Taylor Swift: Miss Americana (2020)

My wife and I enjoyed watching this Netflix Original documentary about the singer and songwriter Taylor Swift, who, at the tender age of thirty-one, has already been an industry veteran for half of her life.  The movie premiered on opening night of the 2020 Sundance festival, where Swift herself made an appearance to promote the film, and the audience gave it a standing ovation. The movie incorporates the sorts of archival footage that you would expect, and lets Swift narrate her own story, instead of letting the media "experts" comment about her. There's nothing deep here, but at least at some level, Swift talks about her mother's cancer, her eating disorder, her realization that she lived her life for the approval of others, the many and real dangers of global fame, the Kanye incident, her sexual assault trial, and her growing conviction that she had a responsibility to use her influence to speak out about political issues instead of living as a predictably nice and inoffensive person.

Dan Clendenin: dan@journeywithjesus.net