Because I am on social media every day, or reading the global news, or catching up on popular culture, if something is popular enough it will end up on my newsfeed either on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. Or Youtube or Netflix will recommend it to me.
Even I don’t read the article, or watch the video, I might read the flash of the headline, and I become in someway influenced by that flash of information (even if i’m blissfully unaware.) Even if that knowledge is just a flash of a headline that represents someone else’s opinion. I had seen Taylor Swift’s documentary Miss Americana pop up on my Netflix as a trending documentary. I had also been listening to a podcast called Shameless which my friend recommended to me (You should all go listen!) and one of the girls on there also recommended people to watch Miss Americana. I thought I’d probably enjoy it but just didn’t have a biggest desire to watch it, don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of Taylor. I think she is incredibly talented and hardworking and so two nights ago, I thought I’d give into my borderline basic bitch desires and decided to watch the movie. FUCK YES! I would recommend if you like Taylor Swift in any capacity then you need to watch this documentary. To be honest even if you don’t like her and her music watch it because she is so much more than just her number one hits. Watching this doco first of all made me realise how resilient she is. The first scene that shocked me was from the 2009 VMAs when Kanye gets up and interrupts Taylor’s speech. It’s an infamous video and I actually don’t know if I had ever seen the full clip. First of all, don’t you have to be a narcissistic wanker to get up and do that to anyone? Secondly, Wow, I think even if someone did something like that to me, in anyway that resulted in me being publicly humiliated I would’ve melted on the spot. How she managed to move past that and be the bigger person without bursting into tears on that stage astounds me.
It was upsetting but not surprising to hear about her struggles with eating disorders and body dysmorphia. Almost everyone experiences some sort of struggle with this in their lifetime, and I think being in the public eye would exacerbate those struggles to the extreme, as you are constantly seeing photos and comments about yourself. Your opinions must become so infiltrated with the opinions of others that it would become hard to see your true self.
One quote Taylor said that stuck with me was “there’s always some standard of beauty that your not meeting. If your thin enough then you don’t have that ass that everybody wants but if you have enough weight on you to have an ass then your stomach isn’t flat enough. It’s all just fucking impossible.”
Ultimately this documentary showed me how incredibly resilient she is, to just keep on moving, to keep striving for her goals and to eventually throw off all the hands of the people holding her back from speaking her mind, whether it be on politics, LGBTQIA rights, or gender equality. Even after speaking up about the 2018 US Midterm Elections, she was called horrific names, and compared to the Dixie Chicks who were slated for not supporting the Iraq War, with a news presenter stating “these are callous, shallow women who deserve to be slapped around” WTF. I don’t remember the Dixie Chicks in their prime, I’m too young, but Taylor did and to be threatened with the line, ‘if you speak your mind, you’ll end up like the Dixie Chicks’ must have been terrifying for someone whose dream was to sing and to be liked, and seen as the ‘good good girl’. Near the end of the documentary Taylor says in a voiceover while we are being shown clips of her on her You Need To Calm Down music video ”I want to wear pink and talk about politics” which speaks to the idea that women are condemned for being multi-faceted. Which instead of being a the downfall of a women, as so many from history and in today’s society believe; being multi-faceted, being outspoken, bold, and fiercely proud is the best thing ANYONE can be! I am so so glad I watched this documentary. I feel inspired, I feel empowered, and I couldn’t recommend it more.
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