The childlike strangeness of Melania's "Be Best" campaign

[Ohiogal]

This article contains one of the best descriptions I've ever read about her:

"Donald Trump’s emptiness revealed itself over decades in the media glare. But Melania, a former model, has long embraced vacancy as an aesthetic. She has the creepy, objectified opacity of a doll, or a robot—a shimmer of the uncanny valley. Her willed passivity may be the strongest expression of her agency. She is an avatar of blankness, a mute queen. Standing behind a podium in the Rose Garden, her husband in the audience, Melania spoke slowly, with practiced inflections; she sounded like an actor reading from a script that she didn’t quite understand. When the words “Be Best” materialized on a screen above her head, their wobbly font and off-key grammar produced a sense of dissociation, as though we were all kids wondering where our parents had gone."

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-childlike-strangeness-of-melania-trumps-be-best-campaign

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. They're both empty vessels lacking in warmth and humanity.

[OMGWTF]

14. That reminds me of a sign I saw at the last Womens' March

"I'd call Trump a c*nt but he lacks depth and warmth."

[leftstreet]

2. LOL

(“Be best!” is something a three-year-old might squawk at her toy.)

Good article, thanks for posting

[Mike Nelson]

3. I wonder...

...if it could be because English is her second language - and she has trouble articulating. Her accent is lovely, though. I know my grandfather often seemed to have childlike language in his second tongue... but my grandmother spoke three languages fluently and always seemed so smart. I doubt our First Lady speaks six languages fluently. I can say phrases in six languages and don't even consider myself fluent in the language I took in college!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

4. If her emotion chip were functional. I'm sure this article would trigger

the "sadness protocol".

[Goonch]

5. B BARBIE

[Ohiogal]

6. Yep!

She and especially Ivanka remind me of Barbie dolls.

[fierywoman]

7. I'm thinking this week about an interview she did when first married --

when asked what her past times or hobbies were, she answered: looking at fashion magazines and taking Pilates classes.
Anyone who actually spoke the languages she claims to speak would have figured out, after 20+ years, how to speak English properly.

[Ohiogal]

9. Sounds about right.

And, I hate to keep picking on her, since she probably didn't want the position of First Lady to begin with ....

But gosh, can anyone be more ill-suited to that role? She is a real empty barrel. (to use the phrase that's popular right now). I guess we were all spoiled with Michelle, and her warmth, grace, humor, and intelligence.

[fierywoman]

12. +1000!

[procon]

8. Trump didn't marry her for her intellect.

No doubt some her strangeness is due to the language barrier, and probably different cultural norms as well. The relationship she has with Trump is clearly destructive and her repugnance is on full display in her public appearances. Her emotionless speeches more resemble a hostage situation than a happy marriage, but maybe that's her subtle, but intentional, way of fighting back against the things she is forced to do.

[Tipperary]

10. Wow.

“Avatar of blankness.”

Spot on.

[handmade34]

11. Melania would have been

much better off not taking on a "cause"... she could have just continued as an enigma

[ailsagirl]

13. It IS strange and childish

Last edited Wed May 9, 2018, 05:30 PM - Edit history (1)

Perfect description of her-- are we sure she isn't a robot?

[Achilleaze]

15. sad but true

[Achilleaze]

16. "Be better," the catchphrase that Michelle Obama delivered

to a rapturous live audience during an interview with Oprah Winfrey...

"Be best" is the lame one-ups-personship that the ungracious and plagiarizing wife of Comrade Casino* floated, like a turd in the cesspool of republican values.

* aka republican Draft-Dodger-in-Chief

[Grammy23]

17. I would be inclined to feel sorry for Melania except that I remember

That she willingly married him. She struck a bargain with him long ago. She knew who he was then but chose to marry him anyway. He didn’t suddenly turn into a monster after she married him. He was a soulless, depraved man then and has only gotten worse with time.

So even though serving as First Lady was not on her list of things to accomplish, she had it thrust upon her. The deal was probably that he’d never win and she would not have to serve. But once he did, if she just played along, he’d make it up to her later. Just make nice. Smile and wave. It is clear she has been pretty miserable since becoming FLOTUS. But what's a girl to do when your Sugar Daddy calls the shots?? In order to complete her bargain she has to see this through. Maybe she hopes that his bad habits will catch up with him and get her out of this mess.

In any case, I have no sympathy for Melania. Her greed and desire to be rich got the best of her and now she has to live with the choices she made.