Selena Gomez Documentary ‘My Mind & Me’ Helped Her Feel Like She ‘Wasn’t Just This Prop to People’
An actor, singer, and businesswoman, Selena Gomez has long been a force for positive change in the entertainment industry. From her social media posts about the power of self-love to her songs about growing stronger after a tough breakup, Gomez has earned fans thanks to her transparent, open personality. One of Gomez’s most intensely personal projects was her 2022 documentary, My Mind & Me. In the documentary, the star gave fans an inside look at her mental health, including her bipolar disorder. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Gomez discussed how she appreciates how differently fans treat her in the wake of My Mind & Me.
What was the Selena Gomez documentary ‘My Mind & Me’ about?
For years, Gomez was seen primarily as a teen icon, a young woman who rose to fame on the Disney Channel before embarking on a hugely successful career in music. Her high-profile relationship with Justin Bieber helped to keep her name in the headlines. However, as Gomez has grown and matured, she has worked hard to shine a light on the importance of mental health awareness. Gomez has used her own bipolar disorder as an example. And in late 2022, she released a brand-new documentary called My Mind & Me.
The documentary spans many years of Gomez’s life, detailing both her mental and physical health journey. It even touches on the star’s battle with lupus and her time in treatment, which made headlines around the world. Raw and intensely personal, the documentary was a revelation for Gomez’s fans who had no idea about the depth of her struggles with mental health.
Selena Gomez opened up to Vanity Fair about her documentary
In a 2023 interview with Vanity Fair, Gomez touched on how the release of the documentary changed her life. Specifically, the way that fans approach her in the street. She admitted that she’s glad that fans now see her with some dimension. “That was happening more, and I started to feel good because I wasn’t just this prop to people — like, ‘You’re so cute. Let’s take a picture.’ It was more than that. It was a conversation about mental health or courage or disappointment or loss. And I started to go, ‘This is paying off,’ because that’s what I want at the end of the day. I’d rather be remembered for my heart than anything else.”
Gomez also discussed how scared she was prior to the release of My Mind & Me. “I was terrified. But after the documentary came out, I started noticing people come up to me, and they weren’t like, ‘Oh, I want a picture of you.’ It was more like, ‘Hey, I appreciated that part where you said this,'” Gomez said. “Then I ended up having a five-minute conversation with someone about their journey.”
Selena Gomez has been open about her bipolar disorder
Gomez told Vanity Fair that, in many ways, the release of My Mind & Me has been “freeing” for her. “I’m just so used to censoring myself that it was a, me wanting to let go and b, if they’re telling me to be quiet about it, that’s not good because that’s genuinely not the place I’m in anymore,” she said. “I’m not ashamed of it. I don’t ever feel, even for five seconds, that I’m crazy. My thoughts tend to ruminate, but it’s up to me to be proud of who I am and to take care of myself.” These days, Gomez is one of the strongest celebrity advocates for mental health awareness and understanding.
