Where were you on election night in 2016? At a party supporting either candidate? Perhaps at home getting ready for bed? For Hillary Clinton, shes was bracing herself for the moment she’d fought for her entire life, to finally break that glass ceiling she deserved more than any candidate at that point. I’m starting this review like this, clearly on the pro-Hillary side of 2016, because I figure if you are about to hit play on Hulu’s “Hillary”, it’s because you either feel the same, or wanna try to have more answers as to what happened to this lay-up of a potential win for presidency. The people who think the Clintons have some sex dungeon under a pizza parlor in D.C. or even those who have decided long ago that she wasn’t right for them won’t be watching this, so why try to be impartial?
‘Hillary’ indeed does jump into the 2016 elections. From the friction with the Bernie Sanders Campaign to Donald Trump, you get a Vietnam-like flashback of what happened. Where ‘Hillary’ becomes a more engaging and even inspiring look at a young woman who through crazy and unanticipated curveballs throughout her life, persisted to lead the way for women around the world and an interesting take on how the world has changed from then to now. I really enjoyed anytime we were looking into the past and learning more about Hillary Clinton’s record and experience with politics, her issues with Bill Clinton, and her runs for the presidency.
The documentary to me feels very one-sided and in many cases Clinton’s opinions on others that many will see as wrong. Namely with Monica Lewinsky and Bernie Sanders, who both are painted as almost antagonists to Clinton by how she describes them. There’s not a lot of self-reflection, and more and more of the same finger-pointing about who else is to blame for why Trump was elected, only until the end Clinton finally confessing that ultimately the responsibility was hers. I wish we had seen more fair looks into some of these issues and even more so, the issues that were presented during her campaign that were valid criticisms are met with the same kind of disdain.
I loved seeing Hillary Clinton’s story, from where she started to now, she has been a champion of women’s rights and has risen above her roles and truly is an incredible person. There are many inspiring moments to this doc that anyone can watch and be inspired by. The idea presented about her needing to be closed off and not authentic in her beginnings to now, where society allows and even expects full transparency of the real side of you. It’s no wonder she has trouble connecting with potential voters because her wires are crossed between being authentic but not too authentic. Sadly, that’s a perfect example of how this doc chooses to paint Hillary Clinton.
Overall, I had a pretty good time watching this, go check it out if you’ve got some free time but I wouldn’t say this is the Documentary to watch this year.