I must confess upfront that I did not grow up with Taylor Swift or as a Taylor Swift fan. My first exposure to Taylor Swift was seeing her as a comedic actress in the star-studded Valentine’s Day (2010) movie, and from that of course heard her song “Today Was a Fairytale” as the end credits rolled. It was not until the last few years when I met someone special to me who might be Swift’s biggest fan that I started listening to her music more actively, and I actually got into a lot of it. My favorite song is either “Our Song” or “Shake it Off,” and my favorite album up to this point is a tie between 1989 and her most recent Lover album.
The film is very well-paced with a brisk hour and twenty-five minute runtime, but it had my attention the entire time, and I could have easily watched another hour’s worth. It was fascinating to watch someone so big in the music business, in the world, go through their daily routines to realize that deep-down, she is just a regular person like us. I am a sucker for watching behind-the-scenes footage of anything, so naturally one of the main highlights of this film for me was watching Taylor Swift write her songs either alone or with her collaborators, and then recording them in the booth for the first time. You can clearly see how passionate she is about her music and the words that emanate from them. I love watching the creative process, people bouncing ideas off of each other and then having an epiphany that becomes the songs we know and love. Getting to be so close to her throughout the documentary, and seeing interviews backstage pre-concert and mid-concert are always exciting too, like we are actually there.
We really get a deep look into her psyche, because the film isn’t just about her career through the years. It certainly includes that, but the documentary, to this writer anyway, was more about her personal struggles in her life, her resonating relationship with her mother, and the music business, and what she has been doing more recently rather than an emotional trip down memory lane. Things like award nominations and little comments from the media that we think would not necessarily have an impact on a big celebrity, certainly can and do. As said previously, we learn that no matter how big of a star she is, and rightfully so, she is just like us trying to go through life, with obstacles to overcome internally and externally. Most documentaries tend to be manipulative, but this one is blatantly honest. The media can be a very cynical, ruthless, and cutthroat society. There are political ideals mentioned by Taylor Swift primarily towards the latter half of the film, but I never got the impression she or the filmmakers were trying to force those ideals on me, whether I believed in them or not. Although in hindsight I will say, it’s no wonder that her advocating for women’s rights has lead her to have such a strong standing with her female audience, even more so than before. She is constantly making strides.
Even as a Taylor Swift newcomer, I honestly and unabashedly loved this documentary. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and feel more educated, even if just slightly more so about Taylor Swift, who she was and who she has become. It is a teary-eyed, inspirational ride that is sometimes emotionally rough to watch, but an unexpected treat at the same time. I am grateful to have learned more about one of the biggest stars of the music business right now, and while she is just like us, she worked hard to get where she is, and it shows here in the best way possible. Well done Tay Tay and Netflix.
