6 Reasons Not to Leave Your Couch This Weekend
This is Barack Obama's last weekend as President of the United States, so take a little time to appreciate his 8 years in office with these presidential movies and TV shows.
The weekend of Friday, January 13 marks the final weekend of Barack Obama’s eight-year presidency. Donald Trump will be sworn in on January 20 as the 45th President of the United States, and Obama’s two-term role will be finished.
Despite political ties and deep-seated tension from this latest election cycle, a two-term stint as president is an accomplishment of a lifetime. So, take some time to honor the role of both the American President in general and Obama himself.
Below is a list of six TV shows and movies streaming on Netflix, HBO GO, and Amazon Prime to help you reflect on both the American presidency and Obama during and before his time in office. So, curl up on your couch the weekend before Trump takes office.
6. Black Mirror, Netflix
If you’ve never seen the first episode of Black Mirror, The Twilight Zone for technophobes, then you really need to get on that. Black Mirror is a series of visual short stories with human nature in the face of impending technology as the main villain.
The first episode features the story of a “fictional” British prime minister being forced into fucking a pig. It’s brutal, emotional, and just as messed up as you would expect. Mildly similar to Prime Minister David Cameron’s run-in with a pig, Obama’s undoubtedly happy that he never suffered the same embarrassment.
5. The West Wing, Netflix
The ultimate presidential TV show is available to stream in its entirety on Netflix. Martin Sheen’s Josiah Bartlet eight-year term as the Democratic President of the United States is backed by Rob Lowe’s Sam Seaborn as the Deputy Communications Director and a cast of unforgettable characters.
4. All the President’s Men, HBO GO
Based on the 1974 non-fiction book of the same name by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, All the President’s Men is the story of journalists Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and Woodward’s (Robert Redford) investigation into the Watergate scandal during Nixon’s presidency.
This Academy Award-winning film is just as entertaining as it is informative. Learning about the Watergate scandal is not nearly as good as watching it play out before your eyes. Woodward contacts the infamous Deep Throat, using his journalistic prowess alongside Bernstein to report on one of the biggest news stories of the century for The Washington Post.
3. I Am Barack: This Is My Story, Amazon Prime
“The race to decide the Democratic candidate for the 2008 elections was, by anyone’s standards, a stirring moment in history.” This is a short and sweet documentary about Obama’s run for the White House in 2008. There’s not much more to say about it, honestly.
2. By the People: The Election of Barack Obama, Netflix
Similar but far more in-depth than I Am Barack is By the People: The Election of Barack Obama. This documentary, which originally aired on HBO and was produced by actor and activist Edward Norton, follows Obama and various members of his campaign team — including Chief Strategist David Axelrod — through the two years leading up to the 2008 Presidential Election.
1. Barry, Netflix
This drama, directed by Vikram Gandhi, follows a young Barack Obama in New York City during his time at Columbia University in 1981. It explores his romance and his experiences as a mixed race man in NYC, as well as his path to public service.
Barry was selected to be screened in the Special Presentations section at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, and it premiered to rave reviews.
