From
Lady Gaga to
Justin Bieber, more and more stars are working with film-makers to shape the stories of their lives. But the best films catch them with their guard down
“I would like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never been asked to be a part of, since 2009,” wrote
Taylor Swift of her public feud with
Kanye West in a now-deleted
Instagram post in 2016. Except, 15 minutes into the Swift-approved documentary Miss Americana, director Lana Wilson uses it as the film’s inciting incident.
Wilson tees up Swift as an entertainer, with footage of her at 13, 16 and 19 showing her easy rapport with her audience; the juxtaposition of West interrupting Swift on stage at the 2009
MTV Video Music Awards is like a slap across the face. “For someone who’s built their whole belief system on getting people to clap for you, the whole crowd booing is a pretty formative experience,” says the present-day Swift’s voiceover. The film pivots on the idea that her people-pleasing was her undoing, and peddles her change in strategy to becoming a no-nonsense, natural-born leader.