On this episode of Show Your Work, we’re talking about Taylor Swift’s documentary, Miss Americana, and whether or not it meets Taylor’s objective: to reach beyond her fanbase, to people who don’t care about her, haven’t followed her career, are relatively unaware of much about her beyond the headlines and the biggest hits. Did she expand her reach? Did we learn anything new?
We discuss how Taylor showed her work, which parts of her work were the most compelling – at least to us. Of course we couldn’t get enough of the scenes that happened in studio, in particular that part with Brendan Urie, and we even get granular about what we call the “double finger zoom” when she reveals her struggles with body image.
Finally, as Taylor presents herself to us as a student, of music, of musicians, of celebrity, of the ecosystem to which belongs, we study Miss Americana in the context of the library of other entertainer documentaries, from Madonna to her contemporaries. And in that examination, we find that this work tool, the “documentary”, may be more advantageous to female musicians in an industry that still undervalues women.
From there, we move to The Assistant, the new film by Kitty Green opening this week inspired by Harvey Weinstein and particularly how #MeToo plays out in the film and television industry. Every member of the workplace is affected by chronic creeps and harassers. And in spotlighting the day-to-day tasks of an assistant on the desk of a major Hollywood power player, Kitty Green is expanding that conversation so that we can better understand the impact of abuse of power.
We’re honoured to have Kitty join us on the pod to discuss her work on the film and her experience in the film industry. Thanks to Kitty and her team for making this happen!
And thanks to you for listening week after week and caring about work talk as much as we do. Please continue reaching out and leaving comments and reviews and subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. We’re back next week with more behind-the-scenes from our Oscar coverage!
