From J-Lo to Taylor Swift, ‘pop docs’ are glamorous fun – and smart propaganda

msn.com:

Halftime feels like a more intriguing prospect than some of the recent concert tie-ins to feature J-Lo’s juniors. The film, directed by Amanda Micheli, focuses primarily on the run-up to Lopez’s performance at the 2020 Super Bowl and covers Lopez narrowly missing out on an Oscar nomination for her lauded performance in Lorene Scafaria’s 2019 film Hustlers.

Lopez’s reasons for releasing a documentary are understandable: her three-decade career has been mired by professional and personal criticism. “For my whole life I’ve been battling to be seen, to be heard, to be taken seriously,” she says in Halftime.

Women in music frequently face difficulty in being taken seriously as artists. Such documentaries give stars the opportunity to control their image and choose how much of themselves to share with audiences.

Of course this trend isn’t restricted to women. Justin Bieber and One Direction’s mid-10s concert documentaries promised viewers a look at their idols as they had never seen them before.