As teenagers who read Colleen Hoover’s 2016 best-selling novel It Ends With Us, we knew the recent arrival of the film adaptation might cause a scene. Considering Hoover’s controversial storytelling, which relies on sexualizing and stereotyping serious issues, we were especially curious to see how the cast would deal with the pervasive theme of domestic violence.
For some victims of domestic violence, like the protagonist Lily Bloom, the novel accurately depicted their situation.
When we saw the cast of It Ends With Us, we were puzzled. Appearances and ages did not match up, but this is nothing new in Hollywood. Die-hard fans overlooked these initial concerns.
The film is directed by Justin Baldoni, who plays Lily’s husband. He earned his fame from the CW comedy-drama Jane the Virgin and used that success to launch his filmmaking career. He bought the film rights to the book five years ago.
Hoover dreamed of having Lively play Lily Bloom because she admired her work since Lively became an “it” girl with her debut on Gossip Girl in 2007.
The media presents Lively as a career-driven woman, and fans admire her loving and humorous interactions with husband Ryan Reynolds. We, too, bought into the love for the Lively-Reynolds romance.
Pairing Baldoni and Lively gave us hope that they would have on-screen chemistry, but as soon as they began their press tours, issues emerged. Baldoni missed much of the publicity tour due to health issues, leaving Lively in the spotlight by herself.
Instead of emphasizing the importance of speaking out against domestic violence, Lively promoted the movie as a romantic comedy. She urged fans to “grab your friends, wear your florals” and go see the film, framing it as the perfect movie choice for an easygoing weekend get-together. Those who had not read the book may not have been expecting the darker side to Lily Bloom’s relationship with her love interest.
The press tour should have provided the perfect opportunity for Lively to boost her PR by giving voice to domestic violence victims. Instead, she distanced herself from the serious aspects of the film and chose to discuss the surface-level romance. We wonder if Lively truly understood what the film was about, or if she ever truly cared.
When Baldoni re-entered the spotlight to promote the film, he did so by himself, and in a way that differed dramatically from Lively, bringing domestic violence to the forefront.
At times it seemed like Lively and Baldoni were promoting different movies. At the premier in New York City, the entire cast did not even take a photo together. A rift clearly surfaced between actors, which caused rumors about the strained relationship between the co-stars.
Tone-deaf reactions and inappropriate comments are nothing new for Lively. In a 2016 interview, Lively mocked an interviewer’s weight after the woman congratulated her on her pregnancy. In recent interviews, Lively claimed that Baldoni fat-shamed her. Such hypocritical and immature accusations seemed like a ploy to redirect the negativity towards Baldoni.
The next time filmmakers cast a movie, they would be wise to remember the public relations disaster of 2024 and make sure actors maintain some type of empathy for those who might resonate with the characters they represent.
