The Choice: 2016

Aired in late September 2016, filmmaker Michael Kirk's PBS-aired Frontline documentary examines the turbulent (and wholly unexpected) events of the most recent presidential election, highlighted by the wildly different candidates. Real estate mogul and media star Donald Trump overcame a large slate of arguably much better qualified Republican candidates, while controversial former First Lady Hillary Clinton fulfilled her longtime goal of becoming America's first female to be nominated by a major political party. The Choice delves into the pair's disparate backgrounds and upbringing: Trump, a product of Queens, NY, was raised by a cold, distant real estate developer father, who valued winning at all costs, while Clinton hailed from a politically conservative family, although an audience with Martin Luther King Jr. awakened her social conscience and changed her life. The film toggles back and forth between the two candidates, covering Trump's years at a military boarding school and his later rise as an aggressive builder with his sights set on Manhattan, while also exploring Clinton's bedrock feminism, which was somewhat sacrificed by helping (some would say enabling) her husband Bill, first when he was Arkansas's governor, and then during his two terms as president. Also covered here are Trump's bankruptcies, business reversals, and marital discord, as well as Clinton's endurance of her husband's "bimbo eruptions," the many vicious attacks on her character, and her sometimes troubled tenure as Obama's Secretary of State while waiting for her turn at the White House prize. The campaign sometimes seems to come down to Trump's use of hyperbole—and off the cuff, fact-free remarks—versus Clinton's buttoned down penchant for secrecy. Although the election is over, this fair-minded documentary still provides valuable insights into the characters of Trump and Clinton. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)