Nancy Pelosi Like You've Never Not Seen Her Before
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Last night CNN viewers were treated to snippets of Alexandra Pelosi’s new documentary about Nancy Pelosi. Lucky enough to see the entire film, I can assure you it’s Cinema Verite at its finest. I am hoping CNN will come to its senses and air the entire movie.
From its lush lighting to its unsparing hair and makeup, Pelosi’s Pelosi is an all holds barred flinching portrayal of Democratic leadership, no warts and all.
Alexandra Pelosi dares to show us Nancy Pelosi in a series of one guarded moment after another. Pelosi shoots Pelosi talking on the phone and meeting with her staff almost as if the camera is there, which it is.
We are given the rare treat of seeing Nancy Pelosi precisely the way Nancy Pelosi wants us to see her.
How is Alexandra Pelosi able to gain Nancy Pelosi’s trust? What’s her secret?
Well, I suspect Alexandra Pelosi is persistent, refusing to take no for an answer. I mean, how else could Alexandra Pelosi gain such exclusive access to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s inner sanctum? Especially on January 6th!
I assume most of you watched Alexandra Pelosi’s clip of Nancy Pelosi brazenly proclaiming that she’s going to punch Trump if he steps foot inside the Capitol on Jan. 6th, even if that means she ends up going to jail.
Alexandra Pelosi takes a real chance in this scene, because there’s no guarantee the audience will still root for Nancy Pelosi after bearing witness to her tough, spunky yet refined and cautious side. But still root for Nancy we do!
In fact, after that scripted moment of manufactured candor we’re not just rooting for Nancy Pelosi we’re loving her! Which is precisely what a great documentary is supposed to do, give you no choice but to fall head over spiky high heels with the subject.
As a filmmaker, Alexandra Pelosi is a masterfully fearful storyteller. A lesser documentarian would have been distracted by the bloodcurdling screams from the mob laying siege to the Capitol. The cries of police officers, the blistering stench of bear spray might have tempted a third rate journalist to stray from Speaker Pelosi’s bubble of armed guards and venture outside to film what was really happening. Thankfully, however, Alexandra Pelosi remained undistracted, standing right by Speaker Pelosi’s side to shine the way more important light on just how wonderful Nancy Pelosi is.
For the first time since the last documentary on Nancy Pelosi, Alexandra Pelosi gives us Nancy Pelosi like we’ve never not seen her before.
This is American journalism the way it’s supposed to be: filtered, subjective, and unraw.
Indeed, a lesser documentarian would have steered into the easier subjects Americans actually care about. Questions like, “Why is Paul Pelosi, your husband, violating the STOCK Act by constantly trading shares of companies that fluctuate with your decisions as Speaker?”
But Alexandra Pelosi remained focused.
And that’s precisely why this is my kind of movie, a documentary that leaves me with no further questions other than, “Where did I park?”
America needs more settling and familiar exposes like this. Where so many others like Werner Herzog or Errol Morris fail, Alexandra Pelosi succeeds in firing a fastball right down the middle, Pelosi good, Trump evil, who’s in the mood for P.F. Chang’s?
Alexandra Pelosi has produced the “Goodnight Moon” of hard hitting political documentaries.
It’s akin to Proust’s Madeleine dipped in tea. No sooner has the warm liquid of Alexandra Pelosi’s subject mixed with the crumbs of Nancy Pelosi’s neoliberal claptrap to touch my unsophisticated palate with a sudden shudder that jolts my entire body with an endless cascade of remembrances of things past.
Remembrances like, I wonder if my First Grade teacher Miss Pascucci is still alive? I liked her. She had great legs … Interesting … I was only six and was already a leg man … Wonder who’s on Colbert tonight … Forget it … Don’t watch. You have all those books on your nightstand, the last thing you need to do is watch Colbert … Hey did I ever get reimbursed for my train travel? … Look at those shoes on Pelosi. I wonder what a Chinese knockoff of her Manolo Blahniks would cost … I could afford the real thing if they ever reimbursed me for my train travel … Should I make a stink? … I bet they would have already reimbursed me for my train travel if I didn’t need the money … Is that Chuck Schumer on the screen? He’s got a warm smile.
Damn, I really respect Alexandra Pelosi’s work. Fingers crossed she gets more jobs because it’s tough out there for working journalists like Alexandra Pelosi.