What Martha Stewart Has Said About Netflix's Documentary About Her Life

Contains spoilers for the Netflix documentary Martha.

Martha Stewart, the self-styled lifestyle guru, is profiled in a new Netflix documentary, simply titled Martha, and she has a few things to say about it. Billed by Netflix as the "unstoppable rise, sudden fall and hard-won comeback" of Martha Stewart, the documentary is heavy on the circumstances surrounding Martha Stewart's trial and conviction in 2005 for insider trading. The now 83-year-old Stewart is less than happy with Netflix's portrayal, which she would rather have concentrated on a long and stellar public career as a business person, writer and television personality.

Stewart's fame and success came from several entrepreneurial endeavors, which have culminated in her writing numerous bestselling books, publishing her own Marrtha Stewart Living magazine, and hosting two syndicated television programs: Martha Stewart Living, which ran from 1993 to 2004, and The Martha Stewart Show, which ran from 2005 to 2012 following her prison release. Something of an American icon, Stewart's celebrity in the 1990s led to New York Times naming her as "the definitive American woman of our time." In Martha, Stewart feels her public profile is unflatteringly depicted.

Martha Stewart Has Criticized Netflix's Documentary About Her Life

Stewart Is Displeased With How She's Depicted

After the release of R.J. Cutler's documentary, Stewart went on record to say that she found parts of the film "lacked color," as well as giving far too much weight to her incarceration, which she now considers to have been nothing more than a two-year "vacation". It seems also that Stewart was unhappy about the way Cutler photographed her, choosing only the "ugliest" camera angles, and making her look like "a lonely old lady walking hunched over in the garden." She goes on to tell the New York Times that "I hate those last scenes. I hate them."

Martha's producers also came under fire from Stewart because they refused to edit out the scenes that Stewart most disliked, and failed to give proper context to the fact that she was suffering after an Achilles tendon operation which, she says, limited her movement and made her less sprightly: "I told him to get rid of those scenes," she says, "and he refused." As a result, she decries Martha as "a bit lazy." Cutler's response has been that he's proud of the film, although he told NYT that he understands her unhappiness with "aspects of it."

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Why Martha Stewart Agreed To Do The Netflix Documentary

Stewart Was Hoping For A More Positive Portrait

It appears that Martha Stewart agreed to Netflix's documentary proposal with the expectation that it would include more positive aspects of her life and work. Its obsession with her prison spell is unwarranted, she argues: "The trial and the actual incarceration was less than two years out of an 83-year life," she says. Even the musical score displeased her; she expected her story to be accompanied by rap music by Dr. Dre, or her friend, Snoop Dogg, and so was dismayed when Cutler used "some lousy classical score, which has nothing to do with me.

Despite her misgivings, Stewart acknowledges that Martha has brought her some positive attention and respect. Some of her contemporaries have praised the documentary for its portrayal of a survivor with a long history of achievement in the face of forbidding odds. For all its perceived failings, she acknowledges that the film shows "a strong woman standing up for herself and living through horror, as well as some huge success."

SOURCE: The New York Times

Martha is a candid documentary exploring the life of lifestyle icon Martha Stewart. It chronicles her ascent, dramatic challenges, and triumphant return, providing insight into her personal and professional journey through her own narration.