Viola Davis mocked for Michelle Obama portrayal

She's speaking with an overbite and, unlike Michelle, Viola isn't used to speaking with one and so of course her mouth is going to look fucked up when she speaks.

Derailing the thread, but that Michelle Yeoh movie Everywhere All At Once doesn't actually exist right? I never known a movie to be so over promoted but basically impossible to find in my entire life.

r2, where do you live? It's playing all over the place in my neck of the woods.

R2, it is playing at almost every multiplex within ten miles of my house (ten different venues).

[quote]She's speaking with an overbite and, unlike Michelle, Viola isn't used to speaking with one and so of course her mouth is going to look fucked up when she speaks.

So then don't do one. It's acting anyway, it's not supposed to be an impression. I agree with those who say that it looks like an SNL sketch. But the show is supposedly a stinking turd anyway.

Viola needs to start bringing it again. Between Ma Rainey and this, she needs to start backing up her pronouncements that she should be paid as much as Streep. Because she's not making a convincing case.

R1 here. Sorry. I meant underbite. Michelle has an underbite.

There were so many memes of her in this role, I’m almost tired of laughing. Even solid actors make mistakes.

R5 whether you think she deserved them she was nominated for many awards for Ma Rainey.

Lord chile!

Mrs. O is not going to like this!

R8 And most of those awards were from black awards shows. Not many real ones. Just perused her awards section on IMDB. Reads like when Jennifer Lopez was on The Actors Studio and James Lipton was trying to impress us with her Blockbuster and Kids Choice wins.

OMG it’s really like she’s doing a parody

Original thread:

R10 Wait why are black award shows invalidated because they’re black?

I’m sure you also complain about the Oscars being too black now.

Great example of white people. They don’t want black people in “their” spaces then say black spaces have no value.

Yuck.

[quote]OMG it’s really like she’s doing a parody

The internet is legitimately picking the worst parts to mock the performance.

Once you've seen it, you'll realize it wasn't that bad at all.

It sure as hell wasn't great ... I mean she does look like her at some points, freakishly so. Her face isn't always like that when she's playing her.

But the whole thing most certainly isn't like this

R13 Because there aren't many black roles in any given year. And then eliminate all those that are unworthy of award status. And so of course even substandard performances (like hers was in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) will get nominated because the awards shows need nominees to fill the slots and they need big names to be nominated in order to get funding and attention.

If there were Armenian acting awards, Kim Kardashian would have swept the competition for that shitty Tyler Perry movie she did for the same reason.

Another clip...this is truly some of the worst acting I have ever seen.

Will Viola's career survive this?

OMG

^ link

Viola be like...

Viola must subconsciously hate Michelle

Who doesn't?

I get what she is trying to do with the way Michelle talks but is WAY over doing it.

What the fuck was Viola thinking?????? Oh mother of god.

Pursed lips sink ships! Her career is OVAH!

Keep … my wife’s…. name … out .. your… motherfucking …mouth!

Does she bring her trademark sexuality to the beloved Michelle?

"Two of the three stars—Anderson as Roosevelt and Davis as Obama—are egregiously miscast.

Davis, one of the greatest actors of her generation ... masters Michelle’s speech patterns and mannerisms but has too inherently formal a manner to telegraph her character’s disarming warmth. This poor casting choice is compounded by the mistake of pairing Davis with O-T Fagbenle (The Handmaid’s Tale), a relatively chill presence who’s more than 15 years her junior, as Barack."

Poor Viola. She had a good run.

Was that Mary Ryan with her?

OMG. Didn’t see go to dailies? Poor Vi.

That is bizarre. Not even vaguely reminiscent of Michelle.

She was ALWAYS miscast in this role.

She’s fallen into Meryl Streep’s trap of never saying NO. Just because you get offered roles doesn’t mean you should take them.

Oy…

I receive good reviews for my work. Please keep me out of this mess. This is not the Viola that I used to know.

This almost looks so bad it becomes good. Might be worth hate-watching.

Love the Michelle P. is getting the best notices.

[Quote]Once you've seen it, you'll realize it wasn't that bad at all.

A glowing review!

