Michelle Obama Can't Possibly Pull A Carla Bruni

Michelle Obama can launch an anti-obesity initiative, plant a White House garden, and address the Coast Guard. But could she ever make like French first lady Carla Bruni and appear in a Woody Allen film?

According to the AP, yesterday Bruni had her first day of shooting for Allen’s Midnight in Paris, in which she plays a museum director. Though her only acting experience so far has been playing herself in the films Pret-a-Porter and Paparazzi, Allen once said, “She has charisma and she’s used to appearing on stage. I could give her any role at all.” And now he’s given her a role — one she seems perfectly capable of balancing with that of First Lady. Could Michelle Obama do the same?

Like Bruni, Obama is charismatic, tall, and conventionally attractive, so it’s not a physical stretch to see her as a movie star (of course, she’s also black, which can limit your options in Hollywood in general and Woody Allen movies in particular). However, can you imagine the furor if our First Lady took a day off from her usual activities to appear in a film? Not only would she likely be accused of neglecting the country, but conservatives would have a field day with her supposed “coziness with Hollywood.” Mayyyybe she could get away with a voice role in a Pixar flick (especially if her character was telling kids to eat vegetables or something), but a Woody Allen movie? With like sex and angst and intellectual people treating each other badly? There’s no way. Carla Bruni may get to be an international sex symbol/movie star and the female face of France, but as the media never tire of reminding us, French people are different. And we’re not going to see Vicky Cristina MObama anytime soon.