Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me is a brand new docufilm based on the tragic life of the model, from her humble beginnings to the excruciatingly painful end. Directed by Ursula Macfarlane, the movie is executive produced by Caryn Capotosto, Ami Manning, Suzanne Migdall, Howard Owens, Jonathan Schaerf, Ben Silverman and Luna Wise. Jessica Jones gives the music for the documentary.
–Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me Review Does Not Contain Spoilers–
The harrowing tale of the celebrated model is heart-wrenchingly painful to watch. With dreams in her eyes, she set out to do everything and anything to fulfil it. But the past traumas and vilification from society consistently kept her from reaching the ultimate quest of the journey. Nevertheless, she is more than just a cautionary tale. Her passion, vigour and resilience leave a lasting impression for generations to come.
Anna is yet another story of a woman in Hollywood who was done wrong. Being constantly objectified and sexualised by everyone around her left her empty inside, and she did more than anything to fill in her void. People took advantage of her vulnerability and hurt. They used her as a commodity for monetary gain, failing to treat her as the wonderful human being she was. However, she was not unaware of the happenings, but she went along with it because that is how she was conditioned to believe.
The most disappointing factor of the film is the approach they took to tell her story. The creator mostly focused on the ‘bad’ things. It is filled with the juicy details of the controversies she has been in. It even went as far as to provide a platform for the people who outrightly came out to dismiss her stories with no proof whatsoever. Moreover, her own traumatic instances were told by someone else. It is disrespectful and damaging, to say the least.
Even after her death, her tragic moments are being glamorised and dramatised and told like it is a work of fiction. She is still not being treated like a human being. The stories being told are in such a way that blames her the most rather than looking into the factors that shaped her thinking process and the way she chose to live her life. Devoid of a normal functioning childhood and loving parents, it is bound to traumatise a person, but it is merely brushed over in the docufilm.
Apart from a bad childhood, the media played a huge role in making her life worse. Needless to say that words affect even the strongest, and she was constantly being targeted for whatever she did. Everyone commented on her personal life, professional life, her face, her body and her weight. Slowly these judgements started to take a toll, and she turned towards drugs and alcohol to find some relief. It was a definite cry for help, and instead of helping, everyone was looking for a sensational headline.
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Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me Review: Final Thoughts
The documentary was painful to go through, to say the least. It effectively pans out a story that shows her entire life and how it went spiralling downhill. Nevertheless, often times it fails to tell us the story of the real Anna. About her passion for work, love for her children, her husband and most of all, her dreams, aspirations and motives. We never get to the depth of her personality, merely the scandalous tales that she will regretfully be remembered by. Just like the title of the docufilm suggests, we don’t truly know her and maybe never will.
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me is now streaming on Netflix. Did you watch the movie yet? Let us know in the comments below!
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Another project that exploited an already dead cash cow. We will never know the real Anna Nicole Smith because she herself did not know. Let her rest already.