[quote] This poor casting choice is compounded by the mistake of pairing Davis with O-T Fagbenle (The Handmaid’s Tale), a relatively chill presence who’s more than 15 years her junior, as Barack."

Ouch! In other words she's just saying that Davis is too old and cold to be paired with a younger man.

It's great, if she was playing the part of a patient with tardive dyskinesia.

I begged them to let me play it!

To all the haters…

I watched the whole episode. The lip thing was weird but it only occurred a few times. But Davis nailed the Michelle voice, and particularly the way she walks. Not bad at all considering how familiar we are with the real Michelle.

That said, the script is hit-you-over-the-head when it comes to spelling things out, and there's some awful miscasting: whoever saw Michelle Pfeiffer and thought, "Betty Ford"! But the worst is Kiefer Sutherland as FDR.

There’s a reason Viola is called “the Black Meryl Streep”.

Did Viola get Michelle confused with Moms Mabley?

Flip Wilson's "Geraldine", r45.

Davis was interviewed along with Pfeiffer and Anderson and said she created this series to provide roles for actresses. Pfeiffer and Anderson blanched. I didn’t catch an eye roll. Davis said she studied Obama’s mouth in preparing for her part.

Poor Michelle. This is just insulting.

I thought Pfeiffer was compelling and funny in the first episode, but then I don't know anything about Betty Ford save the alcoholism thing, I couldn't really even tell you what Ford looked like (that was before my time)

I can just picture Barack teasing Michelle mercilessly over this.

They seem to have a playful relationship and they don’t take themselves too seriously.

Even bald, I would have nailed that role. Fuck Viola Davis.

Has Michelle commented yet? She can’t be happy. That mouth thing was insulting.

Oh good, another thread on this

Sad. She is playing Michelle as if she had a disability.

I wonder if this will become Violas "Mommie Dearest" project that in years to come, she won't want to discuss?

That's what I was thinking last night as people we're criticizing her on Twitter.

Career over at age 56. Rest In Peace

Wesley Snipes woulda been perfect as Michael. Nobody could tell the difference.

Viola Davis was the worst casting decision on that show. They really couldn't find a black woman who looked or sounded like Michelle Obama? I don't think they even tried. Michelle Pfeiffer is doing some horrible "that 70s show" Midwestern accent and Gillian Anderson is doing some tic-heavy impersonation that looks like Thatcher on crack. For some reason they managed to find Laura Bush's clone for her scene. Terrible, lazy, sycophantic show.

This show missed out on the golden casting of Elizabeth Berkley as a real life Slavicized Nomi Malone.

The music seemed all over the place. At times the dialogue didn't have the same vibe with the underlying music. I still love all the acting even if Viola gives Michelle a whisper voice for no reason.

As seen on Lipstick Alley:

“Is she sure she’s playing Michelle Obama and not Kylie Jenner?”

I’m feeling more like a 5 today, but I have to give this presentation. Ugh.

Does she do her usual snot crying in this one?

I don't understand why these three bitches are being focused on. I was far more interesting and glamorous.

It's finally good to see that overrated cunt actress go down. She pisses me off more than AnnE Hathaway does. AnnE is pretty entertaining in the WeCrashed miniseries unlike Michelle in The First Lady.

Port Viola has gone to Dubai to avoid the press.

I know that she was probably sexual in the part.

Slap her Wilona!

Harriet Tubman would never!

Based on the clip at r16, Viola’s next role needs to be Virginia in a remake of the DL classic “Like Normal People”!

I wonder if Viola is snot crying after reading the reviews.

Julia Roberts would have been more convincing as Michelle that Viola is. I mean Julia was a lead contender for the Harriet Tubman biopic after all.

Even Gossip Girl actress Tika Sumpter plays Michelle Obama better in this one minute clip from Southside With You.

Actors have to know when to say no to a film! Everything isn't for everyone. Just because it's offered to you, doesn't mean you should take it.

She makes an awful Michelle. Looks lore like her mother.

Not sure why she went for pointless mimicry when she could’ve located her character through warmth and intelligence.

Michelle has her own production company. I’m sure if asked she’ll say she hadn’t seen it.

