Becoming, the new Michelle Obama documentary on Netflix, seems like the kind of left-wing hagiography that mainstream media critics would lap up in Pavlovian fashion. Instead, the movie has fallen flat with reviewers who have called it “bland,” “self-celebratory,” and a “paper-thin” account of the former first lady.
The documentary is the latest collaboration between Netflix and the Obamas, who struck a lucrative production deal with the streamer in 2018. Former Obama national security advisor Susan Rice currently sits on Netflix’s board of directors.
Becoming follows Michelle Obama during her recent book tour during which she interacts with Americans from various walks of life. The documentary comes amid growing speculation that Michelle Obama could be Joe Biden’s pick as a vice presidential candidate. A group of Democrat operatives recently launched a committee called “Draft Michelle Obama” to push Biden to select the former first lady as his running mate.
The documentary is catching heat for comments that the former first lady makes about child-rearing. In the movie, she says that having children was a “concession” that cost her “aspirations and dreams.”
So far, reviews from mainstream outlets have been tepid at best and dismissive at worst — though critics’ love for the subject clearly remains undiminished.
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