JENNIFER LOPEZ PART 2

This is Me... This Week

Last week I wrote about the spiritual kinship I feel with Jennifer Lopez (celebrity) but also with Jennifer Lopez (human). I know it was v. parasocial of me, but celebrities are my pantheon of saints since I left the Catholic Church. The word “icon” originally meant a religious work of art and it’s no mistake that we now use it for Beyoncé (who has portrayed herself as the Virgin Mary more than once.) I don’t know if Jennifer Lopez is a religious woman these days, but she went to Catholic school for eight years and I’m sure she made her First Holy Communion at some point, in scratchy white tights pulled from cardboard backing. (No Catholic girl escapes The Tights, not even JLo.) Anyway, I just love people with oversized lives that beg mythologizing. Jesus, Justin Bieber, Ron Popeil, amen.

Anyway, last night, I went to a screening of the documentary The Greatest Love Story Ever Told, which is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of This is Me…Now, the beautiful, bonkers musical I wrote about previously on here. My friend Sarah invited me to come as her date (or plus-one, I guess, but I like date better) and of course I said YES even though it was a rainy school night. I had to go. Because not only did I want to see the movie, guess who was there, in the semi-intimate theater, with me, watching the documentary? JENNIFER LOPEZ, and also BEN, barrel-chested in an amazing sweater that made him look like an off-duty superhero (which I guess he basically is?) I’ve met Ben before, in 2007 when he came up to Vancouver during the filming of Juno. My main memory of this meeting was that Ben told me I’d make a good director someday, and do you know what? He was wrong! This is why we love him; he’s fallible!

Jennifer (center) at the post-screening Q&A

I swear I’m not going to turn this Substack into a Jennifer Lopez fan page (Diablo Presents: On the 666!) but it’s hard not to after watching this documentary. Because the entire thing is about how Jennifer knew people would mock this earnest and elaborate vision she had, and she did not care. She wanted to make art for art’s sake, citing Prince’s Purple Rain as her touchstone. Even Ben didn’t think it was a great idea, worrying that exposing their relationship too much could harm it. But he has a great soundbite in the doc re: his expectation of privacy versus Jennifer’s. He says, “I sort of realized it's not a fair thing to ask. It's sort of like, you're gonna marry a boat captain and you go, 'Well, I don't like the water.’” (This reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from a stripper: “If you don’t like saliva, don’t become a dentist.” She was talking about guys cumming in their pants, but it’s applicable to lots of jobs. I sometimes remind myself of this quote before a studio notes call.)

In addition to the boat captain metaphor, Ben also compares Jennifer’s need for attention to an alcoholic’s insatiable craving for booze, and Jane Fonda calls Jen “thirsty” to her face. I respect the decision to include these unflattering moments in the finished film. Being called out for thirsty tendencies can be painful. Flattery is my kryptonite, or at least it used to be (I don’t trust it anymore) and I know how uncool it is to seen as a person who courts attention. Jennifer is clearly aware of this— I would even use the word “sheepish” to describe her demeanor in some scenes— and it’s interesting to see a powerful person court ridicule, knowingly. It’s an act of bravery and dare I say, humility, to say “This is who I am, you were right about me, I am a workaholic, a mangled love addict, and a bottomless pit of need.” Whew! We need more projects like this and Lemonade and Truth or Dare and My Mind & Me. I don’t need to see a documentary where the biggest revelation is “I’m a people pleaser!” Give me the real shit! Tell me your mom sucked!

Anyway, I loved it, and I’m going to write Jennifer Lopez a letter! (Although I guess I just did.)