Taylor Swift released a new Netflix documentary on January 31, detailing her life, career and how she started learning to use her voice. For those who still haven’t seen it, she delves into topics such as her sexual assault case, how she decided to start speaking up about politics, an eating disorder and the price of fame. Swift is open in a way fans have never seen her before (and this is the girl who released pages of her diaries in the special edition of her newest album, Lover).
I have personally been a fan of Taylor since I was 10 years old, dancing to “Love Story,” when I was supposed to be playing an elementary school basketball game. Ever since then, I have begged for front row and pit tickets at her concerts, been to 3 meet and greets, and have listened to every song the second it drops. When I heard she was releasing a documentary, I knew I had to watch it the day it came out.
To be completely honest, I was a wreck the first time I watched it, crying on and off from everything from how happy she looked performing on stage, to hearing her write songs, to seeing how awfully she was treated by the media. Getting the small glimpses into how she really feels about everything going on around her helped humanize her in my opinion. It stripped away her stardom and showed her more human aspects.
One of these pivotal moments was when she talked about having an eating disorder. These patterns came about from reading/hearing thoughtless comments, or seeing pictures of herself that she thought were unflattering. It took Swift some time to realize that her eating and workout patterns were unhealthy. “Because if you’re 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 f***ing impossible,” Swift said about the standards of beauty. She now realizes that she doesn’t feel as though she doesn’t have to feel as though she is going to pass out at the end of a show and that her body isn’t meant to be a size 00.
#TaylorSwiftisOverParty was one of the top trends on Twitter in July 2016. The hashtag emerged with fans of her ‘rivals’ expressing their distaste for the singer. “Do you know how many people have to be tweeting that they hate you for that to happen?” she laments, talking about how “loud” it gets in her mind with all of the criticism from the media.
I thought that this section was pivotal in seeing how celebrities are treated today. Right before delving into a storyline about Kanye West and the feud, a montage of television clips played before of the mean comments people were saying about Swift. Notable things included a talk show host saying “she going through guys like a train,” “I think that Taylor Swift — she is annoying,” and how she has seen opportunities to play the victim. Over another montage of mean tweets about Swift, she said: “When people decided that I was wicked, and evil and conniving and not – a good person. That was the one I couldn’t really bounce back from. Because my whole life was centered around it.”
The main focus that should be taken away from this film is Swift’s decision to step out and raise her voice on the political playing field. She was always told that “nice girls don’t force their opinions on people” and “not [to] be like the Dixie Chicks,” whose career suffered after they criticized the United State’s involvement in Iraq in 2003. She later said that she was terrified at how “you’re always one comment away from being done being able to make music” in a Variety article.
Her decision to speak up for her beliefs happened in a pivotal scene with her parents, and her team in the room. She spoke up against Marsha Blackburn and her campaign in Tennessee for the U.S. Senate. After being told for years that “nice girls [don’t] force their opinions on people” and her sexual assault case, Swift decided that she had to speak up and she wasn’t asking from permission from anyone. She declared that she doesn’t care what the consequences are anymore and that she “has” to speak up. She said that she “[needs] to be on the right side of history.” Swift was almost in tears with her passion, and channeled it into her historic Instagram post speaking out against Blackburn. This started her involvement in the political playing field.
One of the biggest things fans got from the documentary was a new song, “Only the Young.” Teased in a Variety article, it was described as a very political song, written after the 2018 midterm elections. She wrote it to basically say “don’t lose hope,” and that “your time will come” to get involved, drawing from themes of rebellion and change. “If you can just shift the direction of power in your direction by being bold enough, then it won’t be like this forever.”
I didn’t think that I could love Taylor Swift anymore, but after this documentary I can say it is definitely possible. I was most excited to see a different side of her that isn’t normally portrayed through the traditional media. I loved getting to see her side of things like the Kanye West feud to seeing her sing “Call It What You Want” to Joe Alwyn (brb, swooning). I hope that I get to see more like this in the future, but until then I’ll be waiting patiently for a new album and (hopefully) a Lover tour.