"There are five of us here at the Vue theater in Westfield Stratford City, East London. As if by unspoken agreement, we claim opposite corners of the auditorium in solitude, determined to avoid eye contact. No one dares to sit center. The reason? We're all here to watch Melania, Amazon's controversial $40 million documentary about the first lady at noon on a Friday."
"What has been marketed as an insider look at the most mysterious and opaque woman in global politics is, for all intents and purposes, a part-propaganda film about the Trump administration, and an attempt to position Melania as a fashion guru with a unique knowledge of hemlines and color schemes. "I love black-and-white," she says in robotic voiceover at one point. "I will move forward with purpose, of course, with style.""
"Truly, Melania's opening scenes are not dissimilar from watching Miranda Priestly's entrance in Devil's Wear's Prada. Soundtracked to The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter," we see Melania's red-bottomed stiletto Louboutins first. She struts from various chauffeured vehicles, helicopters and planes in a five-minute montage, gliding up and down in elevators in large black sunglasses, smizing into the distance. The plot, of sorts, follows the 20 days leading up to her husband Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. president for the second time."
Five audience members sit in opposite corners of a Westfield Stratford City cinema, avoiding eye contact and center seats to watch Melania at noon. The film is presented as an insider look at an enigmatic first lady but operates largely as part-propaganda that reframes her as a fashion authority. Opening scenes focus on footwear, sunglasses and choreographed arrivals set to The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter." The narrative follows the twenty days before Donald Trump's second inauguration, emphasizing clothes fittings, interior design meetings and concerns about an inauguration hat. The film foregrounds style, positioning Melania as a potential brand-maker while obscuring deeper political substance.
Read at The Independent
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