The end of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez's relationship would mark the end of the unashamedly flashy celebrity romance that has entertained us for decades.
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Joan Crawford had the shoulders. Bette Davis had the eyes like searchlights. Burt Lancaster had the back. Marilyn Monroe had it all. Most big stars have at least one physical feature that defines their persona. For Ben Affleck, that one feature, at this point in his career, is a strained smile; its contours and the sadness it captures are meme fodder. My favorite is when Affleck is giving a press conference for “Star Wars: Episode I – A New Hope.” Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (A title so ridiculous that I thought I must have remembered it wrong.) Affleck said this when his co-star Henry Cavill was asked about the film's ferocious critical response: In the meme edit, as Cavill launches into his rehearsed answer, Affleck's eyes are lowered and his soul seems to flee into a deep, dark pocket inside his body. All that's left is an echo of his “Sound of Silence” smile. Simon & Garfunkel's “Sad Affleck” provided the soundtrack to this public grief. Sad Affleck was born. For nearly the next decade, his tired smile would pop up in the background of Dunkin' Donuts grocery runs and Grammy Awards appearances. This year alone, the strained smile fixed in the middle of his tired face has generated not one but two Onion headlines, the second of which appeared earlier this month, just days after rumors of a breakup from Jennifer Lopez surfaced.
Lopez and Affleck's history of over-manicured, tanned love is the epitome of early 2000s celebrity hedonism: the paparazzi walks, the music video appearances, the terrible movies they made together, and the 6.10-carat radiant-cut pink Harry Winston diamond she showed them when they first got engaged in 2002. Town & Country Articles about all six of Lopez's engagement rings, what Elizabeth Taylor thinks of her, etc. They broke up two years later. — The tabloid obsession with the couple reportedly became too intense for him. do not have For her, it took two high-profile divorces, a number of tough career transitions and a famous email exchange before she found love again 17 years later. This Is Me…Now: A Love Story, The genre-bending 2024 musical is based on Lopez's album of the same name. her glorious, tragic relationship with Affleck;
“It's pointless. It's insane. It's so deep in your ass you can't see the light.” I wrote this on Letterboxd after seeing the movie back in February. “But … despite Jennifer Lopez's shortcomings as a celebrity and an entertainer, she understands the value of maximalism.” In both title and content, these three projects (including a documentary in which Lopez explains that her new music was inspired by Affleck's past love letters) It's telling that Lopez sees celebrity as just a show-off. She's spent millions of her own money on This is me now Despite warnings from friends and loved ones, including Affleck, she got married because, for Lopez, falling in love with and finally marrying Affleck was not just the best thing in the world, but also something she could polish, package, and share with fans who had followed her over-the-top emotional displays (and wealth) for so long.
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However, in the months following the film's release, the couple's relationship was subject to intense speculation. people Affleck and Lopez reportedly hadn't been seen together in public for 47 days (apparently a lot of days for a couple known for hanging out together on a very large yacht)..) Conveniently, they appeared in public together soon after, both wearing their wedding rings at a children's benefit event in Los Angeles. A few days later, paparazzi captured the pair in Santa Monica, sitting in the driver's seat with the window down, Lopez peering over her shoulder. They're both smiling, but Lopez's smile is photogenic, while Affleck's is tentative and tired. Sad. Divorce rumors were fueled by headlines that the couple had ended their cohabitation and were looking for a new home; after all, Lopez had just co-hosted the Met Gala and premiered a Netflix movie. Atlas She wasn't holding Affleck on her arm, which is why they showed up as a couple to Affleck's daughter's graduation and son's basketball games, all photographed by the paparazzi.
What intrigues me is the couple's nostalgic strategy for surviving the gossip: When they first started dating, Social media had little influence, and Trump had not yet demonstrated the worst and inevitable consequences of celebrity idolatry. Then, as now, Affleck and Lopez relied on dramatic paparazzi encounters and “leaks” from friendly sources who would come to their aid. people She confessed that the couple “isn't on the best terms at the moment,” but assured that “nothing is going to stop their love.” They didn't resort to predictable statements in Notes or relatably posed family photos on a grid; that would be too mundane. Lopez, like me, believes that if you're in the public eye, and people have propelled you to the kind of stardom you've become, you might as well have fun. (Whether or not the ghost singer likes Ashanti) It's intense, it's flashy, and most importantly for Lopez, it's on her own terms. Atlas During a press stop in Mexico City, a male reporter asked her if the rumors of a romantic relationship between her and Affleck were true. Her response was simple: “You know that.”
Modern celebrity has been in the midst of major change for some time now. New stars are being cultivated, but it's unclear what lasting fame looks like and what long-term brand management is required to maintain it. But Ben and Jen The show of vulnerability and openness still has a big impact on the audience. veneerAffleck's cracked smile is what the couple allows for — a narrow, shaky window into the “real” pressures of celebrity romance, captured by a telephoto lens. “I don't think he's happy about me doing this,” Lopez explains candidly in the documentary. “But he loves me and he knows I'm an artist and he supports me in any way he can.”
On May 22, Affleck was spotted by paparazzi picking up his son by himself. In the photo, a blue sweater is draped over his arm, and it's unclear whether he's wearing a wedding ring. But his face is the dominant feature. With a broad smile on his taut features, he looks the panicked euphoria of a man struggling not with reconciliation but with the possibility of separation. Some are quick to point out that this is simply bad PR, a sign that Lopez's grip on his audience is loosening, or that it was never that strong to begin with. But this is not a tragedy. These are people trying hard to stay invisible in the spotlight, after 20 years of cultivating an audience with a constant supply of parasocial gratification. Their dogged paparazzi gait is a throwback to a simpler era of celebrity, when a wince from Affleck could deflect heat from the glare of sagging tour sales and slumping Rotten Tomatoes scores. But now, who knows?