Would’ve been hilarious if they’d done Melania and just recreated all the nude photo shoots and had Jeffrey Epstein introduced her to Orange One so she could get a green card and then had her walking around in that “I Don’t Care” jacket, revisited her Red Christmas and ended it with her failed NFT sales.

Wait… she produced the show to provide roles for actresses? Or to provide roles for herself? She seems obsessed with these award-bait performances.

I generally like her but it's about time she gets criticised for one of her performances. I feel like you always know what you'll get from her. The character descriptions are different but the performances are always largely the same. She will shout the same with her widened eyes, snot cry the same, crook her neck the same... she does it well, but even someone like say a Taraji or a Whoopi has shown a lot more versatility in just a handful of projects.

Literal violence!

Viola is too old and too aggressive.

Michelle has the toned body big ol’ wrestler, but she’s emotionally more feminine and vulnerable.

This role should have gone to Regina King.

I thought she lacked Michelle's confidence. She also spoke too......fucking.......slowly. Michelle doesn't talk like that. It's a bad impression.

I will not be ignored!

[quote]The lip thing was weird but it only occurred a few times.

Earlier in the thread, someone posted a whole scene of Davis with Kate Mulgrew and the lip thing was going on the entire time.

R74 Alan Rickman said his American friend Ruby Wax finds the idea that he was offered the role of Frank Sinatra very funny.

She plays Michele like Christopher Walken would play Obama.

They should have gotten Gilbert Gottfried to play Michelle & give a slightly less offensive performance

Viola is far too old to play Michelle. Watching that clip it felt like a comedic impression - is this a parody show or is it meant to be serious?

She’s giving me Madea.

Michelle is not ghetto. “You’re a nigga. You’re a coon”.

I can’t picture it.

I seriously doubt Michelle has ever uttered the N word. She didn't came from the ghetto. Her parents, even if working class, were respectable people.

[quote]Actors have to know when to say no to a film! Everything isn't for everyone. Just because it's offered to you, doesn't mean you should take it.

A production company owned by Viola and her husband was involved in project. It's hilarious how their site is heavily promoting it, but most reviewers have panned Viola's performance and most people on Twitter aren't happy with it either.

That clip, the dialogue – ugh, for chrissakes. Really?

[quote]I wonder if Viola is snot crying after reading the reviews.

I would say so. She probably thought this was going to be kind of slam dunk successful miniseries for her. But, she and Gillian Anderson both suck in it and the writing isn't all that great. Hopefully, Emmy voters will do the right thing and not nominate St Viola for this crap.

Even Lilly James in Pam and Tommy managed to scrap together a decent portrayal of Pam Anderson that didn't come off as SNL parody.

[quote] Wait… she produced the show to provide roles for actresses? Or to provide roles for herself? She seems obsessed with these award-bait performances.

I think it was more to produce award bait show roles for herself. She's just as phony as other actresses(Kate Winslet, Amy Adams, Reese Witherspoon, etc) who produce some of their miniseries or TV shows as awards bait. In a way, Viola is worse than them because she took a role of a historical figure and tried to hard in the role and it turned into a parody.

Black Twitter is very diverse covering the entire Black diaspora, from African Americans Black Brits Black Caribbeans as well as Blacks from the continent in Africa. Some people tried to be positive about the performance. But the overwhelming majority of Black Twitter thought Michelle Obama was did dirty in thus show. At least in the first episode anyway.

Black Twitter is pretty large and everyone had something to say about this. I'm still looking forward to seeing this series though. I was always excited about it. I love anything involving American first ladies!

^^^ I meant to type "too" instead of to" What the fuck is wrong with me today?

And to think that Will Smith slapped me for MY performance!

R96 Maybe, she's gets better in the role as the series goes on. But, overall I still think Regina King would have been better in the role. Regina could have portrayed Michelle's warm personality much better than aggressive Viola.

What was Voila even thinking doing this?

"Viola has the Emmy, she has the Tony, she the OSCCCCCAR. Pay her what she's WORTH!

[quote]But the overwhelming majority of Black Twitter thought Michelle Obama was did dirty in thus show.

This is my new favorite expression for whenever I don’t like an actor’s performance. I’m simply going to say they were “did dirty in thus show”.

