The moment a celebrity falls in love with a regular person on screen, viewers know what to expect. This is a story that has been passed down Disgustingly: A-listers swoop in, humanity is drenched in camera flashes and stardust, and after a sort of manufactured encounter, ordinary people (let's call them “Muggles”) find themselves thrust under the strange and surprisingly lonely spotlight of celebrity.
Even though we kindly give variety and nuance to other love stories, this love story, for some reason, is almost always the same. The couple falls madly in love after overcoming some inevitable hurdles, including fake news reports, paparazzi scandals, and a cunning puppeteer agent (what a guest!) and, because celebrities are normal, every… Contrary to expectations, they discover that they are perfect for each other, people who need and deserve love, too.
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That doesn't mean the stories aren't still fascinating and valuable pop culture, but we've “seen” this, as Taylor Swift would say, with every new story. It seems strange that no one cares much about that fact. Before and after watching the movie, we almost always know how it ends.
Of course, the most obvious example is notting hill, a popular romantic comedy by Richard Curtis starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts about a nerdy bookseller who falls in love with a glamorous movie star. But there starstruckA sharp BBC comedy series directed by Rose Matafeo about a young woman who has a drunken affair with a man, only to discover that he is a major movie star.
Last year too Love comedyCurtis Sittenfeld's best-selling novel (soon to be made into a movie by Reese Witherspoon's production company). The story of a comedy writer whose fledgling fling with a famous Bon Jovi-type musician turns into a lockdown romance.
However, a recent addition to this canon is your ideas. In case you missed the fanfare of the film adaptation starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine that was released on Amazon Prime in early May, let me give you a little refresher. The original story is a novel by Robin Lee. your ideas was released in 2017 and quickly became a success during the pandemic. trend He called it a “sleeper hit.”
The film follows a successful 40-year-old American single mother who begins a secret relationship with an attractive and highly attractive 20-year-old British boy band star who bears a vague and striking resemblance to Harry Styles. As a result, the book was labeled as Stiles fan fiction, which was somewhat unfairly labeled as a Stiles fan fiction. With a significant age difference, this story offers a different perspective on how misogyny affects famous “Muggles”. Relationship; Solene, the main character, is vilified in the tabloids.
Nevertheless, all the important principles of this genre are fulfilled. “Muggles” are indifferent to the fame of celebrities, which makes them more attractive. Celebrities are revealed to be vulnerable just like the rest of us, which makes them even more attractive to “Muggles”. Then, news of their romance reaches the press and, after crossing the usual barriers, the duo find their way back to each other. Spoiler alert: This is not the actual ending of Lee's book (where the couple breaks up), but it is implied in the movie that they reunite.
None of these stories are bad. In fact, I love them all. But taken together, they offer a very limited view of what it means to be famous, and especially how fame affects power relations in relationships with non-famous people. Consider how these dynamics play out in real life.
Whenever a big star is spotted having an affair with a “muggle” or someone less well-known than them, it's only a matter of time before a brutal treasure hunt begins for any information about them. If the “muggle” is a woman, the hunt usually takes a sexist turn, trying to find something sneaky to undermine or ridicule them. It's happened to just about everyone Leonardo DiCaprio has ever been seen remotely close to, as well as Paul Mescal, Jacob Elordi, Brad Pitt, Styles, and pretty much every other famous man who dates women.
Amid all this, the personalities of celebrities are rarely questioned. Why? We have placed them on such a high pedestal that it has never been thought possible for them to do harm. And this is a narrative that is reflected again and again in popular culture. The problem is that if celebrities are like us, it means they are fallible people who can do wrong. And given the power that society has given them through fame and the subsequent impunity, who knows how much damage they can cause and get away with.
The point is, we only need to look at Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo movement as a whole to know how bad things can get. Consider the women who accused Russell Brand of sexual assault (which he denies), or the former students of James Franco who accused him of sexual misconduct; again, the actor has said that his sexual contact with the students was consensual. We could go on and on, but there are so many others whose fame has been hidden under the glitter for so long that it can take decades to dig up what was hidden underneath. And there are some we don't know about yet.
All of these things are part of what drew me to writing. gold Rushmy debut novel, a young woman, Rose, spends a night with Milo, a famous musician, but wakes up the next morning unable to put it all together. For me, I have a problem with the power we give to celebrities. And while not all of them abuse that power, I know some do. Because some people have it.
So changing the conversation about celebrity and “muggle” relationships, power relations and sexism and how all of this spills over to other people and prevents us from distinguishing between good and bad people. Maybe it's time to introduce a new story that raises questions about everyone. As William Shakespeare said, let us never forget The Merchant of Venice: “All that glitters is not gold.”
“Gold Rush'' by Olivia Petter will be released on July 18th and will be published by 4 publishers.th Estate. Pre-order the book here.
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