s By Nicholette Marbley
I was surfing through Twitter and stumbled across a tweet that said Michelle Obama’s book “Becoming” was being made into a documentary on Netflix. I was ecstatic! I’ve been inside the White House, I’ve met and taken pictures with her husband, and was shocked when I watched a playback of myself screaming and crying like” fangirl” as he turned to me and waved! It is not just good energy and memories that connect me to this film. Unfortunately, not everyone was as ecstatic about the former First Family like I was. Our family dog died on election night. I shed tears; I was confused, but more than anything, I was afraid. In this relatable documentary, Michelle Obama talks about what it’s like to face your fears, your enemies, and yourself. When the former First Lady spoke the words,” Totally me unplugged for the first time in a long time.”
This documentary showcases five parts of her life: Her series of tour stops, book signings, before fame, political highs and lows, and life after the White House. The documentary begins with her embracing her family backstage on her first stop. There was a lot of crying, encouragement, and love given all around. The documentary bounces back between all five areas of her life, so you have to pay attention to the order in which scenes play. The Best snippets order from best to worst are: When President Obama surprised the former First Lady with flowers on stage in the middle of her tour, the former First Lady sharing tidbits of her following in her brother’s footsteps and getting accepted into Princeton, sharing very personal details about her and President Barack Obama’s love story, the election night recap, the tidbit about how the beds of both former first daughters were left messy. The responsibility they had to learn. I enjoyed her candid point of view of her thoughts concerning hate crimes that went on while she was living in the White House and her personal experiences of having a decked out designer wardrobe and not being able to leave her home. The only thing I did not appreciate is the story flow. I enjoy a simple timeline. The skipping around from year to year was my favorite, but everyone is different. I wished she would have elaborated more on her life after the White House and how her daily routine changed. Lastly, I wanted to see and hear more from her daughters, husband, and another immediate family, but since this is her story, it makes sense that it is all about her.
These specific words stick with me, “…There is another chapter waiting for me out there.” She has been extremely quiet and private since leaving the White House. “Becoming” was the first time in a long time we have heard from First Lady Michelle Obama. I know she has said on multiple occasions she would not get involved in politics, but her husband claimed the same thing around the time of John Kerry’s presidential loss when asked if he would run for President. If First Lady Obama were to change her mind to run for President or become Vice President, which Joe Biden’s team recommended, it would bring about all of the feelings of hope, excitement, fears, anxiousness, hate, and gratitude that was there in 2008.
