Taylor Swift’s MISS AMERICANA Shows us How to Pray for the Starlet
By Allyson Vannatta, Staff Writer
In her new documentary TAYLOR SWFIT: MISS AMERICANA, the pop icon shows how she’s turned from a sweet, or in her words “good girl,” singer everyone loved to an outspoken voice in the political arena.
The movie depicts how Hollywood, the media and her sexual assault case led her astray from the values she once held and influenced her to take a compromised stance on some of today’s hottest topics.
MISS AMERICANA begins by pulling on the audience’s heartstrings by showing never before seen footage of a young Swift. Fans see the star in old home videos and singing in various locations, asking those listening to call the radio stations in LA and ask them to play her song. Her tactics worked, and at 16, Swift hit it big with her first album.
From there on out, Swift’s relatable lyrics and down-to-earth upbringing continued to help skyrocket her career.
She was taught early on that, “Part of the fabric of being a country artist is, don’t force your politics on people. Let people live their lives. That is grilled into us.”
Swift was raised by Christian parents who tried to instill biblical values in their daughter.
That’s arguably one of the reason’s so many people loved her. She did the job she signed up to do, which was to entertain from a wholesome perspective. No one cared what her political views were because they loved her music and related to her life experiences.
However, the movie takes a big turn when she talks about why she spent a year away from the spotlight and the sexual assault case she won in 2017.
“I’ve educated myself now, and it’s time to take the masking tape off my mouth,” Swift says. “Like, forever.”
Insert the 2018 primary election in Tennessee and Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn.
“[Marsha Blackburn] votes against fair pay for women,” says Swift in a candid and raw conversation with her father. Pleading with him to understand her new views and why she feels she need to stand up for them.
She continues,
“[Blackburn] votes against reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which is just basically protecting us from domestic abuse and stalking. Stalking! She thinks if you’re a gay couple, or even if you look like a gay couple, you should be allowed to be kicked out of a restaurant. It’s really basic human rights and it’s right and wrong at this point. I can’t see another commercial and see [Blackburn] disguising these policies behind the words ‘Tennessee Christian values.’ I live in Tennessee. I’m Christian. That’s not what we stand for.”
In the above quote, Swift says she’s a Christian. However, it doesn’t seem she upholds the same Christian values from the Word of God, the Bible, that her parents taught her, like believing in traditional marriage and families. In the clip, her father can be seen shaking his head in disappointment.
The singer’s now standing up for morals and values she learned from being in Hollywood, not the ones she learned as a child. This change in her beliefs is evident.
In fact, in an earlier part of the movie, archival footage of Swift winning one of her first awards shows her thanking God first and above all else. Now, she uses that platform to influence young voters to support the Equality Act and to use their voices to change the world we live in by voting.
Swift fell victim to the popular rhetoric that “equality” and “diversity” are the only two values that matter. The problem with this, though, is that the terms contradict each other.
As law professor Adam J. McLeod wrote an opinion piece for the New Boston Post, many people pursuing higher education do not understand the fundamental difference between these buzzwords that Hollywood elite often tout.
You have been taught to resort to two moral values above all others, diversity and equality. These are important values if properly understood. But, the way most of you have been taught to understand them makes you irrational, unreasoning. For you have been taught that we must have as much diversity as possible and that equality means that everyone must be made equal. But, equal simply means the same. To say that 2+2 equals 4 is to say that 2+2 is numerically the same as four. And, diversity simply means difference. So when you say that we should have diversity and equality you are saying we should have difference and sameness. That is incoherent, by itself. Two things cannot be different and the same at the same time in the same way.
Furthermore, diversity and equality are not the most important values. In fact, neither diversity nor equality is valuable at all in its own right. Some diversity is bad. For example, if slavery is inherently wrong, as I suspect we all think it is, then a diversity of views about the morality of slavery is worse than complete agreement that slavery is wrong.
Similarly, equality is not to be desired for its own sake. Nobody is equal in all respects. We are all different, which is to say that we are all not the same, which is to say that we are unequal in many ways. And, that is generally a good thing. But, it is not always a good thing (see the previous remarks about diversity).
This is why Movieguide® stands firm in our belief that media discernment is incredibly important. The singer thinks she’s standing up for her Christian beliefs when in reality, she’s twisting the Word of God into what she wants it to be and to what the world wants it to be.
As Christians, we are called to stand firm in our faith and follow God even when it’s not what the rest of the world is doing. We are called to be righteous even in the face of adversity.
Please pray that Swift has a genuine encounter with God and that He will transform her heart to understand the beliefs of her childhood.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
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