BECOMING – Review by MaryAnn Johanson

Netflix dropping a surprise documentary about Michelle Obama right now feels like an attack and a blessing at the same time. An attack because it’s a smack in the face, a stunning reminder of a better time in America, four long years ago. And a blessing because, well: same. Remember when, an absolute eon ago, the President of the United States wasn’t a deranged narcissist seemingly bent on destroying the nation? Remember what it was like not to be embarrassed by the residents of the White House? (I mean, even that doofus Dubya suddenly seems regal in retrospect.) Remember what it felt like it have solid leadership, even if you didn’t always agree with it?

Look, I’m not saying that Barack Obama was a perfect President — far from it. I have huge issues with his eight years in the White House, many stemming from the fact that I’m much further to the left than he ever was. But it could well be that Michelle Obama, the former First Lady, was damn near perfect, or at least in all the ways that matter for a First Lady, a horrid, thankless job for a modern woman that she performed in a way that made her a sweet ’n’ salty paragon of the position. Continue reading…