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hHere we go again,” Melania Trump screams in the opening scene Trailer for his new Amazon documentary. The footage in question was captured at her husband Donald’s second inauguration, with Melania peeking out from under her much missed Wide-brimmed black hat.
But his comments will also likely echo what most viewers are thinking while watching the clip. Here we go again, really: Another glossy over-produced puff piece dressed as a doctor, promising to provide never-before-seen insight into the world of a mysterious celebrity, while actually featuring some highly curated snippets and plenty of shots of the back of their heads in the cab (or, in this case, video of the first lady’s pointe-shoed feet hopping on and off Air Force One).
White against a black background, the cap-off text screams, “Witness history in the making”. Another of these taglines reads, “Twenty days to become First Lady of the United States.” Frankly, if there’s one most exciting strategy movie producers can employ to sell their wares – the woman who has been First Lady before becomes First Lady again! – So we’re definitely really up for some barrel-scraping.
Of course, the purpose of the trailers isn’t to deliver all the good stuff at once; They are considered a means of entertainment for the main event. But it’s almost impossible to watch this teaser and actually feel like this movie will actually give us a window into Melania’s psyche. A vaguely revealing moment comes when Trump asks his wife if she’s seen his speech, and she replies “I haven’t – I’ll see it on the news”, only for the film to immediately cut to a glossy publicity still.
Perhaps predictably, social media reaction has been divided across party lines, with various Republicans and MAGA-adjacent power players claiming they are “very excited” to see the “incredible” finished project, and Trump critics casting far more skeptical eyes on the venture. “People literally can’t afford a meal. And the ‘First Lady’ is making a movie,” wrote Rhonda Ellen Fox, former Joe Biden campaign director of women’s engagement. Meanwhile, an anonymous Twitter/X user scathingly suggested that it could be “the first film to sell 0 tickets”.
melania However, the film is arguably just a symptom of a larger entertainment epidemic. Right now, we are in the age of the vanity documentary. Stars, athletes and political figures alike are well aware of the PR (and monetary) value of a movie or TV series that promises to show “reality” in a raw, unfiltered way. Streaming platforms are also conscious that such projects attract a lot of their audiences (take Netflix for example). beckham The documentary, which attracted a record-breaking 3.8 million UK viewers during its first week).
But for all the prologue claiming no-holds-barred access, the final product always feels like some kind of extended advertisement, leading up to a revelation that never actually arrives. And it’s always hard to get rid of the feeling that the subject of the documentary is actually the one calling the shots, rather than the filmmaker. And you imagine objectivity is especially difficult to achieve when one has the executive producer credit on said subject.
We have seen this process play out again and again in recent years. The Beckhams followed up the David-centric series with another Netflix show dedicated to Victoria this autumn, which was, if anything, less revealing than its predecessor: Independentreview of while pointing out its “inspirational soundbites and relentless ‘girlboss’ speeches”. Guardian It went a step further and praised it, calling it “almost as intimate as a Pret sandwich.”
The same streamer’s recent Simon Cowell-centric show offers similarly limited insight and never really gets a chance to ask bigger questions about his music industry legacy. And the initial promotion of their Meghan Markle “reality” series relied heavily on the idea that it would show the “real” Duchess, only to offer a highly curated version (supposedly, With love, Meghan It’s a lifestyle event rather than some kind of edgy performance; She already told everything in Oprah interview and in that harry and meghan Doctor).
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For the most part, these films and series are what No The feature says more than the actual content. take the easy way out beckham There was no discussion of David’s then-recent role as Qatar World Cup ambassador. Or the complete lack of any mention of the family rumor with eldest son Brooklyn. Victoria Beckham,
And when it comes to melania documentary, some of the most telling details are off-screen. The fact that Amazon reportedly paid $40 million to license the film came just weeks after she sat down to dinner at Mar-a-Lago with Melania and her husband. jeff bezos And according to his then-fiancee Lauren Sanchez wall street journalThat arguably says a lot about how well the entrepreneur is getting along with the current administration (an Amazon spokesperson said the only reason the company made the acquisition was “because we think customers will love it”). Mrs. Trump will apparently receive a cut of about 70 percent of that amount, another revealing insight into how she likes to use her platform.
too striking? the fact that melania is directed by Brett Ratner, a filmmaker who was accused of rape and sexual harassment at the height of the #MeToo movement in 2017 (Ratner has always strongly denied the allegations). melania It marks his return to the film industry, and Trump’s choice of director says a lot about the MAGA world’s willingness to accept “cancels” with open arms, and how little it values movements like #MeToo.
There’s something undoubtedly interesting about Melania, the first lady who favors extremely high-end Christmas decorations and has always seemed at odds with her husband’s political ambitions (earlier this year, the new York Times It was claimed that she was present at the White House for “less than 14” of the first 108 days of Trump’s second presidency).
But a puff piece film will certainly not be a medium for piercing a veneer. Of course we’ll have to wait until her husband’s second term ends before any filmmaker will dare tackle that conundrum – in the meantime everything that’s presented to us is pure image management.