Encore: 'First Lady' series is compelling when it dramatizes the unseen moments

Encore: 'First Lady' series is compelling when it dramatizes the unseen moments

Transcript¹

'First Lady' series compels when dramatizing the unseen moments

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson play three of America's most distinctive² presidential spouses³ in the limited series "The First Lady." NPR TV critic Eric Deggans had a look, and he says the program, which debuted⁴ on Showtime, works best when dramatizing events out of public view.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE⁵: "The First Lady" soars highest when it's focused on its murderers' row of actresses in its lead roles. Consider this moment, when Pfeiffer's Betty Ford⁶ explains in a speech why her husband Gerald avoided telling senators about his meeting with a psychiatrist⁷ during confirmation⁸ hearings for the vice⁹ presidency¹⁰...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FIRST LADY")

MICHELLE PFEIFFER: (As Betty Ford) It was my psychiatrist Gerry met with twice - you heard discussed in his confirmation hearings this morning. He met with my psychiatrist to support me, and I love him for that.

DEGGANS: ...Or Anderson's poise¹¹ as Eleanor Roosevelt giving a radio address...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FIRST LADY")

GILLIAN ANDERSON: (As Eleanor Roosevelt) People say no woman could stand the physical strain a man endures - nonsense. A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong it is until it's in hot water.

DEGGANS: ...And this conversation, when "The Handmaid's Tale" alum O-T Fagbenle, playing Barack Obama, tries to calm the anger of Davis' Michelle Obama over Donald Trump's election as president.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FIRST LADY")

VIOLA DAVIS: (As Michelle Obama) A Black man can rise to the highest office in the land built on the backs of slaves, and it tears them up so much that they elect something like that?

O-T FAGBENLE: (As Barack Obama) Yo, Mich (ph)...

DAVIS: (As Michelle Obama) I want to beat every single person who voted for him - all of them. I hope they get exactly what they deserve.

FAGBENLE: (As Barack Obama) This is not America.

DAVIS: (As Michelle Obama) It is.

DEGGANS: This is when "The First Lady" is most compelling - dramatizing scenes that likely happened but we rarely saw in public. In examining the unique roles of three different presidential spouses from three very different time periods, the series gives us a detailed¹² look at one of the most powerful unelected positions in American government.

Here, Anderson's Eleanor Roosevelt pushes back against an aide, played by Jackie Earle Haley, who criticizes her for speaking up in a news article.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FIRST LADY")

JACKIE EARLE HALEY: (As Louis Howe) There is a way that things are done here.

ANDERSON: (As Eleanor Roosevelt) You know, a great political adviser¹³ once told me that I should lower the pitch of my voice so that men would not dismiss me as a frivolous¹⁴ woman. Now everyone is telling me to be quiet.

HALEY: (As Louis Howe) The president's advisers¹⁵ think his [expletive] wife should stay in the background.

DEGGANS: But such scenes also hint at "The First Lady's" biggest weakness - a tendency to hammer home points with a heavy hand. The series can feel both overlong and superficial, spending too much time on the character's early history while blazing past important later moments. And although the men playing the presidents try hard, Aaron Eckhart is seriously miscast as Gerald Ford, Kiefer Sutherland flounders as Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Fagbenle seems to be doing an Obama impression imported straight from "Saturday Night Live," especially in this argument from the Obamas' early days in Chicago.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FIRST LADY")

FAGBENLE: (As Barack Obama) Do you want me to resign and...

DAVIS: (As Michelle Obama) Forget it.

FAGBENLE: (As Barack Obama) ...Take up some - what? - some [expletive] corporate¹⁶ lawyer job like you? Because I'm pretty sure you're miserable¹⁷...

DAVIS: (As Michelle Obama) At least my job pays the bills - our bills. We actually get something out of it instead of banging my head against the wall, telling myself that I'm making a difference when I'm really not.

DEGGANS: Sometimes in watching "The First Lady," I wish they'd made three separate and better-focused movies on each of these amazing women. Still, the series offers a lot of compelling, electric moments. You just have to wade¹⁸ through some distractions¹⁹ to get there.

I'm Eric Deggans.

(SOUNDBITE OF LESTER NOWHERE'S "HERONS AND SEAGULLS")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

3 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

4 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

7 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

8 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

9 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

10 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

11 poise   

vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信

参考例句：

• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise.她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。
• Ballet classes are important for poise and grace.芭蕾课对培养优雅的姿仪非常重要。

12 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

13 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

14 frivolous   

adj.轻薄的；轻率的

参考例句：

• This is a frivolous way of attacking the problem.这是一种轻率敷衍的处理问题的方式。
• He spent a lot of his money on frivolous things.他在一些无聊的事上花了好多钱。

15 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

16 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

17 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

18 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

19 distractions   

n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱

参考例句：

• I find it hard to work at home because there are too many distractions. 我发觉在家里工作很难，因为使人分心的事太多。
• There are too many distractions here to work properly. 这里叫人分心的事太多，使人无法好好工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》