R99 As soon as the project was announced, I assumed they'd go with Regina King but I guess she wasn'tt considered a big enough name despite an Oscar. Regina already has the underbite too so she'd just be talking naturally instead of trotting out this SNL level shit Viola is doing.

R90: I know right? I was shocked by that line

Outrageous!

Her portrayal reminds me of another character

R96, are they blaming yte folks for this too?

Regina has 3 more Emmys than Vi.

R16, is that the job that was a freebie job where they tripled the position's salary for her because of her husband and she basically did nothing. Sadly I know from people who worked with her there.

The whole series feels like a poor Halloween dress up clown show. Lifetime budget realness.

Being a proud woman of color myself, I could have found time in my grifting schedule for the part of Michelle. Mrs. Obama herself even suggested me for the part. I have a feeling though that my husband's witchy grandmother called the producers and forced them to deny me this opportunity. They are racists, you know, the British royal family. It wouldn't have surprised me if my cheapskate father-in-law suggested a white actress for the part.

[quote] Viola Davis talks to Vanity Fair about her portrayal of Michelle Obama in ‘The First Lady’: “I’m mostly terrified about what she will think. I don’t want to insult her and have her calling me. I gotta make the sister look good. I just hope that it lands with her.”

Is it too late for a Snyder Cut?

She’s serving SNL, she’s serving Madea, she’s serving m sexuality, serving Vietnamese tattooed on eyebrows.

[quote] What was Voila even thinking doing this?

That was her ego talking. She’s too old and too aggressive to play Michelle and decided to do an impersonation rather than act.

If she wanted to create roles for women she could have stayed as a producer and cast a more appropriate actress.

Viola is a good dramatic actress but she's also limited in range. She's not sexy. She's not funny. She compares herself to Meryl but I don't think she's on Meryl's level at all.

She doesn’t have Streep’s ability to morph with accents and costumes.

Davis is more internal and emotional a performer. Hence the snot acting and the crazy stares and breakdowns that feature in her best performances. She’s very good actor, but a different kind to Streep.

We know she compared herself to Meryl as a publicity stunt to cement herself as the Great Black Actress, but the comparison does her a disservice.

Certainly when I think of Michelle Obama I think of the demeanour of Joan Collins and the line readings of a villainous Disney Queen.

This is what happens when nobody is willing to tell you the truth. Someone should have taken her aside and told her that her portrayal of Michelle was worse than bad, but nobody had the guts to.

Did she keep a lemon in her mouth while filming? It's bizarre to watch. A great director would have reigned all of this in. I actually wouldn't be shocked if she still got an Emmy nom just for her name and for the part she's playing. Remember Ellen Burstyn's 11 second performance getting an Emmy nom? Lol.

Gillian is also doing the most with her fake teeth and weird stares at the camera. She is probably thanking her lucky stars that Viola is taking all the heat for this project.

r90 and r91 Michelle grew up on the South side of Chicago. I'm sure her parents raised her right but saying she's too fancy to say "nigga" is fucking ridiculous. She also said "coon" with quotation marks while she was talking about racism, not during a casual conservation. There are a million inaccurate things about the performance but this wasn't one of them.

Lara Flynn Boyle in blackface would have been more convincing.

[quote] Did she keep a lemon in her mouth while filming? It's bizarre to watch. A great director would have reigned all of this in. I actually wouldn't be shocked if she still got an Emmy nom just for her name and for the part she's playing. Remember Ellen Burstyn's 11 second performance getting an Emmy nom? Lol.

I wouldn't be shocked either if she get's a "pure name recognition" Emmy nod.

I'm looking at Gold Derby's Emmy prediction section and a few of the experts and editors have removed Viola from their prediction lists on Monday and it seems they swapped her out for Julia Roberts in Gaslit.

Also, some of the editors and experts are predicting Ellen Burstyn in the supporting actress category as Sara Delano Roosevelt. Her scenes in the first were just cliche as fuck with the whinny mother in law battling it out with her daughter in law. That shit has played out too much on various TV shows, I couldn't stand The White Lotus storyline of the annoying mother in law showing up at the vacation or honeymoon. Those stupid storylines need to get dumped. It's funny how we never see the reverse storyline of guy having to put up with his wife's annoying mother or father.

