Opinion: Jennifer Lawrence and Hollywood’s self-loathing game
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Why do so many beautiful actresses use their time in the spotlight to criticize their appearance? “Hunger Games” star Jennifer Lawrence is the latest offender. On Tuesday’s “Late Show With David Letterman,” the charming and charismatic actress told Letterman that she sees herself as a “troll” and that her handlers have to remind her to “suck in.”
Meredith Blake wrote on Show Tracker that Lawrence came across as “refreshingly human -- if slightly troubling,” and blogger Perez Hilton asked, “Doesn’t it just make U fall in love with her more???” For me, the answer is no. Lawrence, in the past, has criticized Hollywood’s standard of beauty and its negative impact on impressionable fans. So why’d she play into it on Letterman? Maybe she was just nervous. Still, a better message would have been: “My handlers tell me to ‘suck in’ when I’m on the red carpet, but I roll my eyes at them and say, ‘you guys are nuts.’ ” Or even better: Not mention it at all.
I can see how actresses might indulge in a little self-deprecation in order to make themselves more relatable and connect with fans. But what happens when someone as beautiful and as talented as Lawrence admits her insecurities as a matter of fact is that it fuels a culture of insecurity along with self-destructive “pro ana” sites and “Am I ugly?” videos.
Women are so much more than what they look like, and yet we’re so often reduced to just that. From what I’ve gathered of Lawrence in the past, she couldn’t agree more.
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--Alexandra Le Tellier
