Taylor Swift, The End of An Era – Disney+
★★★★★
“I WANTED to exceed fans’ expectations with this tour,” Taylor Swift says during the opening episode of her The End of An Era six-part documentary series.
It’s not even up for debate that she did just that with the global trek, but I’m happy to report she also achieves this with her new Disney+ series.
Disclaimer, I am a huge Swiftie, but before the first two episodes dropped I did have my concerns.
I feared the documentary would just be the same old footage of Taylor picking her outfits that we’ve now all seen a thousand times and fluffy backstories about her life on the road.
Of course, these types of moments are in there, but episode one alone pulls back the curtain on the most talked about tour of all time in ways other behind the scenes specials simply don’t.
The 43-minute long episode focuses on the heinous Southport attack, as well as the foiled terror plot at Taylor’s Vienna gigs, and lifts the lid on what went on behind the scenes.
For the first time we see how much the trauma rocked Taylor, with her breaking down in tears on multiple occasions.
Rather than feeling staged or performative, it shows the true artist behind the phenomenon and proves she is just as human as the rest of us.
During a chat with pal Ed Sheeran she admits she feels almost dehumanised by fame.
In another scene she’s filmed trying to calm herself down with an audio book of 2024 thriller The God of The Woods.
In the weeks that followed the incidents in Southport and Vienna, Taylor found herself wrecked with anxiety to the point she was physically shaking.
Not that Taylor is moaning about her life – in fact at one point she openly accepts her reality isn’t normal.
Though as she sings on The Life of A Showgirl track Elizabeth Taylor, “Oftentimes it doesn’t feel so glamorous to be me”.
People were quick to join an online pile-on against Taylor over summer ’24 after she kept silent following the incident in Southport.
But those behind the wrath of masked crusaders may be feeling more than a little silly after the doc.
Episode 1 reveals rather than turning a blind eye behind and pulling up her drawbridge, away from the spotlight Taylor was determined to make a difference.
Before each of the five remaining Wembley shows Taylor met with the families of those affected by the horrific incident.
And while I’ve obviously not spoken to any of those families in question, I would be willing to bet my flat that her decision to personally meet them has made a positive difference, far beyond that she gives herself credit for.
And it would be worth far more than a short Instagram story statement ever could.
In private Taylor was clearly struggling with the run of incidents, but on stage she never faltered.
While never brushing them under the carpet ignoring them, she was determined not to let events overshadow or dampen the magic she had created for the 10 million ticket holders on the 149 date trek.
I was lucky enough to attend three of the gigs in the capital – two of which took place after Vienna and Southport.
Both with those shows – and indeed with the new docuseries – the magic and escapism of Taylor’s world is very much alive and well.
A feat I doubt, even in decades to come, will ever change.