"This Is Me... Now"
Upon sitting on my couch to watch JLo’s new film, I had zero expectations or predispositions of what to expect. The only fact I knew was that she self financed this brain child of hers for a cool twenty mil- and it was based off of her latest album. Knowing her stamina it was obvious that it would be a showcase of her flawless triple threat talent, but I didn’t know in what style or direction she was headed in. I had seen a few headlines that leaned towards the side of “?!?!” but I don’t really read reviews nor fall for the clickbait.
Ultimately, without any spoilers, this hour long film is the absolute artistic vision of Jennifer Lopez. A culmination of her personal love-life experiences, big picture visualizations; using her music to tell a story and her decades of dance exploration expressing it all physically. Surrounded by a cast of up and coming actors, skilled dancers and killer cameo’s. I’m honestly…totally obsessed with this.
This might be the most vulnerable we have yet to see her. To any artist reading this, you will relate to just how gut wrenchingly scary it is to write, produce, direct, star-in and release a project out to the public to rip apart and judge with mere hopes that at least some people will relate to it and feel seen. But to do it at her level with the entire world watching — my anxiety is rising just thinking about it. Not everybody will “get it”, but honestly it’s so unlike anything we’ve seen in a long time, that people aren’t used to watching something like this. I think because she plays herself (which is arguably harder than being a totally different character), it’s formatted like a musical-movie or akin to an elongated music video, that tells her story that was plastered all over the media throughout her career — those who need to compare something to another to form an opinion are probably left scratching their heads. But film is art and it’s not going to please everyone I suppose.
The film tells JLo’s story, from her side, of her journey to find love. Through anecdotes, dreams, metaphors and what I imagine were real direct references or real situations she reenacted; it starts with Ben, and comes full circle.There is such a strong reminder here of how fragile love is. No matter who you are, where you come from — love is the one thing that universally unites us all. Through the pleasure and the pain, LOVE is what keeps us grounded, keeps us up at night, has us floating in the air, etc. etc. it does all the things.
I found myself crying — THREE separate times — as scenes or dialogue hit me right in my little-heart as I’ve said or thought or experienced that same thing — the relatability factor is at a ten.
There’s not much more I can say honestly without giving anything away, and for me part of the experience was not knowing what the narrative was or the premise of how the story was going to be told. Just go in with an open mind, enjoy the visuals, the music and the all around grandiose of what’s in front of you. Her documentary on the making-of this film is coming out next week and you know I’ll be back on my couch to watch how it all came together. Lastly, after watching this, I was reminded of how gratifying it is to produce ones own artistic vision. At the end of the day, artists just want to make stuff. That’s it! And it’s reassuring to know that no matter how much of a global superstar you are, the passion and incessant need and courage to do so — never leaves you.
OK so come back after you watch it and answer in the comments to the question below…
Were you satisfied with your zodiak representation? I was Sofia Vergara and I was VERY pleased with my Cancer-Rep.
