An Oregon movie theater was forced to pull Amazon’s Melania documentary after its tongue-in-cheek promotion reportedly didn’t sit well with the streaming giant.
The Lake Theater and Cafe in Lake Oswego said the film had to be taken down due to the way it was marketed.
And now, the theater has fired back at Amazon with a hilarious clapback.
“Well played Oregon theatre… WELL played!” one commenter wrote.
The progressive Lake Theater & Café in Lake Oswego, Oregon, thought it might be fun to screen Amazon’s documentary about Melania Trump during a slow film week.
”Why not get this inexplicable vanity piece from the current president’s wife? I mean, it just seems so weird that it even exists (who wants a movie about Melania lol?), and wouldn’t it then be exponentially weirder, to the point of being funny, to show it here, at your obviously anti-establishment, occasionally troublemaking, neighborhood cinema?” wrote manager Jordan Perry on the theater’s blog.
Strangely enough, drama followed. And yes, it was kind of funny.
One marquee message at the theater teased, “Does Melania wear Prada? Find out Friday.”
Another played off a famous quote from The Art of War: “To defeat your enemy, you must know them. Melania starts Friday.”
But after a few days of screenings, the show was over.
The Hollywood giant, Amazon MGM Studios, contacted the small Lake Theater & Café in a minor fury and banned them from continuing to show the film, according to the New York Post.
“Got a call that the higher ups (i.e., at Amazon) were upset with how our marquee marketed their movie (i.e., Melania), that, per them, Sunday would be its last day here,” the theater said.
The Lake Theater & Cafe said it received countless emails, voicemails, and online reviews from people asking why they were showing Melania or poking fun at the film.
“Now that it’s prematurely over, the plug pulled on us not from public outcry (always listening, thank you) but by some corporate executive (fair enough, sorry AMZN, please don’t cancel my Prime), Jordan figured he’d …say something?” the theater wrote.
As mentioned, at one point, the marquee teased, “To defeat your enemy, you must know them. Melania starts Friday.” After Amazon demanded the screenings stop, the marquee was updated to read:
“Amazon called. Our marquee made them mad. All ‘Melania’ showings cancelled. Show your support at Whole Foods instead. Join Amazon Prime for Free Two-Day Shipping.”
Manager Jordan Perry told The Oregonian that Amazon contacted them directly, asking them to pull the film due to the theater’s playful marketing.
“The studio was not happy and/or did not appreciate my take on marketing their film to our own public,” Perry said. He explained in a blog post that he screened the documentary because he thought it “would be funny.”
Perry emphasized that showing the film wasn’t “necessarily supporting her, this administration, and this administration’s policies,” adding, “For me there was no dividing line between wanting to see it and showing it here.”
He admitted the marquee messages might have seemed “mean,” but said his hope “always is to, though momentarily fanning flames, ultimately lower the temperature.”
The theater also shared a screenshot of an email from a Trump supporter saying, “MAGA always wins over nasty rude people.”
According to Bored Panda, online reactions were mixed.
One commenter wrote, “How childish of the theater.”
Another joked, “Omg Amazon so #petty and I’m dying to know what the marquee said. If this adorable little theater got their hackles up I can only imagine how they feel about what our Alexas pick up about what we say about them.”
Others were more supportive.
“THIS is my kind of patriotism!” one fan wrote. “Congratulations and thank you, Lake Theater and Cafe! Loved the marquee and that you didn’t have to suffer through low/no attendance at ‘Melanoma.’”
“Only makes me love the place more,” another added. “Favorite restaurant ever, and if anyone disagrees, well: There’s a lake right there for jumping in.”
A proud Oregonian commented, “I’d drive the four hours to this theater to give them my business.”
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