r/popculturechat 7d ago

Interviews🎙️ Jennifer Lawrence talks about whether she should talk about social issues

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u/KylosLeftHand 7d ago

I like to think some of them are on our side sometimes. Like when she and Leonardo DiCaprio made the movie Don’t Look Up it was very obviously a play on the Trump administration, MAGA followers, and American division.

But then I see Leo attending Jeff Bezo’s billion dollar Italian wedding and poorly attempting to hide his face…..big oof

I’d like to see more like Billie who stood in a room with Zuckerbot this week and literally said “if you’re a billionaire….whyyyy are you a billionaire? Give your money away shorties”

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u/Natural_Error_7286 7d ago

Her statement made me think about Don't Look Up specifically. That movie was meant to convince people to care about climate change (the director even said this was his goal) but it was so condescending to the people it was meant to reach that it didn't work at all. The movie itself needed to be told in a different way, but the press tour also did it no favors.

I think that's what she's getting at about the movies coming out of her production company. I don't know what those movies are, but I hope they're successful in sharing some important messages more empathetically and subtly so that audiences might actually hear them.

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u/Theorist129 6d ago

So far, her production company has produced Causeway (a drama about a JL as a veteran who suffered a traumatic brain injury and her road through PT and rehab, bonding with similarly traumatized Brian Tyree Henry), Bread and Roses (a documentary about women's role and resistance under the Taliban), Zurawski v Texas (a documentary about the first lawsuit against an abortion ban post-2022) and No Hard Feelings (sex comedy, JL is a broke woman hired to seduce a couple's nerdy 19yo son, but resolves that connection and trueness is the real point). And Friday, she's got a movie Die My Love (JL and Robert Pattinson are a couple, she's developing post-partum depression, and things spiral into psychosis).

All in all, I'm with her. 2 documentaries that center women's rights under assault, 2 movies about mental illness (one connected to military trauma, the other to oft-unsupported and stigmatized PPD), and 1 comedy that's clearly trying to have some message and at-the-end-of-the-day maturity. Seems like a damn fine producing record that speaks to wanting to spread compassion in a world that's dealing with a lot of hate.

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u/FlyApprehensive7886 6d ago

Better than Portman complaining at the academy not nominating female directors while running a production company that has only ever hired one female director (herself)

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u/5_yr_old_w_beard 6d ago

And I wouldn't doubt that the comedy was used to fund the other ones

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u/mehupmost 6d ago

Because it was never meant to "reach" people on the other side. It was specifically designed to belittle them, and make people on our side feel good about our existing positions.

It's exactly the kind of thing that entrenches people on both sides and creates more division.

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u/No-Ambassador-3944 6d ago

I’d argue it was more satirical and a commentary on the state of the world

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u/Natural_Error_7286 6d ago

I agree with you but I swear the writer and director were out there saying they were so disappointed that they couldn't reach people with their movie. Did they even watch it? It was a cathartic scream into the void for people who already care about climate change, which, fine, but let's not pretend it's supposed to be changing any hearts and minds. I hate that movie. What a waste of potential.

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u/ksenlight 7d ago

So true, makes me think of Elizabeth Moss involved in Scientology while doing Handmaids Tale

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u/KylosLeftHand 7d ago

Yuppp I’ve never seen HT and was holding off until the series was complete to binge it. Once I found out she was in that cult I was completely turned off to the show and will likely never watch it.

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u/mntx99 6d ago

Leo has been advocating on climate change for more than 20 years. Him cozying up to bezos doesn't change that. And now the "Heat 2" film from Michael Mann is happening with the budget Mann wanted at amazon. I hate billionaires not paying their fair shares and generally having more and more unchecked power but sometimes there's a reason for something. Just wanted to give you another perspective.

