The premiere of
Miss Americana at the opening night of the
2020 Sundance Film Festival and Swift's pre-announced appearance at the festival caused a surge in the number of attendees, traction and media coverage of the event.
TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino stated that, "in nearly a decade of attending Sundance, I've never seen a scene like the premiere of
Miss Americana", and added that the "crowd before letting into the theater was huge", with rumors about how "there wouldn't be room for ticketed attendees". Upon release, the film became the highest-rated Netflix-original biographical documentary by an artist in
IMDb history.
Mental health discourse Miss Americana fueled several conversations about
eating disorders,
body dysmorphia,
exercise anorexia,
self-esteem,
toxic internet culture and
sexual assault across the internet. Writing for
The Washington Post, Jessica Gold, professor of
psychiatry at the
Washington University in St. Louis, stated that Swift "struck a powerful chord with viewers" with
Miss Americana, "thanks to her honesty regarding her struggle for approval as a woman in today's society". Gold called Swift "the leader we need in 2020", who steps up to "fill gaps left by political leadership", during a time "when our political leaders are struggling to build consensus on and convey the gravity of issues" like
mental health. She explained that Swift's leadership is commercially savvy, but also shows how celebrities "can now speak directly to fans, doing tremendous good in the process", and concluded that the singer is sending a powerful message—"one that is likely to save lives in myriad ways". Kelly Douglas of
The Mighty opined that Swift's "powerful candor" about her eating disorders and body dysmorphia will "not only resonate with others facing similar struggles, but could also encourage others to seek help for their eating disorder behaviors". The
New York Post Elana Fishman confessed: "every so often, I'll still catch myself criticizing the way my tummy or legs look in a photo or how a certain pair of pants fits me. From now on, whenever that happens, I'll be repeating a line Swift says in the film—We do not do that anymore, because it's better to think you look fat than to look sick". Anne Petersen of
BuzzFeed News commented that Swift contributes to society's "collective understanding of what beauty and success looks like", and that she is also talking about her "susceptibility to the pressure of that understanding". Petersen added that Swift refuses "to hide, and thus continue to normalize, the behaviors that perpetuate it".
The Daily Targum stated that, despite being an expert when it comes to handling negative comments, even Swift "succumbed to insecurities that blossomed into eating problems, which shows how even the strongest among us are susceptible to potential eating disorders due to the toxic environment of
social media". Ellen Ricks of
HelloGiggles called Swift's reveal of her disorder as inspirational, noting "how it can potentially impact so many people still fighting", as "there is still so much stigma and misinformation" surrounding eating disorders, and praised Swift for "using her voice to shed light on the issue for her fans". In a
Deccan Chronicle piece titled "Warring with food", writer Swati Sharma noted "it's no surprise" that many celebrities like Swift have struggled with eating disorders, and highlighted how the singer would be "so hungry after performances that she'd feel weak and on the verge of passing out". In an interview with
Glamour, Wilson talked about the positive comments she received regarding her decision to include Swift's eating disorder and body image issues in the film:In an article titled "Why women say sorry too much and what to say — and do — instead" for
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, writer Kate Midena highlighted the moment from
Miss Americana when Swift speaks about her struggle to "deprogram the misogyny in [her] own brain." In the scene, Swift says: "I'm trying to be as educated as possible in how to respect people. Like, there is no such thing as a slut, there is no such thing as a bitch, there is no such thing as someone who's bossy, there's just a boss. We don't want to be condemned for being multi-faceted." Swift then pauses and quickly apologizes saying "Sorry, that was a real
soap box," before correcting herself again saying "Why did I say sorry? Ugh!". Director Wilson can be heard off-camera, remarking: "It's because we're trained to say sorry." Midena wrote the scene makes Swift "instantly relatable", but also raises the question "if [Swift], with all her success and during a documentary about herself, apologizes for sharing her opinion, how should the rest of us fare?" and stated "it's a
conundrum women have been stuck in since the middle ages". She said girls are often taught to value empathy over "masculine traits" such as strength and assertiveness, and hence they "feel the need to cushion their actions with an apology". Midena underscored how the "female language" is filled with
qualifiers such as "I'm sorry, do you mind moving?" and "Sorry, I just have one more question", and how a phrase like "Sorry for complaining", such as Swift's, could be replaced with "Thanks for listening" instead.
