This Is Me... Now

Scrolling through Prime for something to watch and came across "This Is Me... Now: A Love Story by J-Lo. I went in with an open mind; not having read any reviews, so had no preconceptions.

It started off OK, pretty visuals, but I quickly realised (within the first 10 minutes or so) that this was some cringe-worthy, self-indulgent, vanity project (thank goodness for the fast forward button!!!)

I did press 'play' at regular intervals to see if (by some miracle) things had improved, but no... my time & intellect was wasting away with each passing minute!!!! ...Dramatic? Nope; it really was THAT bad!!! In addition, I felt nothing but second-hand embarrassment for her as she danced her way through each mind-numbing scene (not to mention the God-awful soundtrack!)

I mean,who actually advised her that this project was a good thing to do? ...must have been the same people who advised Beyonce that her "Black Is King" garbage was a good idea 🙄

If I had to describe this 'film' in 3 words, it would be: Egotistical. Tedious. Cringe-worthy.

Bless her heart, the second-hand embarrassment while watching this is just painful. I just couldn't watch it-other than snippets here and through after fast-forwarding through most of it. I can't imagine how hard it must be to find oneself again after the level of fame Jennifer has achieved and I'm sure it must feel impossible for her people (friends, agents, publicists, etc) to face Jennifer and tell her something is a bad idea. But if they loved her-REALLY loved her-they would've shot this idea down quickly and tell her it's time to act humble and with grace and to find a way to plant her feet firmly back on the ground. And she may actually enjoy it-it's really great down here.

It's clear to me that tremendous effort went into this project. It has some nice visuals, a veritable fashion show of costume changes, plently of choreography, a slew of high-profile cameos, etc. I just wish all that effort had been put toward a more worthy project. This is a Vanity project through and through, all created to help Jennifer Lopez justify being married four times and to prove to the world why this fourth marriage will last (it won't). The accompanying behind-the-scenes doc is even worse, with her contrived efforts to act like a genuine person falling embarrassingly flat and Ben Affleck's very "I so don't want to be here." demeanor, which has lead to a steady barrage of divorce rumors.

There's no denying the magnetic energy of JLo's music or her mega babe status. But as to what fresh madness this film is, I have no bloody clue. Best guess is that it's a string of music videos linked together by random celebrity cameos and cringey dialogue. I'm sure audiences will vibe the glitz, glamour and hypnotic dancing, which is ridiculously extravagant. I don't believe this film requires much of your attention, I used it as background music while I cleaned the dining room. Thankfully it's only an hour long, so if you vibe JLo and her music then watching it won't be a waste of your time.

Where to even start? Admittedly I'm not a JLo fan, but I wasn't rooting against her either, or at least I wasn't until seeing this. I was in awe, in the worst possible way. I cannot fathom the level of ego and cognitive dissonance required to believe that not only was the world waiting with baited breath to see a feature film that details your love life, but that it's wise to spend 20 million of your own dollars producing it. I don't begrudge her her success in life or in work, but her self-obsession is unreal. This movie is what happens when a woman who never hears "NO", has money to burn, and has every whim catered to runs amok. What happened to humility? And yes, I know the 1% are free to spend their money however they like, but instead of using 20 million dollars to, I don't know, build tens of thousands of wells to provide drinking water, or sending hundreds kids through college, or honestly literally ANYTHING else, you use it to give the world the most insane vanity project they never asked for. Ick. She's officially the w.