J-Law’s done it again. High on Dior Couture and Elnett hairspray (probably), Ms Lawrence stacked it on Oscars red carpet almost dragging about four other women down with her, like a pissed Bambi at an ice rink.
But of course, because it’s Jennifer Lawrence, we loved her for it. The Internet went crazy, a million gifs were born, and once again, we remembered that she’s One. Of. Us. Stunningly beautiful and ridiculously talented, yes. But also a little clumsy and prone to gaffes. Not too much - she’s no Alec Baldwin - but just enough to make her endearing.
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But why do some celebrities (think: Jennifer Lawrence and Lupita Nyong’o), push all the right buttons, when others (Anne Hathaway, we’re talking to you) rub us up the wrong way entirely? The sight of J-Law face planting on the red carpet was endearing whereas the news that Anne Hathaway rehearsed her acceptance speech last year to make herself seem more likeable actually makes her seem grating and try hard.
Turns out, we’re not just being indiscriminately bitchy – there’s a proper scientific reason behind this. It’s called selective attendance. ‘We see a celebrity and think: she’s got something that I want. There’s something significant about her I can get, if I copy her,’ explains Dr Arthur Caddisy, ex Big Brother shrink and current media psychologist.
Selective attendance does what it says on the tin; we select behaviours that are most attractive to us to emulate and admire. They’re usually qualities that you either don’t possess and wish you did, or that you do possess and hate, but now feel empowered by the fact that there’s a successful person making those qualities work for her. J-Law acts like a goof, falls over, says the wrong things in interviews and wins awards for it! Oh, her love life isn’t going so well? Could this all be a clever form of PR? Er, ignore those bits, because you’re selective attending, yeah? That stuff doesn’t matter right now - exactly the same as when you fall in love, and you choose to ignore the fact that he has a bit of a drug problem and doesn’t seem to like your friends because he’s got soulful eyes and looks cute when he sleeps.
Selective attendance does what it says on the tin; we select behaviours that are most attractive to us to emulate and admire
‘When we compare ourselves, and selectively attend to favourable qualities - say, candidness - a subconscious bond is formed because that celebrity has taught us a life lesson,’ says Dr. Cassidy. ‘They’ve helped us feel good about ourselves, or given us something to aim for. We fall in a kind of love with them.’
But all great love affairs must come to an end (hey Gwyneth!), and the reason we fall out of love is, according to research, because of the very fact we were in love in the first place. It rapidly turns into a sense of betrayal. Remember Hathaway in The Princess Diaries? Awkward, charming, sweet. We identified with her in a similar way to J-Law until she became Hollywood-skinny, hired Rachel Zoe for a stylist and started to sound scripted and media-trained in interviews. Comparing ourselves with her no longer became empowering, but unflattering. She made us feel bad about ourselves, and we consequently overreacted because, goddammit Anne, we saw a bit of ourselves in you.
'We have a love-hate relationship with celebrities because it’s all hinged on jealousy,' he explains. 'Ultimately, they’re successful and we are not, and the moment we reject this fake, non-reality that they’re living in, we reject them and it becomes a kind of hatred because we once loved them. We switch and change.'
Right this second, J-Law can do no wrong, because she’s just about attainable. She’s not a size zero, despite having an incredible figure and pulls bizarre facial expressions, despite being superhot. When she went up for her Oscar (last year), after falling over (last year, because she’s now fallen over two years in a row, keep up), she quipped, 'you guys are just standing up because I fell and you feel bad.' We can compare ourselves to J-Law, and find similarities, traits that we thought were bad that someone with power is totally owning. It doesn’t hurt that she’s totally lovely - cheering like a good’un when Lupita beat her to the Best Supporting Actress gong last night.
We can compare ourselves to J-Law, and find similarities, traits that we thought were bad that someone with power is totally owning
But the honeymoon period can’t last forever (hey Keira Knightley!), and it’s only a matter of time before our BFF puts a foot wrong – something we’ll be quick to leap on, and slow to forget. ‘Betrayal is one of the strongest emotions and it won’t take much for the tide to turn, regardless of how charming this girl is,’ explains Dr Cassidy. Even Jennifer agrees that her charmed public persona can’t last (which only serves to make her all the more charming - non?) 'I feel like I'm becoming way too much,' she said recently. 'Everybody is very fickle. They like me now, but I'm going to get really annoying really fast. Just watch.'
And of course, because we’re in the throes of a great romance, we don’t really believe this - how can J-Law possibly betray us now? Even if she were to spend the next week rugby tackling Lupita to the ground and ripping that Oscar from her hands (oh - that faux happened backstage!) dumping Nicholas Hoult to date Donald Trump and announcing her intention to vote Republican in the next election, she’d probably still do so in an endearing and winning fashion. Such is the power of J-Law. But she won't do any of those things - instead she'll continue to gurn, trip over and eat pizza, like the super-cool best friend we all want her to be.
Follow Stevie on Twitter @5tevieM
Pictures: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.