Award-winning American pop singer and songwriter Taylor Swift is releasing a documentary titled Miss Americana. This borrows from the title of a track from her Lover album, Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince.
The Netflix-produced Taylor Swift: Miss Americana has a prestige slot as the January 23 opening night gala premiere of the Sundance Film Festival; before it reaches the world as a day-and-date theatrical release and potential streaming giant on January 31.
The documentary spends much of its opening act juxtaposing the joys of creation with the aggravations of global stardom. Usually, this is the grist of many a pop documentary, if rendered in especially intimate detail.
It then takes a more provocative turn in its last reel to focus more tightly on how and why Swift became a political animal; supporting the liberal party, and civil and LGBT rights.
It is the story of an earnest young woman with a self-described “good girl” fixation; working through her last remaining fears of being shamed as she comes to embrace her true self.
Yesterday, she gave a long interview about the documentary that emphasizes her recent public political awakening. “I feel really good about not being muzzled anymore, and it was my own doing,” she says at one point.
She also says “fuck” in the trailer; this is pretty significant for someone that has kept up a squeaky-clean image for so long. “It feels fucking awesome,” she says at 1:28. This clearly seems like another attempt to shed the good girl image she has been boxed into for so long.
Taylor Swift will also debut a new song called “Only the Young” in the forthcoming documentary. Miss Americana was directed by Lana Wilson.
Watch the trailer below:
