Martha Review: Documentary Spans Stewart's Life
Streaming Movie Review - Documentary - Netflix
Martha Stewart has been in the public eye for most of her life. Love her or loathe her, her books, magazines, television shows, and home goods have been wildly popular even as the woman herself has remained a bit of an enigma. In the new Netflix documentary, Martha, director R.J. Cutler does a deep dive into the entirety of Stewart’s life.
The film gives a lot of insight into what makes Martha Stewart tick, starting with a look at her young years growing up. Stewart learned her trademark perfectionism at a young age, tending the garden with her stern, perfectionist father. As she grew older, she abandoned babysitting and put her good looks to work, becoming a model to help support her family. Ever the shrewd woman, she eventually became one of the first women to work at the New York Stock Exchange.
The documentary details much of Martha’s romantic life through letters and interviews. We see her somewhat tumultuous relationship with Andrew Stewart. While Martha is quite frank throughout the film about much of what she endured, this is one area where she struggles to speak about it, instead telling Cutler to simply go to the letters that she provided.
As the movie continues, it shows Martha as she begins her writing career. Though her first book, “Entertaining” was supposed to be a simple black and white cookbook, she insisted that it be colorful and include more than just recipes. The book was a huge success, and through that work, she moved into her magazine, “Living,” and eventually to her television show of the same name.
What Martha does well is to showcase the duality that seems to exist in Martha Stewart. We have an incredibly successful and driven woman, traits often associated with masculinity, but her passion is for the very feminine art of entertaining. This dichotomy is further amplified when showing her partnership with KMart - something that was primarily a business decision but driven by a desire to allow women in a lower income bracket to still have access to beautiful things. It shows a woman wounded by infidelity but flip about her own infidelities.
When Martha covers Stewart’s time in prison, you can see her discomfort with those discussions. She shares about being put into solitary confinement and how difficult it was to create relationships during her time in Alderson. However, through animation and her voice-over, she shares about helping women with their gardens and leaving prison in a poncho given to her by one of the other inmates. Following that, you can see a small change in how she relates to the world around her.
This documentary gives a much clearer picture of a woman who had it all, had nothing, and has come back even stronger. A film about a woman who embodies strength, perfection, and business savvy but also a woman who is tender, flawed, and made a mistake that put her in prison. Martha Stewart is a woman who contains multitudes, and Martha shows them all.
This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on October 26, 2024.
Ohhhh, I’ll have to check this one out! Martha Stewart Living was in its heyday during the years I was raising babies and making a home.
I watched this today with my son, and he was fascinated. He’s also convinced the writers of Hacks drew from her life for the character of Deborah Vance. They had a *very* similar vibe and career trajectory!