Apologies Miss Americana further prompted many of Swift's past critics to respond to the documentary. American comedian
Nikki Glaser wrote an apology on
Instagram after her comments about Swift being "too skinny" were featured in the film. In the apology, Glaser stated that: "Unfortunately, I am featured in her [Swift's] new documentary as part of a montage of asshats saying mean things about her, which is used to explain why she felt the need to escape from the spotlight for a year", and admitted that her comments may have come from a place of "projection". She further added that "if you're familiar with my 'work' at all, you know I talk openly about battling some kind of eating disorder for the past 17 years, I was probably 'feeling fat' that day and was jealous". Swift responded: "One of the major themes of the doc is that we have the ability to change our opinions over time, to grow, to learn about ourselves. I'm so sorry to hear that you've struggled with some of the same things I've struggled with. Sending a massive hug". American writer Jenny Johnson also posted a lengthy apology on Instagram, writing that her comments about Swift being "annoying" were unnecessary, rude, and "made in jest", stating: "please know I'm not against you, I'm with you and I apologize." Journalist Kristen S. Hé took to
Twitter to apologize to Swift for an article she wrote in 2016, titled "Taylor Swift Isn't Like Other Celebrities, She's Worse". She explained that the article was intended to "deconstruct the pettiness of the
celebrity–industrial complex" and expressed her regret that the headline appeared to be "overly critical" of Swift. She concluded that she has "learned so much from Taylor's artistry over the years, and remain[s] a huge fan".
In popular culture An alternative poster of the film, featuring a male alter-ego of Swift, appears in the music video for Swift's 2020 single "
The Man". The camera pans over a "Mr. Americana" poster starring "Tyler Swift", directed by "Larry Wilson", and premiering at the 2020 "Mandance Festival", a
wordplay on the Sundance Festival. A
Prospect piece titled "It's time to face the facts—our male pop stars need to try a bit harder" pointed out how
Miss Americana talks about the requirement for female popstars to be "highly visual, and to change that visual often", quoting Swift from the documentary: "the female artists I know of have to remake themselves 20 times more than the male artists, or else you're out of a job". As per
Vox, the songwriting footages in
Miss Americana shaped the image of Swift's musicianship in the following years, from being viewed as a mere popstar to an expert singer-songwriter, further bolstered by her 2020 albums
Folklore and
Evermore. In the journal
Contemporary Music Review,
Gina Arnold wrote that
Miss Americana depicts Swift's distaste for "her thralldom to a conservative ideology", and helps viewers to reflect on "serious changes" regarding gender in the U.S. and the ways those changes manifest in live performances and
popular culture.
IndieWire credited
Miss Americana for paving a way for singers to utilize major streaming platforms to eventize tour footages into intimate, candid films, to complement their careers. Critics found
Miss Americana as a heavy inspiration for Canadian singer
Shawn Mendes' 2020 Netflix documentary,
Shawn Mendes: In Wonder. Excuse Me, I Love You (2020) by American singer
Ariana Grande was also compared to
Miss Americana. Perry further added that
Miss Americana inspires her to make her own documentary. The Department of English of the
Queen's University at Kingston, a
public university in
Ontario, Canada, offers a
fall semester course titled "Taylor Swift's Literary Legacy (Taylor's Version)", with a syllabus requiring students to analyse many of Swift's works, including watching
Miss Americana; the course objective is to examine Swift's music, its literary references, and her
sociopolitical impact on contemporary culture.
Politics Criticism of Marsha Blackburn In
Miss Americana, Swift criticized
Marsha Blackburn, a
Republican senator from
Tennessee, for her policies and voting record at the
U.S. Congress. Swift called Blackburn "Trump in a wig" who won the
2018 U.S. Senate elections by "being a female applying to the kind of female males want us to be in a horrendous 1950s world." (right) and
Donald Trump (left) at a
Nashville rally in 2018 Blackburn responded to Swift's comments in her July 2021 interview to the American far-right website
Breitbart News, claiming that the "
Marxist socialist" society "
liberals are pushing for" in the U.S., would be detrimental to the music industry. Blackburn mentioned that Swift "came after" her during her campaign for the 2018 mid-term elections, referring to Swift's widely discussed
Instagram post on November 18, 2018, Blackburn added that Swift "would be the first victim of that because when you look at Marxist socialistic societies, they do not allow women to dress or sing or be on stage or to entertain or the type of music she would have. They don't allow protection of private
intellectual property rights"
Biden/Harris campaign "Only the Young", the film's promotional single, was used in advertising campaigns for
Democratic presidential candidate
Joe Biden and vice presidential candidate
Kamala Harris in the leadup to the
2020 U.S. presidential election. Representative
Eric Swalwell revealed that Swift authorized the usage of the song for the campaign free-of-cost, marking the first time she has allowed her music to be used in a political advertisement. ==See also==