New York Time’s best-seller book, It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover had recently been adapted into a movie. The story follows a woman named Lily Bloom. Lily is a florist who soon meets Ryle Kinacid, a surgeon. The book explores the connection between the young adults and the toxic relationship Lily had gotten herself into. The book is meant to represent people who have gone through domestic violence and not make them feel alone, though the marketing of the movie took another turn. Author Colleen Hoover and lead actress Blake Lively took it in a different direction, promoting Lively’s hair care product and the romance aspect of the movie.
The only cast member to speak up about the true meaning viewers should take from the movie was leading male actor Justin Baldoni. Justin Baldoni, who plays the abuser, took it upon himself to raise awareness for domestic violence victims. The drama surrounding this movie led up to the main question of why none of the cast spoke out about the most important part of the movie. The actor’s job is to make the viewers understand the meaning and depth put into the story, and to convey these emotions no matter how ‘complicated’ the topic may seem. Baldoni was the only cast member to speak up about the perspective the movie should’ve been taking.
He explained how disgusted he felt at himself after a day of acting as an abuser, which was an uncomfortable character to play, while Lively and Hoover continued to focus on Lively’s hair care line and wore florals to match Lily’s floral shop.
When students around Cresskill High School were asked, many had split reasonings. Typically, those who specifically watched the movie didn’t understand that the movie was more about domestic violence and not just a romcom, which is the genre it is labeled as. The book readers were able to acknowledge this and see the flaws in the writing of how the violence was romanticized.
Sophomore Elaine Kim, who had only read the book, stated that, “I didn’t like the book because most people would think of it as a romance. I kinda feel that way too because she wrote the domestic violence in such a weird way.”
On the other hand, sophomore Lia Lotan, who had only watched the movie, disagreed by saying, “I do think that it portrayed domestic violence because it got personal and showed her family life with flashbacks.”
With many people rushing to theaters to go watch the movie, it is important to recognize the true meaning behind it. With box office reaching $200 million, it is upon the cast to make sure the viewers are walking out with a deeper understanding of the abuse many people worldwide go through, and not hair or florals.
