Halftime

As a lifetime fan of Jennifer Lopez, I was personally very excited to finally see a documentary on the multi-talented, megastar’s life. Halftime documents Jennifer Lopez’s life in the year 2019 — the year of many milestones in the star’s life. It was the year her critically acclaimed, stunning performance in Hustlers came out, she did the Super Bowl halftime show — a major moment in the artist’s career — and there was the return of the iconic green Versace dress. It was also the year she turned 50.

When the documentary first came out, Jennifer Lopez got a lot of flak for expressing frustration and/or disappointment at having to share her Super Bowl performance with Shakira. In the film we can see that the artist feels that Latinas or racial minorities aren’t taken as ‘complete’ artists, which is why, instead of just offering her or Shakira the slot, they decided to give it to both, preventing her from doing as much as she would’ve liked to.

She doesn’t express any issues towards Shakira or working with her in particular. But her words were taken out of context and she’s been branded in many online circles as “arrogant” and as a “diva”.

If anything, Halftime left me open-mouthed as to how incredibly physically fit Lopez is at 50 and how hard she works. The amount of thought that was put into her Super Bowl performance, at making a political statement, and the fitness and stamina that she has at her age is unbeliveable. The film shows how she’s evolved as a person throughout the years and how heartbroken she was when she was robbed of her award glory when Hustlers wasn’t given the due it deserved.

Once you’re sated with the meat on offer this sacrificial Eid, or even if you are avoiding it, you might want to cosy up at home with some fun viewing on Netflix. Entertainment, politics and pets — our Eid watchlist has a little bit of everything for everyone

The Martha Mitchell Effect

This is a fascinating documentary that revisits the Watergate scandal from the perspective of someone American President Richard Nixon couldn’t control and hated — Martha Mitchell, the wife of the United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell.

This film is about how the cabinet minister’s wife, who spoke out during the Watergate scandal, was subject to a campaign by the Nixon administration that tried to gaslight her into silence.

It’s a short but fascinating watch. Even before she began speaking out about Watergate — a scandal that now seems so tiny in comparison to the ‘scandals’ that take place now — Martha Mitchell had developed a reputation as a political gossip who would ‘leak’ information to the press from time to time. She loved talking and was invited on television shows all the time.

This was seen as a problem by Nixon, who was notoriously hostile towards the press. When Martha Mitchell, who was a staunch Nixon supporter, started speaking out about ‘shady’ things happening in the government, especially around the Watergate scandal, the White House did everything it could to silence her.

Staffers used gaslighting and slander tactics to discredit her and keep her quiet. They even accused her of being mentally unstable, which discredited her in the eyes of the public. We know now that she was right all along.

The phrase “The Martha Mitchell Effect” was later coined by a psychologist to describe someone who is wrongly considered mentally ill by a medical professional, when they’re actually telling the truth.

The hidden Lives of Pets

This reality series is absolutely adorable. This is a science-and-nature, four-part documentary series produced by Rob Neil, Amber Beattie and Cressida Kinnear. The narration is by Hugh Bonneville, who has also voiced for the popular children’s film Paddington.

Unlike animals in the wild, this series is about animals we’ve domesticated, or rather, who’ve domesticated us. It shows pets — dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, parrots, mice and even fish — pushing the boundaries of what we think they are capable of.

As anyone who’s owned a pet, we’re familiar with how wonderful and complex these animals are. But this series gives us scientific proof of the wonders they are capable of. From flying dogs to car-driving rats to goldfish that play football and dogs that communicate whole sentences, The Hidden Lives of Pets is a heartwarming series as it follows pets from around the globe to show us how extraordinary our furry companions really are.

Published in Dawn, ICON, July 10th, 2022