I Went to See the Melania Movie. Now I Know Who's Buying All Those Tickets.

"Melania Trump's relative scarcity from her husband's second term has not gone unnoticed. The first lady had an implicit excuse for her absence though: She's been busy working on other things, like the documentary she was making, for which Amazon paid her (an insane) $40 million. She couldn't possibly be expected to serve as first lady in the traditional sense, because she was dedicating all her time to playing the first lady in a movie."

"I went to the first available screening Friday morning, and after noticing when I bought my ticket that all the people who purchased one before me were also going alone, I was not surprised to see that nearly everyone else in the theater with me was a fellow journalist. We may not have had any Melania fan-on-the-street interviews, but at least we had esprit de corps, and people to snicker with."

"When asked about the exorbitant amount of money the company put into the movie, representatives from Amazon said, "We licensed the film for one reason and one reason only - because we think customers are going to love it." It's an enraging sentiment at a time when the company's founder Jeff Bezos is planning to lay off 16,000 people while also gutting the Washington Post. For these reasons, I'm conflicted about recommending that anyone watch it."

Melania Trump's scarcity during her husband's second term coincided with her work on a documentary reportedly financed by Amazon for $40 million. The film premiered at the Kennedy Center and opened in theaters globally. Early screenings attracted many journalists attending alone, creating an awkward atmosphere likened to displaying partisan symbols. The movie is widely expected to flop despite Amazon's statement that it licensed the film because customers will love it. The acquisition drew criticism given Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's simultaneous plans to lay off 16,000 employees and cut the Washington Post. The combination of lavish funding and corporate retrenchment prompted ambivalence about recommending the film.

Read at Slate Magazine