As a certified member of the Women’s Film Critic Circle, I must say that I was deeply disappointed by A Star is Born, called an Oscar hopeful by many. It will certainly not get my vote in the Academy this year. While generally lauded as a polished, clear-eyed narrative about twisted love and fame, I found the film to be actually incomprehensible and purposefully misleading. Like any reputable film critic, I went into A Star is Born with absolutely no context.
For the first twenty minutes I was pretty hooked. Lady Gaga’s early life before she got discovered by a sexy country-rock star was fascinating! I never knew any of this actually happened before watching the film. But pretty soon, I started to realize something didn’t add up. When was Lady Gaga going to start wearing meat dresses and coming out of eggs? Did she really spend this much time pursuing this “Ally” persona? Clearly that was a bust as I had never heard anything about her. Not sure why the director bothered to include this in a film about Gaga’s rise to fame. The confusion was getting to me, so I leaned over to my non-film critic friend and whispered, “this movie is a dramatic retelling of Lady Gaga’s real life, right?” She gave me an incredulous look and shook her head vigorously.
Well, that sure changed my perspective on things. But I couldn’t get back the last thirty minutes of the film that I’d lost to that interpretation! I channeled my best Pauline Kael and refreshed my mind, starting to see the film for the narrative it was really trying to share: somewhat star-crossed lovers, pursuing their art and fame, and trying to keep their own identities intact through all of it. The heartbreaking inevitable inability to balance the different priorities while maintaining the happiness of the relationship. Wait a minute, this is literally the plot of La La Land. And, oh my god, it’s the same fucking guy! Holy shit, it’s Bradley Cooper, the same adequately generic, sexy blond male lead from La La Land. God, originality really is dead. The world of film has gone to shit since we lost Roger Ebert. I turned to my non-film critic companion to share my enlightened thoughts with her. “This is the guy from La La Land! Why did they remake that movie?” She stared at me wildly before whispering “La La Land is Ryan Gosling, not Bradley Cooper.”
Well, what the hell. Honestly, what is this film even supposed to be? I was forced once again to start over with A Star is Born, like a newborn baby shrieking my first cry to the tune of Shallow. Finally, I began to see the true essence of Cooper’s masterpiece. To be honest, though, I was pretty disappointed. What began (in my mind) as the dramatic retelling of Lady Gaga’s rise to glory had transformed into a tired and unoriginal story of heartbreak. Ally’s character suffered deep emotional trauma while passing up a number of opportunities to reclaim her power as the film failed to make a feminist statement. Where was the current take on relationships, power, and authenticity? Other than a few earth-shattering bangers, A Star is Born just didn’t have anything new to say.
“Seemed kind of old fashioned,” I sighed to my non-critic friend. “Not much there.”
“Are you serious?” She asked, exasperated. “It’s a remake that was originally produced in the 1930s. Haven’t you read anything about it?”
Honestly, I hadn’t.
Image via Sarah Clapp.