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These films tend to follow a template: Cameras trail a singer through the recording studio or on tour.

Jennifer Lopez in Halftime, Madonna and Lil Nas X in Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero, and Taylor Swift in Miss Americana.

(And you might bet that they, or their manager, will be credited as a producer.)

Were in a boom time for the publicist-approved pop-star documentary.

How do you know if youre watching one?

Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me

Just look out for these key elements.

Woe Is Fame

These docs make fame seem like torture.

But all dragons must be slain by the third act.

Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream

As Demi Lovato says inDancing With the Devil,Life ebbs and flows.

Life is fluid and Im fluid and thats all I know.

You think username @fuckthatbitch has any authority on your existence and why youre here?

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Lizzo says of a TikTok assessment of her inLove, Lizzo.

Haters become grist for the mill, emboldening fan armies to double down on their generals behalf.

The Brief, Premeditated Truth

These projects often contain a few intimate disclosures, carefully meted out.

Kevin Jonas in

Studio Magic

The stars big realization inShawn Mendes: In Wonder?

Im just a guy who really loves music.

Well, they all are.

Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over

Scenes of an artist in the studio underline their prowess and creative control.

InGaga: Five Foot Two,Lady Gaga and Florence Welch relish their piercing sing-off on Hey Girl.

TheEd SheerandocumentarySongwriterconcludes with his producers applauding a finished cut of Shape of You.

Gaga: Five Foot Two

The Celebrity Encounter

The warning Never meet your heroes doesnt apply to these people.

From the cushioned retreat of a moving vehicle,Swift revealshow she overcame an eating disorder.

Lizzo discusses the on-and-off romance she catalogued on Break Up Twice and Coldplay.

Madonna and Lil Nas X in

Lil Nas X would really like a piece of gum.

These supposedly candid moments are distinct from the other supposedly candid moments because they have a sheen of spontaneity.

Hit the road and the epiphanies come pouring out.

Miss Americana

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