I Skipped the 'Melania' Movie and You Should Too

Why does Melania exist?

I don’t think we live in an age in which a blustery piece of macro-level propaganda can do the work it used to. In a fractured media landscape, such pieces aren’t likely to reach the not-already-converted. It’s also very difficult to do propaganda like that against the grain of the popular will. As Jon Stewart said, “People keep saying, oh, this guy’s Hitler. No he’s not. And I’ll tell you why he’s not. Hitler was popular.” A film like Melania is not likely to persuade dissenters, protesters, and anyone who feels like people shouldn’t be gunned down in the street for the crime of dissenting and protesting. In fact, a glossy take on the First Lady is not likely to even work on the MAGA losers who might be turning on Trump in the wake of, you know, everything. I’m not even convinced die-hard MAGA loyalists want to watch 104 minutes of FLOTUS preparing to re-enter the White House by… I don’t know, I didn’t see the movie.

So it bears repeating: why does Melania exist? Directed by disgraced director Brett Ratner and acquired by Amazon, the film promises to be an absolutely nightmarish ride through the life of the Melania Trump, but, again, I didn’t see it. You could barely have paid me to see a Brett Ratner film at all, let alone after the multiple sexual assault allegations levied against him and his teaming for a movie with a political regime that’s declared war on democracy and its own people.

So I think it’s pretty obvious that Melania is not worth seeing. I decided I could write the article on the film without actually seeing it, because that’s how little respect the movie deserves. The point of this article is to address the central point: this movie exists to soothe Donald Trump’s ego and distract from his failures. Amazon bought the film in order to curry favor with Trump. And the entire film and its marketing campaign serve to divert attention from, among other Trump crimes, the mass deportation machine and the violence inherent therein.

Thankfully, this movie is going to absolutely backfire (if it has any impact at all). Her husband’s regime, reputationally at least, is going down in flames, and a posh look at Melania “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” Trump is only going to highlight how out-of-touch the current administration is with the average citizen.

When Donald Trump is out of power, when we collectively tear his name off the Kennedy Center (where this film showed yesterday, following a White House screening) and everywhere else, and ICE and DHS are abolished, and Stephen Miller et al go on trial for their roles in all this, we we can maybe laugh at this stupid movie. For now, stay mobilized.