"Miss Americana", a new Netflix Documentary about Taylor Swift, is worth seeing – if you start with the right expectations.
At least these are two out of three hosts of the original content podcast. Darrell was the holdover; He didn't hate the movie and didn't think it was badly made, but he's much more skeptical of celebrity culture in general and argues that everyone would be better off ignoring celebrities overall.
Your other hosts don't go that far. Instead, we admit a careful admiration for Swift and her music and enjoyed "Miss Americana" as a window into Swift's world. Not a completely transparent window – despite the direction of Lana Wilson, the film feels like it is guided by Swift's perspective, which focuses on her chosen subjects of the boulevard pursuit and political awakening – but still an insightful one.
What is clearly noticeable is the insanity in the life of the musician, which is lived under intense (and often unfair) control of the media.
The film also shows the exceptional talent, ambition, and happiness Swift needed to get where she is. And there are a few glimpses of their songwriting and recording process and what appears to be a painful decision to support Democrat Phil Bredesen's ultimately unsuccessful candidacy for one of the Tennessee Senate mandates in 2018.
In addition to reviewing the film, we are also discussing Netflix's decision to make automatic preview optional.
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And if you want to jump on, find out how the episode is composed:
0:00 intro
0:28 Discussion about playing Netflix automatically
5:02 “Miss Americana” review