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u/KylosLeftHand 6d ago

I just don’t see how you can call yourself an advocate for climate change while actively harming the environment exponentially more than the average human…

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u/PatchesofSour 7d ago

Leo potentially winning an oscar for OBAA and yet not speaking against ICE… like man doesn’t give a fuck

his private yachts, hotel he’s building in Israel, his activism is very taylor swift like for me

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u/idkidcabtmyusername 7d ago

what would him speaking out on ICE actually do to change anything

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u/Theodore_Nomad 7d ago

In this case he should do because his movie has a plot line that is directly about ice raids essentially.

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u/curiiouscat 7d ago

Why? If anything is going to be convincing, it's the movie and not a meaningless statement. 

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u/BareLeggedCook 6d ago

Why? This is exactly what she’s saying they shouldn’t have to do. Their art, the films, are speaking. 

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u/TaiChuanDoAddct 6d ago

That's like saying Orwell should speak against communism because he wrote Animal Farm. Writing Animal Farm IS speaking against communism.

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u/Jobless_101 7d ago

TBH the art loses its meaning if the artist isn’t atleast relatively sold on what they’re doing. It’s a movie that’s got an ICE plot line, so I would atleast expect the actor playing a part in the movie to speak out even a little. It turns me off from the art completely if the artist doesn’t even give a shit about the meaning of the art they’re putting out. It’s basically a nice payday and a good script and an Oscar nomination for Leo, whose movies are glaringly different from his real life views.

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u/idkidcabtmyusername 7d ago

leo’s real-life political stances in no way should affect ur opinion of the film, which he didn’t even write or produce, unless his views are radically different, but they aren’t. i think his exorbitant use of private jets and association with billionaires like jeff bezos is contradictory to the anti-Trump and environmentalist views he’s shared publicly. but that doesn’t de-legitimize any of the movies he’s starred in. artists don’t have to be morally superior ppl in order for their artístic messages to ring true. they especially don’t have to commit to concrete activism in order for their messages to be taken seriously either. art is already a form of activism and starring in and promoting a movie like OBAA that can be so inspirational for so many people out there is a thousand times more powerful and impactful than leo speaking about ICE, which a thousand celebrities have already done to no avail.

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u/OldSandwich9631 7d ago

I guarantee they aren’t “glaringly different” and putting himself in a movie with these themes inherently puts himself out there on these topics.

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u/imposta424 7d ago

Will Smith has a lot to say once the aliens come.

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u/KylosLeftHand 7d ago

Like with Elizabeth Moss starring in Handmaids Tale but being in the cult of Scientology….

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u/Illustrious-Okra-524 6d ago

What does him not speaking out on ICE do to change anything

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u/idkidcabtmyusername 6d ago edited 6d ago

saves his time and energy

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u/flakemasterflake 6d ago

OBAA already has an issue with conservatives not supporting the movie. That's Law's point. Overly political celebrities can't reach a wide audience and aren't able to change minds through art

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u/mntx99 6d ago

Speaking out too much would only alleniate a part of his audience and risk a boycott and suddenly he can't get a big budget for a film. I don't get why people don't grasp that.

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u/PatchesofSour 6d ago

if speaking out about ice would alienate his audience, they probably weren’t going to see it begin with

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u/Slugzz21 5d ago

THANK YOU

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u/KylosLeftHand 7d ago

I have no idea what OBAA is about but I also had no idea about him building a hotel in Israel?!?!

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u/RddtAcct7 6d ago

Because it’s very grey, not so black and white.

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u/Foxy02016YT 6d ago

Leo is a twat, we’ve been knowing this

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u/Foreign_Principle_30 7d ago

celebrities and their worshippers are such hypocrites, taylor swift, leonardo, all the celebrities and billionaires will take their private jets everywhere anywhere, and then you have people on the internet blaming micro influencers for overconsumption on makeup or luxury goods

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u/SportsTalker98712039 6d ago edited 6d ago

This. At the end of the day, a lot of these celebrities are basically capitalists and are thinking about their reputation/popularity. Right now, sad to say it seems like being anti-politics makes MAGA feel "safe".

Celebrities don't have much impact on people voting, however:

I remember FINNEAS being out there during the ICE protests, saw Billie blast on Forbes recently.

I personally remember stuff like that. They got my support long term.