Why celebrity documentaries are becoming more and more “obsequious”
Netflix is canceling an investigation into Prince, Maxx cancels a shocking documentary about Michael Jackson, while Amazon Prime is announcing a film about—and co-produced by—Melania Trump. When it comes to celebrities, streaming platforms seem to forget all journalistic standards. The Guardian wanted to understand why.
It's not always easy to admit that our heroes aren't superhuman, let alone flawless, but that's what Ezra Edelman chose to do for five years. During all these years, the director of the very comprehensive OJ: Made in America , winner of the Oscar for Best Documentary [in 2017], worked, on behalf of Netflix, on what was announced as the reference documentary on Prince [1958-2016] : a titanic nine-hour work, based on several dozen interviews with the associates of the sacred monster of the song , and exceptional personal archives.
According to the privileged few who have seen a working version, the film paints a nuanced portrait of the artist, in all his immense talent and complexity, without ignoring the darker facets of the character, hidden behind a joyful eccentricity: his alleged violence towards his companions and protégés, his ruthless demands with his musicians. “For several hours, the spectator is confronted with the innumerable paradoxes of Prince, each more disturbing than the last,” estimated [in September 2024] Sasha Weiss, of the New York Times Magazine , after a screening.
Courrier International
