Obamas are Netflix and chill about Trump
The Netflix deal suggests the Obamas believe America will survive Trump, Vinay Menon writes.
Since leaving politics, Barack and Michelle Obama have minted a fortune with speeches, book deals and, as of this week, a new gig with Netflix.
On Monday, the entertainment behemoth announced a “multi-year agreement” with the former U.S. president and First Lady. Though Netflix is now spending cash like a Lotto Max winner with terminal cancer — the content budget for this year is roughly $8 billion (U.S.) — what it stands to gain creatively from this move is not yet clear.
In a statement, the company said the Obamas will “produce a diverse mix of content, including the potential for scripted series, unscripted series, docu-series, documentaries and features.”
That’s the vaguest thing I’ve seen since stumbling upon a sign in the foothills of Darjeeling that contained a picture of a teacup and what looked like an angry bear: Honey, if we continue down this path, I believe we will either find a refreshments stand or get mauled to death. Your call.
But if Netflix wants to throw heaps of moolah at two rookie producers who have no real experience, it must have a good reason. If it wants to brave a boycott from conservative users, as started this week, it must have calculated such a risk and determined the benefits of this “storytelling partnership” outweigh it.
It must really want the Obamas on the marquee — so, good for Netflix.
But what on earth are Barack and Michelle thinking?
Over the last 18 months, I’ve often wondered how the former president must be feeling about the jangled state of American politics. I’ve wondered because he hasn’t said much. It’s strange. If I were president of the most powerful nation in human history and then a new president took over and promptly set out to undo everything I did, silence would be the last response.
Still, I’ve imagined Obama in a safe room these days, eyes bloodshot from the stress and insomnia. He is FaceTiming with former colleagues while mining eight years of White House experience. He is offering a resolute vision for how the Democrats can vanquish the alleged existential threat to democracy that is Donald J. Trump.
I’m afraid this Netflix deal blows up that mental image.
Now I’m picturing Obama yachting with celebrities and stockpiling cryptocurrencies.
You don’t picnic in a park when your house is engulfed in flames. So if the Obamas truly believed Trump is a Manchurian candidate-turned-aspiringdictator who is reducing America to a banana republic, wouldn’t they feel compelled to do more than spend the next few years making films and TV shows? Wouldn’t they be operating with a sense of urgency before their country implodes?
Wouldn’t they stop at nothing to put out the fire?
The only logical takeaway: The Obamas do not believe Trump is an existential threat to democracy. Oh, they may have profound political differences. They may mock his gaffes and chortle at the leaks and typos and endless scandals. They may cringe as he rides roughshod over norms.
On a visceral level, they may even hate his guts.
But they clearly believe America can and will survive a President Trump. And that’s instructive. You don’t turn your back on politics and get into showbiz if the apocalypse is near. You don’t “hope to cultivate and curate the talented, inspiring, creative voices who are able to promote greater empathy and understanding between peoples,” as Barack Obama said in the Netflix press release this week, unless you believe voices will be yammering for years to come on both sides of the ideological divide.
You don’t cash out when your side is short on leadership.
On Wednesday, TMZ posted a short video in which Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico, is asked about the Netflix deal. He looks somewhat baffled as he praises the Obamas while saying he believes they should perhaps be doing something else. You know, maybe helping the Democrats in the midterms and fighting for the values they upheld while serving the public?
As Fox observes: “They can make money later.”
Yes, they can. But those five words by Fox also raise a few more: If the Obamas feel sanguine enough to shift from Washington to Hollywood, why are the rest of us losing sleep over American politics? Why are we arguing in a state of suspended animation when the Obamas have already moved on? Why are we despairing when they are profiting?
This is why the Netflix deal is actually fantastic news for Trump.
If Barack Obama spent eight years in the White House and is ready to become a film producer, this suggests the current occupant is not the monster many believe. If Obamas want to make TV shows, maybe it’s time to tune out The Trump Show.
They have just accidentally normalized Trump in a way he never could.