Welcome back to Second Thought. Today we dive into Melania, the documentary about our First Lady that has everyone talking; yet another Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) apology; and why you should just ignore the Doomsday Clock.
Melania’s Version Is Tight-Lipped, If Lavish
When the Slovenian-born First Lady Melania Trump, in a smoky eye and a false lash, is getting a benediction from a priest at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on the anniversary of her mother’s passing while a gospel rendition of “Amazing Grace” rings out, you won’t be able to help but think to yourself, Well, ain’t that America. It’s one of many bizarre yet beautifully captured moments in the new documentary Melania.
Given the subject, and the potentially political particulars of the doc’s distribution deal through Amazon, which paid $40 million to acquire it and $35 million to promote it, and given that director Brett Ratner hasn’t made a film since being accused of sexual assault almost 10 years ago, the documentary got quite a lot of attention before the lights went down. Rolling Stone did an investigation into the apparently chaotic conditions on set. Ticket sales are being studied as if they’re contested presidential ballots in Fulton County, Georgia. My own theater basically had only reporters in it; everyone had a notebook out, and luckily, someone had an extra pen.
But what actually happened during the 104 minutes that promised an inside look into the mind and world of the elusive First Lady? Well, many dress fittings, and many, many trips in Chevy Suburbans.
