Apple TV+
Music documentaries are a dime a dozen nowadays. In simply the previous three years, a handful of A-list artists, together with Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez, Travis Scott, and Ariana Grande have given followers behind-the-scenes entry to excursions, recording classes, particular performances, and different profession highlights by means of numerous streaming platforms. In an Leisure Weekly article about this phenomenon, journalist Marcus Jones theorized that, for in the present day’s largest musicians, “turning into a cinematic topic has all however changed in-depth journal cowl tales and network-TV sit-downs as an avenue for artists to disclose themselves in a brand new gentle.”
That mentioned, it was solely a matter of time earlier than Selena Gomez, a reasonably non-public and generally press-averse pop star, would use the medium to her benefit—though, seeds for a documentary had been planted as early as 2015. After watching Madonna: Fact or Dare, Gomez recruited director Alek Keshishian, who additionally directed her “Fingers to Myself” music video (and is her supervisor’s brother) to comply with her round on the world tour for her second studio album, Revival. Nonetheless, their plans got here to a halt when Gomez ended the tour after 55 reveals, citing despair and anxiousness on account of her lupus. In 2018, she was admitted right into a psychiatric facility.
These bleak turning factors would in the end be the main focus of Selena Gomez: My Thoughts and Me, out now on Apple TV+. The 90-minute documentary begins with troubling footage of the “Come and Get It” singer having emotional outbursts previous to the cancellation of her tour and resumes in 2019, after she’s been recognized with bipolar dysfunction. As implied within the title, the movie helps followers perceive the 30-year-old’s headspace over the previous six years, as headlines about her bodily and psychological well being have solid a shadow over her in any other case thriving profession.
“Let me make you a promise,” she narrates in the beginning of the movie. “I’ll solely let you know my darkest secrets and techniques.”
How keen you're to imagine this assertion from one of many world’s largest celebrities will form your expertise watching the documentary. Nonetheless, the abstract Gomez provides of her earlier mental-health struggles is about as heart-wrenching as one would count on, even when it’s a bit obscure. The Solely Murders within the Constructing star, in addition to her family and friends interviewed within the doc, allude to her experiences with suicidal ideation and the wedge her bipolar episodes drove between her and her family members earlier than she was recognized. Moreover, in a scene the place she suffers a lupus flare-up, we see how coping with a continual sickness impacts her total well-being.
Whereas her willingness to speak about such a troublesome subject material is actually noble and helpful for sure viewers, it’s not notably stunning that she would open up on this means in the event you’ve been taking note of her non-music output. A lot of Gomez’s social media presence, speeches, non-profit work and even tv tasks in recent times, like 13 Causes Why, have centered on mental-health consciousness. And he or she even launched a psychological well being firm final yr referred to as Wondermind impressed by her private journey.
That mentioned, I discovered My Thoughts and Me to be a extra intriguing documentary in its much less PR-ish sequences. Seeing Gomez go to her elementary faculty in Texas and reunite along with her childhood neighbors is nice and a touching reminder of her humble beginnings. However the extra candid footage of her at work, as she complains about doing press for her album Uncommon and feeling “like a product,” create a extra compelling story in regards to the nature of movie star. And but, except for occasional footage of Gomez being swarmed by paparazzi and requested incessantly about her ex Justin Bieber, the documentary isn’t all that enthusiastic about Selena Gomez, the celebrity.
It’s unusual how Gomez’s stardom goes underanalyzed all through the movie. Whereas Keshishian solutions followers’ questions on her private well-being, the documentary inadvertently poses one other: Does Gomez truly like her job? And why is she nonetheless within the enterprise if it appears to trigger her a lot anguish? The movie lacks such readability as a result of it spends virtually no time partaking along with her craft as a singer, actress or producer. Gomez solutions the latter herself, repeatedly stating that she needs to make use of her platform to assist folks. (This can be a laborious reply to just accept on its face from a multi-millionaire with a make-up line).
Whereas Gomez’s intentions might very properly be pure, some elements of the documentary give one pause, together with a visit to Kenya to go to WE Faculty—which she helped increase cash for with the controversial WE Charity—on the movie’s midway level. Gomez doesn’t appear in the slightest degree conscious that she’s partaking in “voluntourism.” And whereas her conversations with the scholars are heartwarming, these exchanges largely profit Gomez on her religious and emotional journey. It’s a minimum of refreshing that this section ends with the singer’s greatest good friend Raquelle bluntly reminding her that this “isn’t [her] actuality.”
Total, My Thoughts and Me paints an empathetic, PR-friendly portrait of Gomez as a form, altruistic pop star. It’s irritating that the doc isn’t extra enthusiastic about interrogating the disillusioned little one actor or the lady whose seismic fame appears inexplicable at occasions. A bolder doc would tackle the harder questions on her movie star. Possibly Gomez isn’t able to go there simply but.