Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words is a well-made documentary...that I doubt I can watch a second time. Every moment of it is painful. Megan has to navigate being human and flawed, like everyone else, but in the spotlight as the price of fame. And yet, there is no mistake she made that justifies the disproportionate violence and abuse she endures. The documentary reveals how disproportionate it actually is, while not making excuses for her own mistakes. The idea that she must socially "pay" for being both sexually liberated and educated, both strong and vulnerable is something not unique to her, but an experience many women, Black women in particular, are familiar with. Watching the dual paths of her life, one shaped by becoming a star and success and the other shaped by suffering and sorrow...is a lot to consume. I cannot imagine what it must be like for her to actually live it.

I do appreciate the documentary on a creative and technical level. The inclusion of animated storytelling is ingenious, and rare in this genre. Fits her brand; helps the audience with visualization. Including social media clips with the purple glow border helped with continuity despite frame size changes which usually make documentaries visually disjointed; this documentary flows. I like how the documentary approaches chronology and keeps it steady. Every documentary does not need to jump around a timeline. While that is something that worked for Michael Jordan's documentary series The Last Dance, for example, I do not think that has to be a blanket approach for documentaries, in general.

The choice of purple as an anchor colour is sharp. For some Black women it signals trauma (intraracial in particular), but also a living beauty that should not be ignored, possibly a reference to the play, films or book The Color Purple. Purple itself also references nobility, regality and luxury. Thus, for me, this colour alludes to my aforementioned perception of dual paths. For all of the luxury of her life and the massive change in social/class status, some things sadly remain the same. Disrespected. Unprotected.

While seeing her relationship with her mother—a mother who embodies the perpetually non-existent "girl mom" archetype—has a beauty to it, her death and the unbearable grief Megan tries to navigate is heartbreaking to watch. While there are exceptions—such as the film Miss Juneteenth, which depicts a loving Black mother who is very close to her daughter—most media does not depict mother/daughter relationships of any race, let alone Black ones, as close instead of antagonistic. Thus, I don't think the public imagination is primed to even think of those relationships as close by default. I think people who have not lost their mothers or were not close to their mothers before their deaths may have trouble understanding how extreme grief itself plus the particularities of a dangerous exploitative industry lead Megan down some roads she seemingly regrets. None of these roads justify the violence she has faced. I wish her nothing but safety and peace. Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words is worth the watch, even if only once.