The release of Colleen Hoover’s much anticipated movie, “It Ends With Us,” on Aug. 9, was quickly met with an unfavorable press tour due to the lack of discussion on serious themes featured in the film.
The movie is directed and starred by Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively as title characters, Ryle Kincaid and Lily Bloom. The movie, based on a book of the same name, is built around the heavy and true story of domestic abuse between Hoover’s parents and has received backlash for its romanticization of domestic violence.
In response to the negative media around the book, Baldoni and fellow screenwriters took the surrounding criticism into consideration during the filmmaking process.
“We talked about the criticism,” Baldoni said in an interview with “Today.” “We talked about why that happened. We talked about what we can do to protect the movie from that criticism, and how we can make sure that we inject as much truth into it, so that people can be seen and never feel like their stories are being exploited,”
Despite the attempt to improve in the film adaptation, the press tour and marketing appeared similarly tone deaf as trailers and interviews did not mention any conflicting themes and instead, focused on fashion, flowers, and Lively’s hair brand, Blake Brown.
“‘It Ends With Us’ is in theaters now, so grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it,” Lively said during movie promotion.
The movie has been advertised as a fun romance despite its heavy and triggering plot line. The type of marketing is not defending any negative allegations towards the film’s lack of message, either.
“Unfortunately, the dynamics of domestic violence is deeply ingrained in our music, movies, and society,” local social worker Marilyn Poynter said. “It is a serious problem that is often overlooked, especially as these distorted relationships are represented in the media, blurring the line between healthy and toxic relationships.”
Press interviews and social media posts involving cast members lacked discussion of the complicated themes and instead concentrated on aesthetics, contributing to the exact criticism that has been plaguing this story already.
“I saw a lot of promotions on TikTok, and Blake Lively was posting a lot of stuff,” sophomore Kelly Roberts said. “They did a flower shop with Blake Lively, and it included her hair care brand. A lot of influencers are dressing up and going to the flower shop.”
The romanticizing of the film rather than the serious conversation on its crucial meaning has not only angered viewers for the lack of discussion on an important topic, but misled potential viewers–and even confused readers of the book.
“I’ve read the book, but when I saw the trailers and promotions for the movies, I thought that they had taken out the abuse in the story,” junior Izzy Moore said. “Based on what was on social media, I assumed they had taken a more romantic and wholesome approach in the movie adaptation.”
The film has gained lots of media attention with its box office opening alone, making around $50 million.
“A lot of the time people don’t recognize these subtle forms of abuse in their relationships,” Poynter said. “This movie and the message behind it has the chance to reach men and women with this experience and prompt them to seek help.”
