Maureen Dowd and Carlos Lozada on the Empty Propaganda of ‘Melania’
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What is the significance of the documentary 'Melania'?
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I loved how much content it exposed me to. Things that I never would have thought to turn to a news app for.
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What were the initial reactions to watching 'Melania' in theaters?
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This is The Opinions, a show that brings you a mix of voices from New York Times Opinion. You've heard the news. Here's what to make of it.
I'm Nadja Spiegelman, an editor at New York Times Opinion. Over the weekend, I watched Melania in a nearly empty Manhattan theater. All of my friends refused to see it with me. Luckily, I now get the chance to discuss it with two distinguished columnists, Maureen Dowd and Carlos Lozada. Thank you both so much for being here. Thank you, Nadja.
How does the film portray Melania Trump's life during the inauguration period?
Great to be here, Nadja. Let's do some movie reviews.
Yes. I mean, let's start by talking about how for journalists in left-leaning cities, you're both in D.C., there's a lot of joking around about what the experience of going to the movie theater to see this film is like. For example, audio producer Derek Arthur and I had only one other person in the theater, a young woman who told us after that she had come because she'd seen ads for this film in the subway and been curious about what it was about. What was your experience of going to see the film in theaters?
It was so funny because I went in downtown Washington, and there were only a few people there. They were all journalists. So finally, one of the journalists, this guy stands up in the back of the theater and goes, are there any civilians here? Yeah. I wanted to interview someone. And one journalist tapped me on the shoulder, Betsy Klein of CNN. And she's like, can I talk to you about the movie after? And I went, no. And she looked shocked. And I said, no, because I'm a journalist, Betsy. You know, so it was... You know, it was just very incestuous with just a few journalists. Although I did bring my trumpeting Republican sister, which was very revealing because that way I knew that there was a group of older white women who were going to love this movie.
And Carlos, what was your movie-going experience?
What narrative choices did the filmmakers make in 'Melania'?
So I went to see Melania twice, actually, over the weekend, because that's how committed I am to the New York Times. The first time was the same showing as Maureen. Basically, I think we found the earliest possible showing on Friday in D.C. And, you know, it was people from all walks of life, you know, Wall Street Journal.
Yeah.
New York Times, Atlantic, CNN, you know? So literally like I'm standing in the concession line and there's a journalist in front of me and a journalist behind me. The second time I saw it was on Sunday and it was not in DC. I went out to see it in one of the malls in the DC suburbs of Maryland, figuring, you know, it would be a different kind of crowd. And it was very much civilians this time, right? It was an older crowd, much more female, no one carrying notebooks, and people seemed to be enjoying themselves. And there were certainly more people than had been there that first time that I saw it. So there's certainly an audience for the movie.
I'm curious what you thought about Melania before going into the film and what you thought about her after walking out of the film. Was there anything that changed through seeing this film?
Well, it's interesting because I went on Trump's first presidential exploratory trip to make a speech in Miami to Cuban Americans. It was 1999. And Melania, who was then Melania Nauss, was there. And she was his girlfriend.
How does the film's propaganda impact viewers' perceptions of Melania?
And... I liked her. I thought she was cool. And there was much more of a sense that she was in on the joke. She was laughing about how they had outfitted her and Calvin Klein to look like a politician's girlfriend and that she'd never worn skirts that long, but she wasn't going to give up her stilettos.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the significance of the documentary 'Melania'?
0:01–0:26
2
What were the initial reactions to watching 'Melania' in theaters?
0:26–1:11
3
How does the film portray Melania Trump's life during the inauguration period?
1:11–2:46
4
What narrative choices did the filmmakers make in 'Melania'?
2:46–4:21
5
How does the film's propaganda impact viewers' perceptions of Melania?
4:21–6:28
6
What contradictions exist between Melania's portrayal and Trump's policies?
6:28–8:28
7
In what ways does 'Melania' reflect on the immigrant experience?
8:28–10:13
8
How does the film compare to historical propaganda works?
10:13–37:29
Speakers
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