Jennifer Lawrence’s ‘gaffe’ and the fickle nature of public opinion

Remember when Jennifer Lawrence was nice? It seems like only yesterday when she fell over adorably at the Oscars, and then again at another Oscars, and then again at the premiere of the final Hunger Games movie. Or only yesterday since she gave hilariously candid interviews that made her seem like a fun, regular human being, or since she earned a cute nickname, JLaw, because she was just so hilariously candid, and such a fun, regular human being.

But in the gaping chasm of insatiable celebrity commentary, the snapback has been swift and brutal. In the dramatic narrative of Hollywood’s popularity stakes, Lawrence has gone from down-to-earth darling to diva with astonishing speed. She can’t seem to do or say anything right. She’s the anti-Teflon, the star to which everything sticks.

She made a joke at the Baftas – a rarity in itself – about Joanna Lumley’s gushing introduction; she was pilloried for her “rudeness”. She wore a dress that showed more than an ankle on a photocall for her new movie, Red Sparrow; she was anti-feminist. She didn’t seem anti-feminist when she gave that considered, ardently feminist response to having her nude photographs stolen and posted online, but seems to have been lost to sniping about more flippant interview answers.

In the ongoing tabloid tales of two Jens, the other one, Jennifer Aniston, has been subject to the poor Jen storyline that first appeared when she broke up with Brad Pitt. Twelve years later, she’s getting divorced again, having torn through all of two husbands in well over a decade, the floozy. Of course, the idea that this successful woman is somehow cursed by lovelessness, when it seems that she’s actually quite fine, thank you, is a bore, at best, but at least it pretended concern for its subject, no matter how patronising or misplaced.

Celebrity culture now is as black and white as the internet that feeds it. Famous people are either loved or loathed, with effusive adoration flung their way – see the growth of “queen” or “mum” as terms of approval under social media posts – or mass-mob malice.

As Lawrence has discovered, both states are fragile and subject to change and she has been on either side of the pendulum’s swing. I have no idea what Lawrence is like as a person, but this collective heaving towards disdain is unpleasant. At this point, surely, she must be wondering what she needs to do to immunise herself from the backlash. More pratfalls? Throw in a broken limb, for extra authenticity?

She has announced plans to take a year off from the business. It’s bleak that it might seem necessary, with all this toxic noise, but if there’s one thing you can’t blame her for, it’s taking a break.