Candace Owens deserves praise for challenging narratives regarding the death of George Floyd and his subsequent exploitation by the Black Lives Matter movement, yet The Greatest Lie Ever Sold: George Floyd and the Rise of BLM could have made a bigger impact by exploring its subjects with more depth and less bias.
At 78 minutes, The Greatest Lie Ever Sold is much like its host: direct and to the point. This approach has suited Candace Owens well, with the social media star and black conservative pundit creating a successful career as a provocative and confrontational voice.
No moment in Owens’ career was as notorious as, when days after the death of George Floyd, Owens declared that she refused to view Floyd as a martyr due to his lengthy criminal history. It was indeed a line in the sand moment for Owens; as the media and indeed much of mainstream society had begun to deify Floyd as a symbol of systematic oppression, here was a young black American woman refusing to bow to convention. It made Owens a figure both intensely hated and revered. It also showed how making such declarations displayed Owens’ courage of convictions, along with her absence of emotional intelligence.
The Greatest Lie Ever Sold further exemplifies this point. On one hand the film successfully brings to the fore the shady nature of the Black Lives Matter organisation in its exploitation of Floyd’s death, yet on the other Owens tramples on Floyd’s grave while doing so.
Owens, to her credit, asks the questions no one else will ask, especially regarding the blood thirsty mob mentality by activists on the streets and in the digital realm that resulted in a billion dollars in damages, countless incidents of violence, and the destruction of careers and businesses. Important too is Owens’ “follow the money” approach to the $80 million raised by the Black Lives Matter organisation, whose distribution of said funds to political and activist groups outside the BLM umbrella, and the lavish spending by its high-ranking members, is the modern-day equivalent of a huckster preacher driving a brand-new Cadillac.
Troubling, though, is Owens’ attempts to paint a halo on the head of Derek Chauvin, the police officer found guilty of Floyds death. Interviewed are Chauvin’s former colleagues who state that Chauvin is a “great guy” who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Not covered are the reports that Chauvin had prior encounters with Floyd when he moonlighted as a bouncer. Interestingly, Chauvin’s mother refused to appear in the film, a decision which a clearly perplexed Owens scolds at.
Most problematic is Owen’s assertion that not only did Floyd not die from injuries sustained in his arrest, but that Chauvin did not kneel on Floyd’s neck. Selected clips from the bodycam footage of Floyd’s arrest try to “prove” this, yet a simple search for raw footage of the incident on YouTube quickly rubbishes such claims.
In her attempt to expose the clearly tainted Black Lives Matter organisation, Owens becomes the enemy she condemns. Yes, there is much to discuss and analyse and expose in the political and social fallout from George Floyd’s death, yet 78-minutes of half-truths and shallow deep investigating is not the way to go.
In its attempt to provide clarity, The Greatest Lie Ever Told instead muddies the waters further. With no crew credited on the film (no doubt due to its problematic and perhaps even defamatory manner), this latest documentary from the Daily Wire is an extension of the Candance Owens experience: brazen, confrontational, and lacking empathy in its attempt to rewrite Floyd’s death so she can “get” BLM. George Floyd was not a saint, but he does not deserve to be painted as the Devil either.
