33. It Ends With… an awkward press tour?
For some writers, seeing their stories on the silver screen is a dream come true. For American author Colleen Hoover, her novel ‘It Ends With Us’ hit shelves in 2016 yet earned its stripes in the last few years after getting BookTok’s blessing, going viral enough to encourage Colleen to write a sequel. Earlier this month, It Ends With Us hit cinemas, produced by Columbia Pictures, directed by and starring Justin Baldoni. The big-ticket star, Blake Lively, played the story’s protagonist Lily Bloom, and also contributed to the film as a producer.
Like any devoted fans of a novel, they were concerned with the portrayal of the characters they imagined, let alone with reportedly much of the film needing to be re-shot early in production. In hindsight, the realised colour of Lily’s hair was possibly the least of our worries. As someone who loved the book, I didn’t have many complaints about the film itself. The dialogue is no Shakespearean work, but it was an accurate portrayal of the novel. Regardless of the general quality of the film, the promotional press tour has been far from the gold standard.
I recommend reading the book or watching the film but for brevity: the story details domestic violence based on Colleen’s experience, a topic which unfortunately many people can relate to and therefore should be treated with respect and sensitivity. The marketing team, actors and production staff had ample opportunity to bring awareness to the dangers of domestically violent relationships, and perhaps use the Hollywood platform they had been given, to educate society on the issue.
Directors typically like to mould the narrative around their film, the press tour being an instrumental part of essentially proving why their film is one not to miss. Baldoni prides himself on being an advocate for detoxifying toxic masculinity and pushing feminist ideals as a male in society, something we can’t take for granted. However, when reports of his hostile behaviour on set, it drives home the old saying that actions speak louder than words. With most of the cast unfollowing Baldoni on Instagram now, it’s apparent that things have been awry for a while.
After a week of the film being out, social media footage almost convinced me that Blake Lively was in the wrong. Lively’s general approach to the film was celebrating it as a floral fest, with her new rom-com. Each interview saw an opportunity to empower women in current or past situations of domestic violence by speaking about the importance of sharing stories. Unfortunately, several of Lively’s responses to various interviewer’s questions could have been worded more sensitively.
Regarding the absence of an explicit trigger warning at the beginning of the movie, I’m not sure it would have changed how this press tour has played out. Undeniably, the promotion of the film should have adopted a more serious tone. Don’t even get me started on what I can only assume was an unnecessary attempt at a Barbenhiemer-esque movement in bringing Lively’s husband’s (Ryan Reynolds) film, Deadpool & Wolverine into the mix.
Perhaps Lively is under more strife than Baldoni because her role as Serena Vanderwoodsen in Gossip Girl, has cemented her as a beloved actor for almost two decades. Maybe it’s because Baldoni shares his passion for feminism and anti-toxic masculinity so publicly that at first glance we don’t believe he deserves such hatred. This article ends with this.
