Melania Trump, the First Lady of the United States, is a woman shrouded in controversy and eye-covering hats. But on Jan. 30, a new documentary was released in the U.S. that may reveal new insights—or push new deceptions.
The aptly named “Melania” concerns the titular Donald Trump’s 20 days before her husband took office as president for the second time.
Its release has been surrounded by great levels of controversy.
“Melania” broke multiple monetary records, with the opening weekend grossing the highest of any documentary in the past 10 years, or at least any non-fiction, non-concert film. The price paid for its streaming rights was the highest of any documentary ever.
From this, one would think “Melania” was a resounding success. Yet the documentary was met with a brutal reception, currently boasting scores of 1.3/10 on IMDB, 1.1/5 on Letterboxd and 11% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
While the grossing weekend broke records, it only made Amazon less than 10% of what they paid. Amazon paid a total of $75 million for streaming rights and advertising, and made $7 million back opening weekend.
Amazon justified the move, too.“For one reason and one reason only — because we think customers are going to love it,” Amazon stated to the New York Times
But many on the internet have theories of unsavory motives for this purchase.
Some theorize that Amazon founder Jeffery Bezos influenced Amazon to buy the movie’s rights as a political move. “This has to be the most expensive documentary ever made that didn’t involve music licensing. How can it not be equated with currying favor or an outright bribe?” Ted Hope, a film producer who worked for Amazon for five years, told the Times.
There are more theories surrounding backroom dealing with the film. Its Rotten Tomatoes “verified audience” (audience members who have bought tickets to the movie) is 98%, making it one of the highest-rated movies on the site. Some suspect this number could be inflated due to bots or other manipulation. Rotten Tomatoes denied this claim.
Another controversy stemmed from the film’s director, Brett Ratner. He hasn’t made a movie since his six sexual misconduct accusations in 2017. He never faced charges for these cases.
Ratner also appeared in newly declassified documents around the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case. He has denied connections to Epstein. It is unclear from the redacted communications what their relationship was.
“Melania” promises a behind-the-scenes look at the First Lady, but through the oddities in its production and reception, it may instead offer an unintentional glimpse into the politics of power in Hollywood and the White House.
