The first trailer for Jennifer Lawrence’s new movieNo Hard Feelingsoutlined the film’s controversial and problematic plot, with follow-up trailers only doubling down on the movie’s questionable themes and motivations. Despite being inescapable from the big screen since her debut in 2012’sThe Hunger Games, Jennifer Lawrence has drastically reduced her workload these last few years, withNo Hard Feelingsbeing her first, and potentially only, movie of 2023. Lawrence was frequently working throughout the 2010s, starring in multiple entries for large franchises like the aforementionedHunger Games,as well as theX-Menfranchise, and winning an Oscar for her performance inSilver Linings Playbook.
Directed by Gene Stupinsky(Good Boys),No Hard Feelingssees Jennifer Lawrence’s Maddie — a relatably broke millennial — “date” the son of a wealthy helicopter family in return for a new car, so she can continue her career as an Uber driver. The family posted the ad online in the hopes of bringing their introverted 19-year-old son out of his shell before he goes off to college in an attempt to improve his social life.No Hard Feelingsmodels itself on the gross-out sex comedies prevalent throughout the early 2000s. However, Maddie’s attempts to seduce and change Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) come off as dark, uncomfortable, and problematic.
No Hard Feelings' Plot Revolves Around Grooming
AlthoughNo Hard Feelingspositions itself as a sex comedy, the film’s comedic elements are heavily overshadowed by its central elements of grooming and sexual harassment. Many scenes in the trailers show Maddie forcing Percy into non-consensual situations and frequently using sexual innuendo and her body to try and seduce Percy, who very clearly isn’t interested.
Maddie’s persistent and aggressive nature leaves the attempts at humor with a bitter aftertaste instead of the awkward punchlines they were initially intended to be. What makes these moments even more disturbing is that Maddie has the full support of Percy’s parents. In one of the opening scenes in the trailer, Maddie asks, “Do you mean date him, or “date” him?” To which they reply, “Yes… Date him hard!”
The discomfort felt in this scene looms over the rest of the trailer as Percy’s sexual innocence and lifestyle choices are seen as abhorrent to his parents, as they attempt to force sex and drinking culture on their non-consenting son.
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Another inescapable aspect ofNo Hard Feelings' controversy is the large age gap between Maddie (32) and Percy (19), with 13 years between them. Although Percy is of legal age, the innocence of his childlike demeanor only heightens the questionable morality of Lawrence’s Maddie.
Many scenes depict Maddie attempting to engage with Percy in sexual situations, including performing a lap dance and going skinny-dipping, withPercy being obliviousto any sexual aspects of these situations. During the lap dance scene, as Maddie grinds against Percy, Percy says he finds her hips uncomfortable, to which the camera hard cuts to Percy sitting on Maddie’s lap, which feels reminiscent of the relationship between a child and a mother.
One clip fromNo Hard Feelingspushes Maddie’s disregard for Percy’s consent to its limit, with Maddie literally kidnapping Percy and holding him hostage in her van, with the scene being played for laughs as Percy rightfully pepper sprays her.
No Hard Feelings' Plot Is Outdated
The late 90s and early 00s were filled with sex comedies likeAmerican PieandNot Another Teen Movie. On the surface,No Hard Feelingsappears to flip the gender roles of such films, where sex-addicted guys pursue innocent women, with Maddie assuming the role of the sexual pursuer and Percy being the innocent sweetheart who is the target of corruption.
However, in 2023 those plot trappings feel wildly outdated, especially in the wake of movements like #MeToo — whichJennifer Lawrence is a proud supporter of. As well as the movie’s aggressive sexual nature feeling outmoded,No Hard Feelingsalso features harmful and outdated stereotypes of adolescent masculinity, with Percy’s innocence and lack of sexual desire being presented as weird and played for laughs.
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In reality, current viewings of sex comedies likeAmerican Pieare tough for modern audiences, with those movies being filled with problematic elements — like spying on women changing through hidden cameras — with those elements being “justified” by teenage hormones.
A frequent complaint being vented online is that if the gender roles were reversed, with Percy being the 32-year-old pursuer and Maddie being 19 and innocent,No Hard Feelingswould instantly feel uncomfortable and problematic to viewers. As a result, it is strange to see Jennifer Lawrence, an Oscar-winning actress who is almost always in demand, choosing this asone of her only projects for 2023.
