Before I proceed with the opinion above, Lady Gaga stans please don’t come for me. Also, some spoilers are ahead. You’ve been warned.
Yes, I know the songs are great. Just as the acting is outstanding and the cinematography is beautiful. It wasn’t just an Oscar nominee for nothing,
And while I’m ecstatic that Lady Gaga won the Oscar for best original song, all of these things combined still can’t mask the fact that this film romanticized a toxic relationship.
If you’ve seen the film, you know Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) and Ally’s (Lady Gaga) romance begins as an intense, but heartwarming affair. Not a single person can deny being touched by Bradley Cooper saying “I just wanted to get another look at you,” with his thick southern drawl.
But as the on-screen lovers whirlwind romance forges on, so does Maine’s drug and alcohol addiction.
I’m not saying that the demons Maine faces make him a bad person — addiction is a disease after all.
But it does make him unstable for any sort of serious relationship. Making Jackson and Ally’s starry eyed romance doomed from the start. Just a quick reminder for anyone who needs it, the two characters met solely because Maine couldn’t stand the thought of being sober for his next plane ride. Is it as romantic as you remembered?
The first red flag should’ve been Jackson getting too drunk and needing his brother to put him to bed after we were introduced to Ally’s first goosebump inducing performance of “shallow.” Unfortunately, like most red flags, it’s completely ignored and from there the signs of his inability to carry a healthy relationship become more glaring.
The flags grow into more overt instances, all the way from smearing cake on Ally’s face to calling her ugly and untalented. And of course we all know everything unravels when Maine urinates all over himself during Ally’s Grammy acceptance speech.
It’s truly heart wrenching to watch Ally makes excuses for Maine again and again. It’s disheartening to see a woman whose character began as formidable digress into a vulnerable person who always has to pick up her husband’s pieces. I understand that part of a relationship is becoming vulnerable, but still it’s a difficult transition to watch.
Sure, true love can be perceived as loving someone in their darkest moments, but loving someone doesn’t mean you have to stay with them. The age-old saying, “if you love them let them go,” could’ve really applied here, but if it had then this movie would’ve been over well before its two hour time slot.
I also understand that when you love someone forgiveness is key, but how many times can you forgive until you’re just being taken advantage of? I don’t know, just food for thought.
Believe me I wanted to love this movie I really did, but I just couldn’t bring myself justify the negative aspects of their relationship by going “iT’s FiNe iT MEanS tHeY ReaLLy lOvE EacH OthEr.”
Plus, someone has to be the devil’s advocate, right?