Miss Americana begins with a 13-year-old Taylor Swift’s first diary, which starts with the words “my life … my career … my dream … my reality” written at the edges of its cover. Portraying the essence of pages of a journal, director Lana Wilson’s documentary takes us along Swift’s life. From when she began songwriting to the release of her seventh album, Lover, the previous year. Miss Americana is the essence of a girl who aspired to achieve her dream and did so in the most amazing way. She is now beginning a new phase in her life as she turns 30. The film is a personal document and even includes Swift’s widely known 2018 political awakening.
The basis of this series tells us that she has worked extremely hard to reach her goals and we get to see this from her perspective. Celebrities get “frozen at the age they get famous—and that’s kinda what happened to me,” Swift says at the end of the documentary. Her debut single made her an icon overnight at only 16 years of age.
With scenes in the recording studio and of Swift speaking directly to the camera, Miss Americana is an extended version of her behind the scene songwriting videos. It also includes issues that Swift wasn't all that happy to indulge in, including, Kanye West’s mic-snatch on stage at the 2009 VMAs, Kim Kardashian’s 2016 Snapchat video that hinted at Swift being a two-faced phony and the groping photo Swift’s lawyers made an attempt to keep out of the media during her sexual assault case against a radio DJ.
