Unless you had been living under a rock this year, you’ll remember when Katy Perry live streamed her life constantly in ‘Witness World Wide’ on Youtube for 4 days straight. During Witness World Wide, Katy eats, sleeps and plays within the vicinity of a house Big Brother style with cameras everywhere. It was part social experiment, part reality tv show, part talk show and part promotion for Katy Perry’s new album Witness. ‘Katy Perry: Will You Be My Witness?’ reflects on the making of Witness World Wide.
Katy Perry commentates for most of the documentary, reflecting on her experiences doing the live stream. Some flashbacks are funny, like when James Corden and Katy play a breakfast game with odd cultural food delights from around the world. Katy also has an amusing cook-off with Gordon Ramsay and is seen out of her depth and flailing about in the kitchen.
Some moments are very serious and make you feel like you shouldn’t be watching. This was most evident when Katy had a therapy session with Dr Siri Sat Nam Singh discussing her struggles with depression, suicide, alcohol and the expectations of being a celebrity and judged for changing her image. The documentary also shows ‘the making of’ and behind the scenes content.
Even if you did not watch the live stream when it was happening, this documentary shows the best of the stream and is easy to follow. It was entertaining to see Katy perform for her fans, have important discussions, share her love for her dog and be her most authentic self.
The goal of Witness World Wide was to show the person underneath the glamour of Katy Perry. She’s just a normal, wacky and fun person you’d never be bored with who has grown as a person since her initial launch into the music industry. She’s also extremely hardworking. You can tell by the flashbacks in the documentary that this wasn’t just dreamt up overnight. Although the event itself was planned, you can tell that the live stream was real and unscripted. You may not agree with Katy Perry’s approach but there is method to her madness and an undeniable truth that the idea of a pop star being so transparent is fascinating. I really enjoyed watching this documentary. The new album, although unpopular, is pretty great too.