Country music artists are often taught young to not have any opinions, especially ones that could be deemed controversial. To do that is to risk losing a portion of your fanbase. Early on in the documentary Taylor Swift: Miss Americana, and on more than one other occasion throughout, we hear Taylor Swift reference this. At one point in her career, that desire was paramount. Now, having hit a new milestone, and having experienced a number of things she can’t forget, Swift is ready to shed that safe image. Miss Americana, the Netflix Original documentary, shows her finding her voice, amplified by her decision to weigh in on the 2018 midterm elections. Streaming this weekend after a debut a few days ago at the Sundance Film Festival, it’s a quality doc for both Swift diehards and newcomers alike. Plus, it has the added bonus of featuring a new Original Song, which could potentially make her an Oscar nominee next year. This is a portrait of music superstar Taylor Swift, as she is now, as well as what she used to be like. The goal is to show audiences how a transformational time in her life changed her forever. Framed through moments like the infamous Kanye West interruption, as well as her legal case against a radio disc jockey who groped her, Swift presents how she handled the former with how she opted to handle the latter. Whereas once she stood quietly and just wanted to be liked and seen as “good” to all, she now embraces her role as an artist with a voice that can bring about change. She’s still a singer/songwriter and an iconic pop star, but now in her 30’s she’s begun to harness the full power of that voice, musically and politically. The latter comes out when she decides to risk her image in order to speak out against Conservative values in a close Tennessee Senate election, supporting the Democrat and raising the ire of Donald Trump. Lana Wilson directs, with music by Alex Somers. Swift is front and center throughout the film for all of its 86 minutes. The goal here is to come off real, and she almost entirely succeeds. Elements of the documentary are raw and emotional, while others do somewhat feel like promotional material. Those parts are sporadic and come along with the territory of any look at a creative talent with a brand to [...]