Jennifer Lawrence loses her sheen
After a series of gaffes, gimmicks and scandals, Hollywood’s claws are out for ‘rude’, and ‘crass’ Jennifer Lawrence
ANOT HER Oscar ceremony, another Jennifer- Lawrence-being-a ll goofy-and-kooky moment. There she was, this time clambering over the back of a chair, glittering Dior gown hiked up in one hand, glass of wine aloft in the other, a little smile playing across her face as she managed not to spill a drop of the amber nectar.
So how does it make you feel when you look at the pictures?
Do you go, “Good old J Law, she’s such a sport! Always one for a bit of fun and games.”
Or do you roll your eyes and think, “Urgh, enough already.”
If you’re like the majority of celeb watchers out there, chances are you’ll have picked the latter.
Actress Chloë Sevigny seemed to sum up the general feeling among her colleagues when she told V magazine recently she found JLaw to be “annoying and crass”.
The fact is, for many, Jennifer (27) has gone from a breath of fresh air with an endearing habit of speaking her mind to a “hypocrite” people seem to have had enough of.
It’s a long way to fall before you’ve even hit 30.
IN THE BEGINNING
Rewind to the 2013 Oscars and Jen was the best thing since sliced bread, segueing from Katniss the crossbow-carrying heroine in the Hunger Games to the quirky star of the surprise indie hit Silver Linings Playbook.
The Academy loved her and she was named best actress – and then she tripped on her way to the stage and, “oh wow”, people went, “she’s something else” with her realness and lack of airs and graces.
For a while she said all the right things too, from “I’m seen as a fat actress in Hollywood” ( for refusing to diet), to “I’m making movies. It’s stupid – I’m not saving anybody’s life” (when declining to take her craft seriously).
BUT THEN . . .
She tripped again at the Oscars the following year too – this time on the red carpet – and eyebrows started to twitch in the upward direction.
Actor Jared Leto shared the sentiment of cynicism when he remarked, “You know, I’m starting to wonder if this is a bit of an act.”
NUDE PIC DRAMA
Support and sympathy flooded Jennifer’s way in 2014 when she was one of the victims of what was dubbed the biggest celebrity hacking scandal in history. A series of explicit photos of more than 100 female stars was exposed and Jen was one of them. She was justifiably outraged. “This is a sex crime, it’s disgusting,” she said. “I can’t even describe to
anybody what it feels like to have my naked body shoot across the world like a newsflash against my will. It just makes me feel like a piece of meat that’s being passed around for a profit.”
But then, just weeks later, she appeared topless on the cover of Vanity Fair and some critics called her hypocritical.
Still, the jury was divided. It was unfair to call her a hypocrite, one columnist pointed out, because “she consented to the publication of the Vanity Fair photo. Consent is the fine line that creates a difference between a powerful image and something that is indeed a sex crime.”
THE ‘OTHER WOMAN’
Jen’s reputation took another dent last year when her name popped up in the divorce of comedy couple Anna Faris and Chris Pratt.
The rumour mill went into overdrive, claiming she and Chris hooked up while shooting the sci-fi film Passengers, but Jennifer was quick to deny it all.
“That’s a good one,” she told Kiss FM radio station. “I mean, they got a divorce like two years later and everybody was like shouting Jennifer Lawrence!”
But Anna went on to say that the speculation has affected her badly and she felt “incredibly insecure” and “hurt” by it.
SAY WHAT, JEN?
Granted, there have been times her raw honesty has been a real scream – but sometimes she comes across as just plain rude or arrogant.
During a 2014 interview with Vanity Fair, Jen reportedly threw shade at her ex-boyfriend Chris Martin’s ex, Gwyneth Paltrow, dissing the actress’ clean-eating habits by calling Gwynnie’s gluten-free diet “the new cool eating disorder”.
In 2016 she was labelled unkind when she told off a reporter for using his phone at a media conference at the 2016 Golden Globes, where she won best actress for Joy. “You can’t live your whole life behind your phone, bro,” she said, wagging her finger. “You can’t do that. You have to live in the now.” When the reporter continued, she interrupted again: “We’re at the Golden Globes. If you put your phone down, you’d know that.”
The online fallout was swift and brutal. “I can’t decide if Jennifer Lawrence is incredibly rude or incredibly ignorant for humiliating a foreign journalist who’s reading his translated questions from a phone, so I’ve decided she’s both,” one critic posted on Twitter. “And here we see Jennifer Lawrence assuming everyone in the world speaks perfect English and doesn’t need help,” another wrote.
Last month she infuriated viewers at the Baftas by appearing to be rude to beloved British actress Joanna Lumley. When the Absolutely Fabulous legend called Jen the “hottest actress on the planet” she retorted, “That was a bit much.” She later tried to explain it was the result of an inside joke the two had shared earlier backstage. Joanna had agreed to hype her up ridiculously and then Jen would tell her to cool it.
Brits also got their backs up when another of their revered kind, actor Daniel Day-Lewis, felt the rough side of Jen’s tongue. His movie Phantom Thread might have been one of the award season favourites but she didn’t like it one bit.
“I’m sorry to anybody who loved that movie,” she told American actor and writer Marc Maron on his popular WTF podcast. “I got through about three minutes of it then I was off.”
AND THEN THERE’S HER OWN MOVIE FAIL
Jennifer’s latest film, Red Sparrow – about a ballerina-turned-sexy spy – hasn’t gone down well with fans or critics. It’s been called out for the way women are portrayed and accused of “lacking in the feminist department”.
Jen didn’t help matters when she wore a bare-shouldered, skimpy Versace gown for a photo-call for the film in freezing London while her male co-stars were all wrapped up in winter garb.
Her appearance prompted a backlash that she was giving in to the ingrained sexism she purports to hate in Holly- wood. The actress hit back, saying shaming her dress “was not feminism” and that the criticism was a “distraction” from the real issues women face.
She went on to explain she just liked the dress (“It was fabulous and I wasn’t going to cover it up in a f***ing coat”) and if she wanted to wear it and look hot that was her call.
Sadly for her the movie has been labelled B-grade, clichéd and a poor choice for the Oscar-winner. “It doesn’t show any of her gifts as an actor,” read a review in the UK’s The Guardian.
SO WHAT’S NEXT?
Jennifer is said to be taking a break from acting to focus on her other passion: educating young people in the US on their political rights.
Might be a wise move – a little time off from the limelight could be just the ticket.