I’m still waiting for a documentary about the magnificent Ina Garten (at least we have her fall 2024 memoir), but until that day comes, Netflix’s documentary Martha will suffice. Although having a documentary celebrating your professional life and powerful personality is a dream for many, Martha Stewart didn’t have a good time watching it.
In an interview with The New York Times, Stewart said she’s happy young women like the message of the movie, however, she’s not thrilled because she hoped it would tell the story of “a strong woman standing up for herself and living through horror as well as some huge success.” I’d say that Martha does tell that tale, but according to the woman herself, it doesn’t. She said the doc is “me boasting about inner strength and any of that crap” but “should be about showing that you can get through life and still be yourself.”
Okay, so we might be splitting hairs here about the actual message of the documentary. But putting that aside, Stewart doesn’t like that director R.J. Cutler chose classical music for the score instead of rap, which is what she wanted. Given that Snoop Dogg and Stewart are pals and even hosted two cooking shows together, her request isn’t surprising. I’m genuinely confused why classical music was supposedly a better idea since that is a fairly unexciting choice.
What else was Stewart concerned about? She wasn’t pleased that Cutler didn’t include her fun anecdotes about attorney Alan Dershowitz, how much she enjoys travel, or her grandkids. She also said “it was just shocking” that the filmmaker didn’t put more of her videos and pictures in the movie. Most of all, however, she didn’t appreciate that her financial scandal was given so much screentime. She said “I considered it a vacation” and didn’t think of it as very significant. I love Martha’s candor, but I can’t imagine someone making a documentary about her and not mentioning in great length that period of her life. Viewers would have had a lot of negative things to say if that had been the case.
Well, even though Stewart wasn’t happy, fans enjoyed getting to know this cookbook author/TV star/Sports Illustrated model/incredible woman better. Viewers shared their adoration of Martha on X, with one user writing “what a boss” and adding that the star “has lived a remarkable life and I found her to be admirable.”
The “boss” comments continued, and several more people posted that they appreciated her influential journey through the culinary and lifestyle landscape.
The mogul didn’t loathe absolutely everything about Martha. She admitted “I hate those last scenes” where she’s gardening, along with part two of the movie, but she enjoys “the first half.”
Stewart has never minced words, whether talking about older celebrity dads or whether she and the Barefoot Contessa get along, so of course she’s going to share her real feelings on Martha. Fans wouldn’t want it any other way, right? If she didn’t have her own POV, she would be boring and forgettable. Sure, maybe she’s not exactly doing Martha a favor by being so tough on it, and if you want people to watch a movie about you, you should be more positive, but at least now you really want to watch the doc and see what you think of the second part, right?
Published: Oct 31, 2024 02:39 pm