Viola Davis doesn't look enough like a guy in drag. HARHARHARHAR

[quote]Also, some of the editors and experts are predicting Ellen Burstyn in the supporting actress category as Sara Delano Roosevelt. Her scenes in the first were just cliche as fuck with the whinny mother in law battling it out with her daughter in law.

That's actually the truth of the relationship between the women, though. It was very tense. Sara Delano dominated the family, worshipped her son, and held the purse strings. She built a house in NYC with a shared wall - and shared interior access. She came and went in ER's house as she pleased.

Viiola Davis is going to "die" during routine surgery too isn't she?

Maybe I would have hated it more if I hadn't read this thread but I watched it expecting total crap and to me it is nowhere nearly as bad as you guys are carrying on.

Davis is fine, to me... I agree the lips are a bit Rocky Horror tribute but it's far less cheesy than I expected for a living couple, etched in people's minds.

Anderson is fine but that story has been told and told and told and told... unless they show Eleanor going full muff dive, there's nothing new here. Keifer Sutherland looks like a senior playing FDR in the school play. I can't make up my mind if I like the intercutting of the stories or not.

I find the portrayals of both the Obamas and the Fords quite... likeable. They seem alright. I didn't know Betty Ford sounded like Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin but I am dealing with that.

And yet we let Octavia slide as a superhero in a rubber bodysuit.

Shame.

[quote]That's actually the truth of the relationship between the women, though.

R124 can't handle the TRUTH!

Saw the clip at r118 and about fell over. Viola had the pursed lips while posing for the portrait? Michelle doesn't have pursed lips in the portrait! She could have looked that up! It's right there on Google!

[quote] Davis is more internal and emotional a performer. Hence the snot acting and the crazy stares and breakdowns that feature in her best performances.

One trick snot dripping pony.

What's so internal about playing to the cheap seats?

Isn’t she doing a project where she plays a general or queen? I think she overestimated her popularity and skills.

Viola looks way too butch in this. Michelle has a sensuous femininity about her even when she seems imposing physically. This was a total miscast. Vanity project/blatant Emmy grab for Miss Davis.

There is nothing feminine about either Viola or Michelle. Michelle doesn't have linebacker tranny rumors for nothing. And Viola waddles from side to side like a penguin as if her knees don't work.

I do sometimes feel like I am watching that comedienne who did Whitney on MADTv.

[quote]unless they show Eleanor going full muff dive, there's nothing new here.

Nobody wants to see that. Don't even put it out there. It would be as bad as Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney making out in "John Adams".

Wow. That was worst I could've imagined.

[quote]I do sometimes feel like I am watching that comedienne who did Whitney on MADTv.

Debra Wilson WHET to her

[quote] What's so internal about playing to the cheap seats?

Viola focus on the truth of the emotion the character is feeling at any one time and exhibits it.

She doesn’t really work on accent, body language and appearance from the outside in. (She tried to here and we can see the minstrelish result - Michelle Obama has an underbite. But she doesn’t bug her eyes or bare her teeth or have a deep, East Coast accent. )

Both are legitimately ways of working. Both can work really well or not at all.

She is too old and too ugly. Michelle isn’t unattractive.

Viola looks like a trans or a Snatch Game version of Michelle.

I AM a sexual being! You will NOT strip me of my sexuality!

Regina King is about 5’2” and Michelle Obama is very tall. King would have been even worse castingb than Davis.

I doubt Regina’s height would have been an issue (put her in heels and stand her on a box) the way Viola’s Bugs Bunny tics are.

I still can't believe she actually played it that way.

Didn't she look in a mirror to see how she looked before stepping in front of the camera?

Did nobody involved tell her?

She probably caused a more worthy actress to lose out on not just this role but others by declaring herself the Black Meryl Streep. As if she should have first pick of every role in the limited range of those available for Black women. As if defining yourself as the Black version of someone else is actually something you'd want to do. Oh, well, she got an Oscar that way so I guess she doesn't mind embarrassment.

