Hillary, a Hulu Documentary
A cautionary tale about women in the political world
Hillary Clinton has been, and continues to be, one of the most polarizing political figures in American politics. Only President Donald Trump comes close to eliciting the same divisiveness, although for vastly different reasons.
Clinton is ostensible the subject of this documentary, but the real subject is women in politics and the landmines they must traverse on their way to power. The documentary does touch upon the basics of Clinton’s career, but there are few real insights or revelations that bring you any closer to understanding Hillary Clinton the person. You never discover what motivates her. This is a documentary with glimpses and glances, but no thesis.
One unassailable fact emerges, Hillary Clinton as a public persona is an impenetrable mask that reveals nothing. Even when she attempts to become accessible, the hard surface that is Hillary does not bend to either personal revelations or the expression of emotions, which is the hard currency of successful political figures.
As competent and as intelligent as Clinton is, she has never mastered the ability to access the emotions of an audience. Male, or female, political figures have to reach the emotions, feelings and aspirations of an audience, and read that public well. They have to express feelings in such a way as to draw an audience in. There is a peculiar kind of theater unique politics that one has to master. It is the driving force that propels campaigns, or kills them.
The political liability of being the wife of former President Bill Clinton is a formidable albatross. From the impeachment to the sordid affair at the center of it, anyone named Clinton carries with it the legacy of Bill Clinton. And this as much as anything may have been what ultimately undermined her plans to be President.
Running through this documentary is a certain “reverence” to Hillary that prevents this documentary from asking the hard questions, or offering a counterbalance to those already enamored with her. There is certainly nothing wrong with holing the subject of a documentary in high regard, but it can prevent criticism and pointed observations that “crack” a carefully constructed image.
It could also be that that the maker of this documentary realized they were only going to go so far with Hillary. She was not going to give up too much of her personal self, or be in any way vulnerable enough to allow a view behind the façade that is the Hillary Clinton image.
Feeling less like hard view into Clinton’s life and career and more of a “white washing” of Hillary Clinton’s political path with no real conclusions about Hillary, this is very much a light weight look into a very heavy subject.
