What you’ll love most about MARTHA is: It’s unapologetic. It’s like the entire documentary has a “PERIOD!” punctuating it. Much like Martha Stewart herself, a woman who has fought for top-tier success and fought through an unjust takedown. Directed by R.J. Cutler, MARTHA creates a folk hero who is flawed and fierce—within a film that is both a biography of the unrelenting pursuit of greatness and an indictment of the societal structures that punish women for their brilliance.
“If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, make a garden.” –Martha Stewart
In my collaborative review for the AWFJ Movie of the Week, I wrote, “After watching MARTHA, the first thing I want to say is: The feds sent Martha Stewart to jail on some bulls#!t. That reaction is visceral. It is a bullet that ricochets on every level of every industry—because only women get punished for succeeding.” I also highlighted the unfairness that is part of Stewart’s journey, “but only because she excelled at modeling, the stock market, catering, and being the CEO of an empire built on excellence in the kitchen, home, and garden.” This women turned lifestyle content into a billion-dollar empire—making her thee proto-influencer.
“Cutler’s documentary evokes angry tears because it makes no attempts to tenderize Martha Stewart or to arrange her so her prettiest petals touch the light. Here, she is tough, terse, acerbic, and sometimes appears to be hiding the truth from herself. That’s where we’re allowed to see her fullness: through the cracks in that flawless façade, through the jokes made at a roast, and the friendships—like with Snoop—that last.”
No matter how hostile the ground beneath her feet becomes, Stewart embodies ‘nevertheless she persisted‘ energy and she, “thrives in literal and metaphorical gardens.” With the iconoclastic Stewart as its heartbeat and its unflinching honesty, I need to you watch the MARTHA documentary, because Martha Stewart is LIVING and that’s on period.
Read the other reviews and discover why MARTHA is
our Movie of the Week for Nov 1st at AWFJ.org!
Watch MARTHA on Netflix now