R147 She's producer on the show. No one was going to tell her shit.

Whoever compared her to the black woman from MAD TV absolutely nailed it. That’s exactly what it feels like I’m watching.

Ellen Burstyn is actually quietly giving the best performance in this so far.

Ugh - yes - Debra Wilson playing Whitney.

I wonder if Regina Hall somehow would have been good in the Michelle role. She could have nailed warm youthful vibe unlike Viola.

The pic at R142 makes me wonder who the fuck suggested those eyebrows.

R153 Jean Harlow.

Gabrielle Union is the right height and age. Not having seen her in anything since Bring It On, I doubt she has the chops. But she could surprise us.

It is an SNL parody. It's hilarious. The actor who plays Obama is shockingly bad.

What were they thinking with this?!? The Obama sections are simply laughable.

[quote]It is an SNL parody. It's hilarious. The actor who plays Obama is shockingly bad.

I agree, he's bad. But, on The Handmaid's Tale, he's not that bad of an actor.

Viola is an INTENSE actor and sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't.

Why is Oprah interviewing her as if this flop is some kind of achievement? SMH

Episode 2 of The First Lady is out on the Showtime app. The portrayal is awkward with weird mouth movements.

[quote] The whole series feels like a poor Halloween dress up clown show. Lifetime budget realness.

The brief scene of the Nixons departing the White House in episode 2 looked cheap as fuck.

Davis can render powerful and intense performances, but cannot master sublety. She has a stalking walk and no physical grace. She chose to focus on and embody any anger Michelle had. Misses the boat totally on her charisma, intelligence, and her public presentation of a centered woman. Besides, there may be no opportunity for her crying and snot nosed blubbering, which is one of her signatures.

There's a hilarious part in the second episode where she goes "I'm a lawyer". Totally reminded me of Tracy Morgan playing Star Pig Jones on SNL.

[quote] Davis can render powerful and intense performances, but cannot master sublety. She has a stalking walk and no physical grace. She chose to focus on and embody any anger Michelle had. Misses the boat totally on her charisma, intelligence, and her public presentation of a centered woman

That’s the thing. Michelle was praised as being a better public speaker than Barack back in 2012 by none other than Glenn Beck, who also supported BLM because of the way she presented it.

Michelle is quiet and warm, Viola is aggressive and cool.

[quote]Why is Oprah interviewing her as if this flop is some kind of achievement?

Oprah doesn't do actual.

R15 the reason why I find this logic stupid is because the Oscars have always have filler nominations for mediocre performances and movies by white people and so I therefore don’t see the difference.

Pretending the “prestigious” Oscars only nominates and highlights equality and excellence is absolute bullshit.

[quote]Davis can render powerful and intense performances, but cannot master sublety. She has a stalking walk and no physical grace. She chose to focus on and embody any anger Michelle had. Misses the boat totally on her charisma, intelligence, and her public presentation of a centered woman. Besides, there may be no opportunity for her crying and snot nosed blubbering, which is one of her signatures.

The main focus on anger is off putting. Her version of Michelle Obama definitely lacks charisma.

Viola's recent response to the criticism over the portrayal and she continues to come off as insufferable.

How hard is Oprah going to fight now to make sure that Viola never plays her in a biopic?

I enjoyed all three of them in the last episode. It's better produced than I expected, overall and it's nice escapism. Drama, no, but not quite melodrama or camp, either. (Hate the opening credits.) Pfieffer is doing the best job because she's working the character we know least about. Davis is growing on me, as in Anderson. Davis certainly sounds like her. The chemistry with the Obama actor is good. (He's cute.) The lips stuff is way too much and I don't know if that's her or the internet or both of them together. That said, in those interviews, dial it down lady, you're not Meryl. You're not even Glenn.

BUMP

[quote] (Hate the opening credits.)

I hate that too. I mute during part because that cover song sounds like crap.

Heh.

FYI: For those of the DL'rs who are on fixed incomes and/or having financial challenges the first two episodes of this series are running for free on YouTube. You can also sign up for a free 30 day trial on ShowTime but just remember to cancel a few days before the 30 days are up to avoid billing.

