The Netflix documentary Miss Americana explores the career of Taylor Swift. Directed by Lana Wilson, the film shows the musician discussing her formative years not only in Pennsylvania and Tennessee, but also in the public eye while becoming a a pop culture icon. Despite a brisk 85-minute runtime, Miss Americana includes numerous candid revelations from Swift.
Structurally, Miss Americana follows Swift during the last several years of her career. The documentary provides insight into the musician’s creative process, and how she collaborates with others while writing new songs. Miss Americana also shows how Swift evolved from a naive young woman into a successful business mogul with a message to spread, and builds towards the August 2019 release of Swift’s seventh studio album, Lover.
Miss Americana allows Swift to provide her perspective on music, culture, and relationships. However, the documentary mostly avoids Swift's love life, and instead focuses on her growth as a confident and independent-minded woman. Here are the most significant revelations in Miss Americana on Netflix.
Young Taylor Swift Lived By A Self-Imposed Moral Code
Miss Americana revolves around the premise that Swift no longer seeks approval from others. The Netflix documentary begins with the subject discussing her childhood, and how she'd write in a journal with quill and ink. The sequence underlines her naiveté before taking life and music more seriously, and reveals that she once lived by a moral code of needing to be thought of as "good." Swift also states that she still has the same mentality "even now," but with a more informed perspective of the world around her.
Swift's moral code established a sense of structure during her early years, and would be applied to songwriting as she matured. But the moral of her story, it seems, is that she was fulfilled by approval rather than the creative process, even noting that "those pats on the head were all I lived for." This particular sequence transitions to a moment when Swift learns that she didn't receive major category Grammy nominations in 2018, prompting her to say "I need to make a better record." Swift still lives by a self-imposed code, but seemingly wants industry respect more than empty compliments.
Taylor Swift Thought VMA Boos Were For Her
By age 17, Swift had released two massively-popular studio albums and began her transformation into a crossover mainstream artist. She won a 2009 MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video ("You Belong with Me"), but was infamously interrupted on stage by Kanye West, who proceeded to state his case for Beyoncé. In the moment, Swift appeared entirely surprised, and rightfully so, but mostly stayed composed as the always-unpredictable West left the stage as the crowd booed with displeasure. In Miss Americana, Swift reveals that she thought the boos were for her, and that it was "a pretty formative experience."
Swift also describes the West moment as a "catalyst for a lot of psychological paths." She doesn't expand on how it affected her emotionally as a young woman, but various news clips shown in Miss Americana imply that she was indeed devastated. And though 2009 doesn't seem too long ago, it was a time when Facebook was the most popular social media platform prior to the rise of Twitter and Instagram. So, Swift's on-camera revelations are a reminder of not only how much she has changed, but also how society has changed as well. She continued to grow as an artist, but was unfortunately affected by the nastiness of social media trolls, along with media outlets.
Taylor Swift Overcame An Eating Disorder
In Miss Americana, Swift recalls being heavily affected by "triggers" that led her to stop eating. She acknowledges that her "backyard" isn't normal, and also states that internet criticism about her weight and looks created a "shame/hate spiral," and that her attempts to cope were "just f**king impossible." She describes the psychological damage of wondering why people would say mean things about her, and how a healthy diet made it easier to get through her intense work schedule. Swift came to the realization that "It's better to think you look fat than look sick."
Swift also discusses her mother's cancer diagnosis in Miss Americana. After dealing with so much public backlash at a young age, and not knowing much about the world beyond that pop culture bubble, she learned to better appreciate family and friends. Specifically, Swift states that her mother's cancer "woke her up," and that she began to think less about internet comments while her mother was sick from chemotherapy treatments. Swift also reveals that her healthy love life (boyfriend Joe Alwyn briefly appears in Miss Americana) made it easier to deal with the never-ending backlash that comes along with being a pop star.
A Court Case Inspired Taylor Swift To Speak Her Mind
Swift speaks openly in Miss Americana about a sexual assault involving a Denver radio DJ. In 2013, she reported a groping by David Mueller, who was ultimately fired but later sued Swift for allegedly lying and causing him to lose his job. Swift counter-sued for just $1, and won her case in 2017. She describes the entire court process as "dehumanizing," and how she was upset to learn that people didn't believe her, despite photographic evidence and numerous witnesses. The experience inspired Swift to be more vocal and stand up for her beliefs.
Miss Americana comes full circle when Swift talks about her political beliefs. As a child, she just wanted to make everybody happy. Then, she wanted awards. But after experiencing heartbreak and public humiliation, she decided that she could no longer be quiet about her personal beliefs, whether it's about sexuality or politics. Miss Americana features Swift candidly discussing her issues with U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, who promotes "Tennessee Christian values" but opposed the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act. An extended Miss Americana sequence shows Swift and her publicity team discussing the best way to deliver a political message to millions of international fans, and how to handle the inevitable backlash.
Taylor Swift Feels Like There’s A Better Version Of Her
Miss Americana focuses primarily on Swift's evolution as a woman, and concludes with her discussing the state of the entertainment industry. She notes that female artists are discarded to an "elephant graveyard" by age 35, and really only have two years as the public's "shiny new toy." Because Swift has grown up in the music industry, and has personally experienced outrage for the sake of outrage, she reveals that there's a "better version of herself out there," and remains happy about not feeling "muzzled."
"It's time time to take the masking tape off... forever," Swift says in Miss Americana, communicating all her displeasure about being criticized for having the audacity to express opinions on matters not related to music. She discusses her continuing education throughout the Netflix documentary, and how she was once frozen at the age in which she became famous. Now, according to Swift, she wants to "love glitter" but also "stand up for the double standards that exist in our society." Crucially, she also notes that "I don't think that those things have to cancel each other out." Swift's final statement in Miss Americana shows exactly why she's able to steadily overcome the odds: “I wanna have a sharp pen, a thin skin, and an open heart.”