A few minutes into Taylor Swift: Miss Americana, Taylor Swift describes the "moral code" that's guided much of her life as "a need to be thought of as good."
The obvious key word there is "good," which fits neatly into the image Swift has projected for most of her career — as a sweet, innocent good girl, give or take a Reputation.
But just as important are the words "thought of." Because as Swift herself readily acknowledges, "Those pats on my head are all I lived for." Miss Americana emerges, ultimately, as a chronicle of Swift letting go of that need for approval, and growing into a woman more confident in her own voice.
Through Wilson's camera, Swift becomes both ordinary and extraordinary.
Director Lana Wilson weaves together footage of Swift in the near present — sitting for interviews meant for the documentary, working with producers on the songs that would become Lover — with a more-or-less chronological history of her career from teen country to grown-up pop juggernaut. Along the way, she allows Swift plenty of room for her dorkily endearing personality to shine through.
Those indifferent or opposed to Swift likely won't find much in Miss Americana to change their minds. The portrayal of Swift we get here isn't dramatically different from what we've seen in the public, and the film doesn't spend much time addressing some of the sharper criticisms aimed at Swift, like her tendency to play the victim or the pettiness of her public rivalries.
Those hoping for juicy gossip will also be disappointed; Swift's boyfriend Joe Alwyn makes only a glancing appearance, her other paramours are barely mentioned at all, and no acknowledgement is made of her dramas with the likes of Karlie Kloss, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, or Scooter Braun.
Miss Americana assumes the viewer knows at least the basics about Swift and her career, and that they're watching because they like her and want to know more about her. What those people will find is a compelling inside perspective on Swift's evolution into the next phase of her life and career.
Through Wilson's camera, Swift becomes both ordinary and extraordinary. One scene might show her chilling with her family or playing with her cats; the next might remind us that Swift can't so much as leave her apartment without being confronted by dozens of screaming fans and photographers.
If you've been a fan (or hater) of Swift's without ever really stopping to consider how she might feel about all this attention, Miss Americana is your chance to find out: "Do you know how many people have to be tweeting they hate you to make it a trending topic?" she asks. Put that way, it feels like no wonder that #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty sent her down such a dark and difficult spiral.
And, sure, you may wonder how "authentic" Swift is really being even in this movie, given that image manipulation has always been one of her greatest strengths as a celebrity and given that Miss Americana is careful about keeping some areas of Swift's life (her relationship, for example), closed off.
But part of the point Miss Americana is making is that Swift doesn't owe her entire self to the public. In any case, Swift is warm and generous on the subjects she does want to engage with. She speaks frankly about her personal struggles with loneliness, impostor syndrome, and eating disorders, and demonstrates a disarming self-awareness about her own neediness.
It's that desire for approval that Miss Americana frames as the thing holding Swift back all these years — from wielding her political power, from letting herself be happy and healthy.
Some of Swift's challenges may be unique to her, like her inability to pop down to the nail salon without attracting a mob. But others will ring familiar to anyone, like the societal pressure to meet an impossible beauty standard, or the lessons she'd had drilled into her that "a nice girl doesn't force her opinions on people." Swift just has to deal with them on a much larger stage.
Eventually, as anyone who saw Swift's Instagram post against Tennessee senator Marsha Blackburn will know, Swift managed to cast off enough of those lessons to speak out. What Miss Americana shows is the long and difficult journey it took Swift to get to that awakening, to learn, perhaps, that being thought of as good and doing good aren't always the same thing.
Maybe it's not the movie everyone wanted. Maybe this latest reinvention of Taylor Swift, this time as a woman who's comfortable enough in her power to wield it fully, isn't for everyone, either. But maybe, also, that's the idea: Swift, Miss Americana tells us, is done worrying about what everyone else thinks.
Taylor Swift: Miss Americana will be available to stream on Netflix starting Jan. 31.
