From her struggles with depression, bipolar disorder, and lupus, Selena Gomez’s documentary on Apple TV+ is an honest visual diary entry into her mind, and her quest for purpose and self-love.
From her struggles with depression, bipolar disorder, and lupus, Selena Gomez’s documentary on Apple TV+ is an honest visual diary entry into her mind, and her quest for purpose and self-love.
“Who says you’re not perfect, who says you don’t deserve it?” The actress-singer-philanthropist sings in a packed concert hall, stopping when the crowd’s singing overtakes her, and she is overcome with emotion. For anyone who grew up watching Disney Channel in the late 2000s-early 2010s, Selena Gomez is a household name, and her song Who says A self-love anthem, associated with that era, but still evergreen.
But in the new documentary, Selena Gomez: My Mind and MeDirected by Alec Keshishian (who also directed 1991) Madonna: Truth or Dare documentary), Gomez answers this question: It is him.
my mind and me is a raw, deeply unfiltered and honest exhibition on the mental health struggle of one of the world’s biggest stars; A girl who has everything from outside. but it’s far from a it’s so hard to be famous Story. Gomez has been seen time and again accepting the pressure attached to her fame, her stage and the importance that is given to her. In one of the opening scenes, she cries after a rehearsal for her Revival Tour, upset that her performance wasn’t good enough; He He Not good enough. Her concern is startling at first, but relatable nonetheless.
Gomez is complex, layered, and not afraid to bring her darkest secrets to the screen. The documentary switches between fast montages of her performances in large venues, with fans in tears streaming down their faces as she takes selfies with them, her blank face looking like layers of makeup painted on her. , sad in their bed, in the car, of her and her cousin, walking around their neighborhood together, and then, excerpts from her diary. The extreme highs and lows of this editing style show us Gomez, who she is, beyond the woman we’ve seen on screen.
Selena Gomez in a still from the documentary | photo credit: Apple TV+
After 55 shows, Gomez ended the Revival Tour after a mental health crisis. Nevertheless, we see the media starving to find an answer to why she suddenly had to leave, and then disappear. drug use? Partying too much? Or maybe something related to her longtime boyfriend and singer Justin Bieber. It’s a quick scene, but enough to make up for the damage the media can do, especially young women, as seen with Britney Spears.
He has bipolar disorder. It’s a scary situation, but she feels more at peace knowing what’s going on in her mind, compared to being in this state of constant confusion. As she decides to make her diagnosis public, she is warned by her team that the narrative may differ from what she intended in the end. But as happens throughout the documentary, Gomez hasn’t hidden behind her mental health. She is using her struggles and her platform to help people.
But it’s not like a celebrity trying to be a savior. It turns out to be a woman whose identity — for so long — has been tied to her company, her characters, her boyfriend, who is now trying to make connections with people who make a positive impact. Sometimes it’s in the form of surprising students at her former school. For the second time, she is going on a tour of Kenya, to see the school she funded there.
But her mental health is no different from her physical health. Her struggle with lupus, an autoimmune disease, sheds light on physical ailments in a way that isn’t shocking or other or pathetic. Instead her relationship with her body is nuanced, and the complications it has on your mental health from a disease like lupus are delicately portrayed, in despair when Gomez returns, but also determined to heal.
The conversation about mental health has finally made it to the fore, perhaps in large part because of the COVID-19 pandemic. my mind and me An important reminder that, at our core, we are human beings who need or want love, compassion, and empathy, no matter what our lives may look like from the outside. With the entertainment industry having a shameful history of humiliating and humiliating celebrities, and women in particular, this film is a re-evaluation of the narratives we are forced to consume. As Gomez says, after all she has endured, she is still here. There must be a reason. If her goal is to help people, raise awareness, and prevent at least one person from feeling alone in her battle with mental health, she has succeeded.
Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me is currently on Apple TV+. streaming on