I know I just did a post about three documentaries to watch, but I’m back with more. I’ve been on a documentary roll apparently, and I’m not mad about it.
FAR FROM THE TREE (Hulu)
I watched this on a whim one night when Mike was out of town. I pulled it up on my phone thinking I’d fall asleep with it playing in the background. But I was hooked and ended up watching the entire thing and was downright sobbing by the end. This documentary is based on Andrew Solomon’s book by the same name, Far From the Tree. It’s really about parents and children. Expectations, identity, individuality. I wasn’t expecting such an emotional response but wow, it’s phenomenal.
The documentary follows various families with children who have differences from the parents. Each family’s story seemed to hit me harder than the last. Ultimately despite the differences (whatever they might be), the one common thread is love.
THE PHARMACIST (Netflix)
I just watched this this weekend while I worked on a Needlepoint project. The Pharmacist is a documentary series following a dad’s quest to tackle the opioid crisis in his New Orleans parish in the wake of his son’s death. The series is very well done and you really grieve with him and root for him. Just when you think he’s gotten somewhere, something else pops up that derails the momentum a little bit. But he is relentless in his fight. It’s very inspiring and he was definitely one of the first people raising the red flags about the opioid epidemic.
TAYLOR SWIFT: MISS AMERICANA (Netflix)
Definitely one of the most buzzed about new releases on Netflix, and for good reason. I’ve been a big fan of Taylor Swift’s music since she first made it. I love when she releases new albums because I feel like they always touch on something I’m also going through in my life. (Which I know is how many people feel, hence her songs’ popularity!)
I thought her decision to make this documentary now was brilliant for her career. As she enters her 30s (hi, same!), she is very clearly making a choice to put forth a specific image. Having started my blog as a teenager and spent a decade plus of my life documenting it online, I feel like I do understand where she’s coming from. And I REALLY applaud her for the messages she chose for this. It was inspiring.
