Netflix is giving fans an up-close and personal look at the life of Martha Mitchell and the so-called effect her presence caused in politics in The Martha Mitchell Effect.
Mitchell was the wife of John N. Mitchell, Attorney General under President Richard Nixon. She was an integral part of the Watergate scandal, but not for reasons she may have initially hoped. Initially intending to alert the public to secrets being kept, the media painted her as an “unguided missile.”
The documentary will tell Mitchell’s story through her own words and the voices of those around her — for better or worse.
The official synopsis is as follows:
“She was once as famous as Jackie O. And then she tried to take down a President. The Martha Mitchell Effect is an archival documentary portrait of the unlikeliest of whistleblowers: Martha Mitchell, a Republican cabinet wife who was gaslighted by the Nixon Administration to keep her quiet. It offers a female gaze on Watergate through the voice of the woman herself. From directors Anne Alvergue and Debra McClutchy.”
Mitchell’s name has been in the news recently as a series on Starz titled Gaslit also tells the story of the whistleblower made out to be a stain on politics. Julia Roberts takes on the role of Mitchell in the show, with Sean Penn starring as her husband.
You can see Gaslit on Starz now before watching The Martha Mitchell Effect on Netflix when it debuts on June 17.