It helps Hillary to have Hollywood on her side
The show: Hillary Clinton biopic video, Democratic National Convention The moment: Humanizing Hillary
Hillary Clinton, the first woman nominated for U.S. president, sits at a kitchen table wearing a simple striped shirt. “My mother wanted me to be resilient and she wanted me to be brave,” Clinton says.
“I was 4. The kids in the neighbourhood would pick on me. It was my first experience with being bullied. I’m running into the house and my mother met me. She said, ‘There’s no room for cowards in this house. You go back outside and figure out how you’re going to deal with what these kids are doing.’ ”
This video — produced by TV powerhouse Shonda Rhimes and solemnly narrated by Morgan Freeman — hits all the right notes, from Clinton’s humble roots and her fight for women’s and children’s rights, to her participation in the operation that killed Osama bin Laden and her new role as grandmother.
But the story above really stood out for me. “My mother was tough,” Hillary is saying (She’s always “Hillary” in the video). “She toughened me. Now I can deal with anything.”
Clinton’s video aired the night after another stirring video: the one Davis Guggenheim ( An Inconvenient Truth) made extolling the accomplishments of Barack Obama.
It consisted mainly of still photos of Obama looking thoughtful, while unseen interviewees offered examples of his strength and compassion.
Both shorts had a simplicity that belied their stellar production values, and both were highly emotional and affective.
When you’re pitching your life story to the American public in 12 minutes, it helps to have Hollywood on your side. Johanna Schneller is a media connoisseur who zeroes in on popculture moments. She usually appears Monday through Thursday.