News/Commentary

Obama’s new Netflix gig reeks of politics

April 28, 2023 | | Print Article

Netflix has put out a trailer for a new documentary by former President Barack Obama that attempts to connect with the working class in America, playing on people’s fears when it comes to equality, technology, race, democracy, and civil rights.

The four-part series’ full title is “Working: What We Do All Day.” It delves into three different worker industries including technology, hospitality, and in-home care. It also looks into workers’ trepidation when it comes to artificial intelligence and being replaced by machines.

Obama partially narrates the trailer. It uses slick propaganda to depict him as a man of the common people. He even accompanied a working-class mother to a supermarket. It is vintage Democratic politics that seems to claim lower and middle-class workers as their own.

The former president not only skyrocketed in leftist politics, he’s a master of messaging as can be seen in his book deals and speaking engagements. Now, he’s stepping into the arena of film production, playing on the plight of the average American who is ironically suffering from progressive policies.

The series premieres in May. It’s unknown exactly how much Obama will make off the production. He’s now worth roughly $70 million, according to the Daily Mail. When he was elected to office in 2008, he was purportedly worth just over $3.5 million and it’s also not clear exactly where that came from.

“I’m excited to share the trailer for Working,” Obama tweeted, showing the clip for the first time.

“In this series, I talk to American workers across various industries – from hospitality and technology to home care – to understand their jobs and hopes for the future. I hope you’ll check it out,” he stated.

“When we make sure that everyone feels their work is respected, that everyone’s contribution is honored, and that everyone is getting paid enough to truly take a part in the life of our communities, we reinforce the trust between us that makes everything in our lives possible,” Obama pandered in the trailer.

The seductive clip starts with Obama addressing average people in the workforce across a range of industries ranging from service to the C-Suite and how they are all supposedly connected.

“We may not think about it but we’re all part of something larger than any single one of us,” Obama intones during the trailer.

“Our work is one of the forces that connect us,” he purrs as snippets of him meeting with restaurant staffers, housekeepers, and tech workers play in the background, attempting to sway the masses.

The video production is from the Obamas’ private studio Higher Ground. The studio has a wide-ranging deal for the series and other works with Netflix and Concordia Studio, which was founded by the director of “An Inconvenient Truth,” Davis Guggenheim. Similar deals have raked in somewhere around $100 million for the Obamas. It is unknown exactly how much the partnership is producing for the former first couple.

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos is a longtime friend of the Obamas. They entered into a multi-year producing partnership with the online streaming service about five years ago.

In 2009, Obama appointed Sarandos’ wife, Nicole Avant as ambassador to the Bahamas as one of his first acts as president. She was the ambassador to the Bahamas from 2009 to 2011.

The New York Post reported that when Obama successfully ran for a second term, Sarandos and Avant both bundled nearly $600,000 in contributions to the former president during the 2012 presidential campaign.

According to the Daily Mail, “Upon announcing the partnership in 2018, Obamas planned to deliver a ‘diverse mix of content’ that could range from scripted and unscripted series to documentaries and features as part of their package.”

The content from the Obamas is not exclusive to American subscribers. Netflix has promised that the Obamas’ projects will be available to 125 million members in 190 countries.

Twitter users were not impressed and see the documentary for what it really is… divisive politics:

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