The publicity tour for the recently released and much anticipated It Ends With Us has been marred with drama, much of which overshadows the content of the film. Colleen Hoover's first movie adaption will likely be remembered, not for anything that happens in the film, but as the death knell for Hollywood's longtime golden couple, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. The failed promotional tour of It Ends With Us offers a case study in how not to advertise a film, and suggests that “performed authenticity” of celebrity couples doesn't win hearts the way it used to.
For those readers who are not chronically online, It Ends With Us was published by Colleen Hoover, BookTok's darling author, in 2016, but only picked up its substantial popularity in the 2020s. It was inevitable that the book would be optioned — it was the bestselling novel two years in a row and is undoubtedly one of BookTok's greatest successes.
Despite the bright floral covers and online chatter about meet-cutes and hot guys, It Ends With Us is not a flowery romantic comedy. The novel follows florist, Lily Blossom Bloom (yes, that is her name), played by Blake Lively in the film adaption, as she meets neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid, played by Justin Baldoni. Lily is abused by Ryle, continuing the cycle of abuse her mother experienced at the hands of her father. Eventually, she leaves the relationship, leading to the book's title, stating that she will end the cycle, ‘it ends with us’.
For all its cringe (I have chosen to omit the numerous references to Ellen Degeneres, for example, in my brief summary), the depiction of domestic abuse has made It Ends With Us popular and important for many readers, ensuring a film adaptation was bound to be a success. However, as the press tour began in early August, cracks began to show, providing an exemplary illustration for how not to promote a film about intimate partner violence…
Blake Lively’s Press Tour Faux Pas
In both the marketing of Hoover's novel and the film adaptation, concerns have been raised regarding the over-emphasis on romance in contrast to the abuse, and this was taken to the extreme during the film's press tour. Lively, in particular, has been singled out amongst the cast for repeatedly misrepresenting the tone of a film that includes such serious themes, leading to significant criticism.
Throughout the press tour, Lively has encouraged people to 'grab your friends, wear your florals' to the film, led 'girly talks' with other female cast members, baked pies and cookies - all strange approaches to promoting a film about domestic violence, reframing it as a girly-pop rom-com about hot men.
Lively also consistently involved her personal brands in the marketing of the film, launching a haircare brand and cross-promoting her alcohol brand, which hammered home the sense that she was more interested in personal gain than the film’s messaging about domestic violence. That is likely the case for most celebrities making films about traumatic experiences, however, there is a lack of tact in Lively's approach that has left a bad taste in people's mouths. Her only acknowledgement thus far of these faux pas has been an Instagram post about helplines and support - albeit on a 24-hour, time-gated story.
And, of course, when the internet gets a hint that someone might be acting out, the shovels are readied and digging commences…
Lively's missteps have led to the uncovering of her use of transphobic slurs, videos of her being rude to interviewers, and an endless cavalcade of cringe posts about her and her husband. By failing to appropriately address accusations that her approach to promoting It Ends With Us has been tone-deaf, Lively has missed the opportunity to save face on this disaster promotional tour.
Icing Out Justin Baldoni
Whilst Lively is in hot water, her co-star and the director of It Ends With Us has been nowhere to be seen. Much of this absence has been chalked up to conflict between director Justin Baldoni and Lively, with sources suggesting Lively was made uncomfortable during filming his behaviour, and all this has led to Baldoni hiring a crisis management team. There is no way of knowing exactly what went on during the filming, however, Baldoni has consistantly handled the film’s themes sensitively, and there is undoubtedly a sense of righteousness in his increasing absence.
It Ends with Deadpool & Wolverine
In Baldoni's absence, Ryan Reynolds has seemingly taken on the role of leading man, cross-promoting It Ends With Us with his own Deadpool & Wolverine. Reynolds has attended many of the press events for It Ends With Us, and Lively talks about him and his involvement in It Ends With Us endlessly. Most notably, it was revealed that Reynolds rewrote the opening rooftop scene of the film. This rewrite took place without the screenwriter, Christy Hall, being aware, and alledgedly during the writers' strike, a scandalous detail which contributes to the damaging of Reynolds and Lively’s shiny and perfect public image.
This cross-pollinating approach to marketing, and over-involvement in one another's projects, reflects a ‘power couple’ millennial marketing trend that is deeply 2010s in its execution. In a post-Marvel, post-Girl Boss, pop culture era, the couple goals approach to cinema doesn't cut it anymore. Both Lively and Reynolds have been broadly accused of consistently playing themselves in their films, these two most recent examples no exception to the trend, and their exaggerated on-screen personalities are a perfect example of the millennial and gen-z humour divide. Lively's involvement the promotion ofIt Ends With Us has demonstrated an ignorance of the films' themes in favour of a focus on self-branding, which combined with her and her husband’s ‘silly’ antics appears deeply disingenuous.
The tone-deaf promotion of It Ends With Us has stirred up sufficient controversy to allow all the additional minor dramas to come out of the woodwork and contribute to a wider, broader ‘drama’. If the film's publicity tour had not failed to match the tone of its themes, questions of Reynold's involvement, Baldoni's run-ins with Lively and Lively's self-promotion would have unlikely to have made as many headlines as they have. However, what this travesty of a campaign does demonstrate, is a serious fatigue with performative power couples and a desire for authenticity, real or well-acted, in actors' public image.
edited by Cameron Cade
It Ends With Us
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