At a ‘Melania’ screening, cheers for Trump, snickers at Obama — and a reminder of our nation’s political divide
Having read a biography of her and learned almost nothing from it, I was looking forward to gaining insights about our First Lady. But nothing in the documentary has a true “behind the scenes” feel.
If you enjoy shows like Project Runway and Martha Stewart Living, then Melania is the movie for you.
In a bid to see what all the commotion was about, I attended a matinee in a classic New Jersey swing county.
I worried the audience would reflect the country’s polarization, and be at each other’s throats by the time the closing credits rolled.
I needn’t have worried. At my weekend show, the audience of about 80 people laughed appreciatively at every word the president uttered. Those closing credits were met with robust applause.
First, however, a bit of housekeeping: I admit to having what the president’s supporters would contemptuously describe as “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” I’m a cancer survivor who literally burst into tears when he appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. because I knew they would kneecap cancer research.
As for Melania, my pre-movie impression was that she’s savvy, very guarded, and focused on being a good mother. Having read a biography of her and learned almost nothing from it, I was looking forward to gaining insights about our first lady.
An hour and 44 minutes later, I know she’s savvy, very guarded, and her favorite singer is Michael Jackson. And that you can see the George Washington Bridge from their Trump Tower penthouse.
Beyond that, it’s as riveting as one of those videos you get stuck watching at a Florida timeshare. Sappy music. Happy people. Everything is awesome.
The director made not the slightest attempt to find drama when chronicling the 20 days Melania has to prepare for her husband’s second term. There is a lot of focus on clothes and table settings, but armed with the heft of the U.S. government and the deep pockets of corporate donors, there is almost zero chance of anything going wrong.
That makes for a beautiful inaugural ball, but a lousy story arc.
As a result, the TikTok laments of your cousin Bethany planning her wedding would be more compelling.
Nothing in this documentary has a true “behind the scenes” feeling to it. Melania is never shown getting ready for her day. On camera, she appears only in full makeup, with not a hair out of place.
As a result, the movie is as meticulously curated as she is.
This all makes perfect sense when you watch Melania at the fitting for the coat she will wear to the swearing-in ceremony. She critiques the lapel with the eye of both a dressmaker’s daughter and a fashion model. Her requests are precise: the collar should be a quarter-inch lower; the hat band a half-inch narrower.
There is a funny exchange when Trump is shown practicing his Inaugural Address. He says he wants to be a peacemaker, and she interjects: “And a unifier.” He orders his aides to ignore the suggestion. She tells them to keep it.
The movie then cuts to his speech on the Capitol steps. He includes her phrase, then pointedly turns to her with a look that says, “You win. You were right.” It’s a look every married person understands.
It’s charming — until you remember that just eight months later, Trump said at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service, “I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them.”
Toward the movie’s close, when Melania moves back into the White House, her voice-over mentions the historic importance of the mansion. In this, she joins previous first ladies who gave the public an inside look at the White House: Jackie Kennedy’s ground-breaking tour was televised in prime-time, and Nancy Reagan’s massive renovation was featured in Architecture Digest.
The movie is as meticulously curated as its subject.
The key difference is those two weren’t paid a reported $28 million by Amazon — more than twice the paycheck Margot Robbie earned as the star of Barbie, by the way — for their participation. By contrast, Melania is thinly disguised pay-to-play vehicle.
The movie shows a White House untouched by the changes yet to come. My audience laughed when the official portrait of Barack Obama briefly appeared in the background; it has since been relegated to an off-limits stairwell.
In fact, the main problem with the movie is it’s already out of date: It depicts the calm before the storm. It’s from a simpler time that now seems a long, long time ago — before the National Guard troops, before the DOGE cuts, before the whole Tylenol-autism thing, the demolition of the East Wing, the ICE raids, the measles outbreaks, the tariffs, and Greenland.
All of that has happened, yet 80 of my neighbors chose to give up two precious hours of daylight on a short winter’s day to see this movie. And then applaud. It was a discouraging reminder of how deeply divided we remain.
Kathleen O’Brien is a retired newspaper columnist who lives in northwest New Jersey.