Now, unlike many here on this thread, I enjoyed the series. I can say that I liked it much better than the other popular serial and thread here on DL "The Gilded Age". Maybe, it's the subject matter? Anyway, I watched all 4 episodes back-to-back last night and it kept my attention. I'm not an expert (but, I do know what I like and what I don't like) and thought that the acting was fine--even Miss Viola Davis's performance.

The scenes that I really liked were;

Mr. and Mrs. Bush meeting and welcoming the Obamas to the White House. It made me smile and sort of well up with tears. It just reminded me of the genuine warmth and welcome that the Bush family extended to the Obama family. Showing the pride of the White House staff just took me back to the pride I had/have of many moments of the Obama Administration. I think that the actor who is portraying President Obama is doing an excellent job. I'm definitely reminded of the real President Obama whenever he is shown. I also like the performance of the actor portraying Mrs. Robinson. I like the story line and every thing so far is good as far as I'm concerned.

I liked Gillian Anderson's scene when she discovers President Roosevelt's affair with Lucy Mercer. I think she did a great job in capturing all of the insecurities of Eleanor Roosevelt had stemming from when she was a child and beyond. Ellyn Burnstein is quite good too. Who exactly is Louis and what is his full name? I am unaware of a person like him that was so close to the Roosevelts. I'd like to read up more about him.

I think Michelle Pfeiffer is doing a fantastic job in her role of Mrs. Betty Ford. To me, she is really bringing home the status of women and how women were looked upon and treated during that time. The scene that stood out for me was her confidence in going through with the State Dinner after speaking with her White House friend.

Again, overall I like it and I look forward to further episodes.

I could have play Michelle Obama with more believability, more pizzazz, more mouth…….

For those of you with Amazon Prime Video, Showtime is 99 cents per month for up to two months as an add-on channel, rather than the regular $10.99. Limited time offer. So if you're interested in The First Lady or anything else on Showtime, this is a good opportunity.

[quote] Mr. and Mrs. Bush meeting and welcoming the Obamas to the White House. It made me smile and sort of well up with tears. It just reminded me of the genuine warmth and welcome that the Bush family extended to the Obama family. Showing the pride of the White House staff just took me back to the pride I had/have of many moments of the Obama Administration.

I agree with this, although my skin crawled when Laura Bush deliberately took Michelle past the slave painting. Ugh. Wouldn’t happen.

R178 That part was stupid as fuck especially with comment about how she gets to pick her own art.

R170 rofl

[quote]Ellyn Burnstein

Who???

This is a bad Lifetime movie.

Davis looks ridiculous playing the mother of an infant. She looks like her grandmother. Her husband looks like her son.

R49 Betty Ford wished very hard every night that she looked like Michelle Pfeiffer. In fact, it was the cause of her alcoholism.

[quote]This is a bad Lifetime movie.

Well, that's just one opinion. However, in a bit of a defense for Lifetime, their made-for-TV fare has improved drastically and a lot of it is quite good!

Speaking only for myself, I'm very sad about the person that I have become or am becoming. Let me explain... I can't help this feeling that I have about all of this negativity regarding this project. For some reason I have this overriding feeling that most of this brouhaha is just a political "hit" because it is a high profile piece that deals with the Obamas and in a sense further deifies them. I know... I know... "Oh, boy! Mr. Conspiracy has joined the room!"

While I don't believe in conspiracy theories, (at least I didn't before) I have become much more cynical and very skeptical about... well, "whatever". Anyway, I have read a few of the reviews about this piece and very rarely did I read any real and truly constructive criticism. Anyway, I like this series thus far and I'm looking forward to seeing more of it. But, that's just my opinion...

OH! FYI (to those who are interested) Louis, (the character in the Roosevelt segment) is Louis Howe (January 14, 1871 – April 18, 1936) Howe was an American reporter for the New York Herald best known for acting as an early political advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

I said bad Lifetime movie R184. I didn't indicate that all Lifetime movies are bad.

Oh man. I tried to sit through The First Lady. Disaster class.

Viola and Gillian were awful.

I’m guessing there won’t be a series 2 with Hillary, Nancy and Lady Bird.

^It was canceled...