Review
Why Becoming is Worth a Watch
by Maya Davis
Michelle Obama, someone
who garners the most visible
class and poise, has given
the world an exclusive
glimpse into her world, both
politically and personally.
Two years after leaving the
White House, the former first
lady went on tour to release
her memoir, Becoming. As
Obama ventured on a book
tour for her worldwide
bestselling book, she gained
her own recognition to the
public, outside of her
husband, former President
Barack Obama.
She has now come out with her own Netflix
Documentary, also named Becoming, produced by
Obamas’ own production company, Higher Ground.
The documentary showcases a seemingly rare and
up-close look at her life. It is compelling but carefully
narrated from her perspective, while showing footage
from both on and off stage during her world book tour.
She describes what it is like growing up on Chicago’s
Southside and shares intimate family moments.
The film opens with her and her crew in her hometown
of Chicago, the first stop in her 34-city book tour. She
is delicately dressed in full white garb, preparing to
speak in a packed arena with well-known TV host, Oprah
Winfrey.
The clips in the film begin to tell first-hand the story of
Obama’s heavy experience while being the first lady.
She shared that she had held back tears when physically
leaving the White House for the last time, and joked that
the media would probably misconstrue it. She then went
on to explain her sobbing once she got on the plane, “I
think it was just the release of eight years trying to do
everything perfectly.”
The film has a powerful set of motivational messages
on the critical morality of education, while creating and
dominating your narrative. Especially as a young Black
woman, Obama points out.
It is tough to believe that someone who has been in the
public sphere for almost a decade, can finally sit back
and reflect on the journey and all that has come with
it. Yet, Obama does it with fortifying and insightful
conversations. While sharing her story and selfreflection,
we see her notable allure and intriguing
humour on display.
She lightly touches on personal and delicate topics, such
as her experience with postnatal depression and marriage
counselling. She rarely spoke about such issues before,
but here she gives a raw and vulnerable perspective on
her life behind closed doors and in front of the media.
image Unsplash: Alex Nemo Hanse
However, it is selective in what she shares, as she is still
trying to maintain an image.
As the film continues to share Obama’s life with her
family, it gives us more background on her relationship
with her dad - who passed away from multiple sclerosis
- and visiting her family home in Chicago. She also
tells us the story of how she met her husband, jokingly
describing their co-workers as meddling when it came to
the making of their union.
When she spoke on the matter of raising her children, she
made it clear that she didn’t want her daughters, Malia
and Sasha, to feel spoiled and entitled growing up in the
White House. One of the ways she accomplished this was
to minimise the White House staff’s work when it came
to the children insisting that they could clean up after
themselves, instead of looking for someone to do it.
At one point in the film, we were able to see a pleasant
moment captured when Barack Obama surprised his wife
with an appearance during one of her book tour stops.
As a lot of America has come to know and love Obama,
it’s hard to imagine that at one point in her life someone
didn’t have high hopes for her. She recalls her high
school principal telling her that she wasn’t “Princeton
material”. Well, she was wrong-.
As Obama famously said during her husband’s
presidential term, “when they go low, we go high.” She
kept that same ideology throughout this film with her
eloquence and class.
Becoming is available to
watch on Netflix
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