift's post caused a huge spike in voter registration, but, sadly, that wasn't enough. Marsha Blackburn won. But what did Taylor do? She was desperate for one second, but then she got back on her feet and she did what she does best. She wrote a song.
I'm not kidding when I say that 'Only the young', the song she wrote after the midterm election, is my absolute favourite Taylor Swift song. It's just so beautiful, both musically and message wise. Taylor's following consist mostly in underage people (like me). When Phil Bredesen lost, Tay decided to write a song about never giving up and being heard, addressed to young people.
That's us guys! We are the future! Taylor knows this, and she wants us to make people hear us. Many of us will gain the right to vote in the next years and it's really important to exercise this right. We can change the world, but we need to act. In this song, Taylor encourages us to do so.
I'm not kidding when I say that 'Only the young', the song she wrote after the midterm election, is my absolute favourite Taylor Swift song. It's just so beautiful, both musically and message wise. Taylor's following consist mostly in underage people (like me). When Phil Bredesen lost, Tay decided to write a song about never giving up and being heard, addressed to young people.
That's us guys! We are the future! Taylor knows this, and she wants us to make people hear us. Many of us will gain the right to vote in the next years and it's really important to exercise this right. We can change the world, but we need to act. In this song, Taylor encourages us to do so.
"There's this thing people say about celebrities, that they're frozen at the age they got famous," says Taylor at the end of the documentary. "I had a lot of growing up to do, just to try and catch up to 29."
This is the end of an era, but the beginning of another, glorious one! Let's keep on living, to see what's going to happen! And, in the meantime, you can watch Miss Americana, now on Netflix!
This is the end of an era, but the beginning of another, glorious one! Let's keep on living, to see what's going to happen! And, in the meantime, you can watch Miss Americana, now on Netflix!