The Meaning of Melania

"One thing the Melania documentary is not is a documentary, at least in the traditional journalistic understanding of the genre. There is no backstory, no interviews with friends or family that might help you understand the main character better, and scant introspection-deep or shallow-from the subject herself. The film follows Melania Trump through the 20 days leading up to her husband's second inauguration, hitting the same highlights you'd expect in a "Get ready with me" wedding video."

"She is seen approving invitations, trying on her dress, and, at one point, approving an appetizer that consists of caviar stuffed into a literal golden egg. Occasionally she interacts with staff, her husband, a foreign first lady, but mostly she is alone, even when tepidly doing the YMCA dance. So what even is Melania? Is it, as critics have suggested, a mockumentary, propaganda, the " hard launch of a new lifestyle brand?" Or, as the Atlantic critic Sophie Gilbert suggests, is it something more akin to a "a two-hour perfume commercial"?"

"Another of Gilbert's descriptors is perhaps the most apt: " Melania the movie isn't a documentary; it's a protection racket," she wrote, considering that Amazon, which has many business dealings with the government, licensed it for $40 million, far above the next highest bid. Amazon reps have insisted the company invested so heavily in the film because they "think customers are going to love it.""

The film portrays Melania Trump during the twenty days before her husband’s second inauguration, focusing on glamorous preparations and solitary moments. There is no backstory, no interviews with friends or family, and minimal introspection from Melania herself. Scenes include approving invitations, dress fittings, and a caviar appetizer inside a golden egg, with only occasional interactions with staff, the president, or foreign dignitaries. Critics have variously labeled the film a mockumentary, propaganda, a lifestyle-brand launch, or a two-hour perfume commercial. The premiere's government-heavy audience and Amazon's $40 million licensing deal have raised questions about cultural influence and commercial motives.

Read at The Atlantic