Each year, former President Barack Obama releases his end-of-the-year lists featuring his favorite music, movies and books. However, fans are now dragging the new film executive after he made an addendum to the list, adding the recent release “The Color Purple.”
This year’s film list was dropped on Wednesday, Dec. 27, on social media featuring his top 10 movies of 2023. But many are claiming Oprah Winfrey strong-armed him for the inclusion as executive producer of the new film adaption.
Obama started the post by shouting out the thousands of writers and actors who advocated for themselves to get “better working conditions and protections” with a 118-day strike for SAG-AFTRA and a 148-day strike for WGA. Then he talked about how this year he was proud to include a few of the films he was involved in.
“Here are some films that reflect their hard work over the last year — including some like Rustin, American Symphony, and Leave the World Behind that we were proud to release through @HigherGroundMedia,” he wrote, adding, “What films did I miss?”
Apparently, Obama missed the Christmas Day blockbuster “The Color Purple,” which serves as a musical adaption of the 1985 Academy Award-nominated film of the same name. Within hours, Obama had fixed his list.
“Update: I just saw The Color Purple and loved it. I’m adding it to this list as one of my favorite movies of the year,” he added to the post’s caption.
Immediately, the internet went crazy, teasing that Oprah made the powerful Hollywood player and former politician add her movie.
“Someone just got a phone call from Oprah,” one person posted on X.
Someone just got a phone call from Oprah pic.twitter.com/8ubq0p65JK
— Kevin Fallon (@kpfallon) December 29, 2023
“Barack Obama when Oprah called him five minutes after his favourite movies of the year list released,” another person added.
Barack Obama when Oprah called him five minutes after his favourite movies of the year list released https://t.co/Q8YZqI313r pic.twitter.com/yyT36k74gE
— Mara Webster 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@Mara_Webster) December 29, 2023
One fan used a comical video of a fan pretending to portray Alicia Keys and Jeremiah Jermaine Paul while singing their hit duet, “Diary.”
“The ending of this video is how I imagine oprah pulled up on barack,” the caption read, refering to the back-and-forth stares between both characters in the clip.
the ending of this video is how I imagine oprah pulled up on barack pic.twitter.com/99ey5NfWZy https://t.co/IaLIhZTqQR
— taylor crumpton (@taylorcrumpton) December 29, 2023
Another funny tweet included a GIF of Winfrey in her Oscar-nominated role as Sophia from the original movie when she confronted Whoopi Goldberg after being betrayed. The troll implied the OWN founder was so upset about not being included in the original list, she had to get into Harpo wife mode.
Variety also recently released their list of what it believes are the top contenders for the 2024 Academy Awards Best Picture honor: Apple Original “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer,” Warner Bros. “Barbie” and Searchlight Pictures’ “Poor Things.” Of all ten of Obama’s favorite movies, only one made the popular industry trade list.
“Oppenheimer” is a historical biopic about physicist Robert Oppenheimer, who played a central role in the World War II-era Manhattan Project that created the atomic bomb. The film received nominations for Best Picture from the Critics Choice, the Golden Globes, AFI Awards, and many others.
“The Color Purple” was also nominated for Best Picture at the Critics Choice and is still, despite just being released, in the running for the big awards at next year’s Oscars. The film’s main stars Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks have each scored Golden Globe nominations.
