‘It Ends With Us’ - A conversation in marketing, content warnings and artistic responsibility

I tend to dip into booktok/bookstagram/book influencing to see what’s currently popular and trendy in the world of books. I am just going to start by saying that my opinion of Colleen Hoover is two minded; 

One - as a female romance novelist (a genre that has always and continually been dunked on in popular media as a genre that sad, lonely women read), people are always going to not like her and her content for that fact alone. Two - It can’t be ignored that Colleen Hoover’s books romanticize traumatic and abusive relationships. And while I can respect and appreciate that people who have those lived experiences can see themselves and feel a level of closure or catharsis from her written words, there are many impressionable young people who might just be assessing and learning from the media that this is what Hollywood’s ideal relationship looks like.

Now, I am not the book lover who runs into my local bookstore and turns the covers of her books backwards, but I also won’t go out of my way to recommend them. I think there are better books out there, but you also can’t deny that she is drawing in crowds of young readers that are hungry for the stories she’s telling. But why? I did go down a rabbit hole to understand what some of Colleen Hoover’s books were about, simply as to keep up with memes and the pop culture swirling around her books. I was mortified by not only the names of her characters (which I did expect), but also the amount of abusive relationships that lived within the pages of her stories. 

It was only a matter of time that a movie would be made, so as someone who works in the world of consent and human centered art, I was curious as to how the movie in particular would be marketed. And was fascinated by the storm of controversy surrounding the film ‘It Ends With Us,’ starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni (with Bladoni also directing). Abusive relationships are very nuanced things to center art in; because there’s an element in which you want everyone to understand its severity without victim shaming or exploiting those who are in abuse relationships. It is not a place for sensationalism. Until there is a real societal understanding of abusive relationships, the stories depicting fictional (or even semi-fictional) accounts of abusive relationships will be criticized and under fire.

Willingham for CNN writes, “The issue at hand, for many critics, is not that domestic abuse – a painful fact of life – is part of the narrative. Rather, it is that the behavior is central to the (doomed) love story in which readers are supposed to invest themselves.” This is a specific quote that I also relate to, having worked in films and in theater that stage similar stories of difficult content. The stories of the ‘uncomfortable’ are important to show on our screens. But what matters more is how we’re caring for the people consuming the content, and ensuring the process of that storytelling is done with consent at the forefront.

When Blake Lively proudly exclaimed on the movie’s official Tik-Tok account, “Grab your friends, wear your florals” to attend the movie, I was a bit taken aback - knowing what the movie was about. It appeared reminiscent of the marketing for the ‘Barbie’ movie; with movie goers dressing up, dolled to the nines to celebrate the movie’s messaging, styling and cultural sway. The difference is how one movie explored self identity and female empowerment, and the other was a story of an abusive relationship. Both are important stories to tell - but the framing in which it is presented, especially with a topic such as domestic abuse, should be in context. 

Let’s also get one thing clear on content warnings, they are not spoilers. Content warnings and spoilers are two different things. What’s important is the audience viewing the content knows that they are in a position to decide for themselves whether they can currently absorb, watch, and appreciate the content for themselves, rather than having it ‘sprung’ on them. By utilizing content warnings, we are being responsible in giving audiences the wherewithal to make their own decisions, as well as being able to concretely give your piece of media/art a chance without getting activated, angry or upset by the content alone. It gives everyone a chance to utilize their autonomy and celebrate the art to its fullest. 

I was shocked that there was no content warning at the beginning of ‘It Ends With Us.’ This lack of responsibility compared with the gal-pal/rom-com marketing was bound to lead to (at the very least) misleading marketing of the film.  People deserve to feel seen by stories, and by the media surrounding us. It’s why we tell them. But it is irresponsible to not share a content warning, or hint of potential content with hotlines, etc. This also should be done before the movie starts, as anyone activated by the film will certainly not be sticking around to see any helpline number on screen after the credits, appearing like some weird Marvel bonus content.

The marketing does the film a grotesque disservice. Instead of doing ‘fill in the blank’ and ‘hilarious’ interviews with Ryan Reynolds (Reynolds, Junket Crash | It Ends With Us). There was a conversation that could have been had here, but was swapped out in favor of ‘girl power/girlboss white feminism’ marketing tactics that in this context, were tasteless and tone deaf. It’s a bigger conversation altogether to talk about how we define the romance genre and Hoover's books belong there.

As for the film itself? This movie is fine. ‘It Ends With Us’ doesn’t have the gall to be a movie about domestic violence and actually be about domestic violence. However, it does expertly remind audiences of the uncomfortability in the moments of joy, and romance that also exist within that dynamic. This was seen even from the first poster release compared to what theatres ended up displaying.  This image was grabbed from an eBay posting selling both posters (https://www.ebay.com/itm/29650238822). The original poster, labelled under ‘2’ doesn’t show anyone’s direct gaze, notably with Lively avoiding the camera and contemplatively looking down while a man, Baldoni, is encroaching her personal space. The way the space between both actors is broken up in the frame demonstrates the power dynamic in their relationship and the complex feelings Lily Bloom (Lively) is living through. It’s the story of a relationship - one that appears intense and gives the audience more information about the tone and theme of the film.

The poster labelled under “1” was what ended up being used more prevalently. This poster features Lively, alone, surrounded by blooming flowers. Objectively, looking at both of these posters - which appears to tell the story of a relationship? The flowers do imply the growth that Lively’s character at the end of the movie - maybe. This is misleading marketing about the content of the film and it’s seen in the poster directly. This film leaned much further into ‘rom-com’ marketing than it had any right to.

Undoubtedly, this film was marketed questionably. What is the responsibility of the marketing to do due diligence when surrounding difficult content? What is the responsibility of the artists? These conversations are crucial as we create work in a more ethical way, and I look forward to seeing the change the marketing of this movie has on Hollywood. 

Most recently, in August, ‘Blink Twice’ a movie that also includes sexual content and abuse of power, released a content warning on social media following the lack of content warning for ‘It Ends With Us’ and the outcry that followed (Juneau). 

 It is empowering to see that viewers are noticing and asking and appreciating this content that in 2024, should be standard. It’s an ongoing conversation, to examine what level of responsibility artists take for their work, especially when one of the artists involved is also a key stakeholder and backer for a project's success. How much responsibility lies in the production team, and how much is on the audience members for their autonomous responsibility to do their own research before watching a movie? Where does the responsibility lie, and how do we negotiate genre re-definition for romance? Does romance include ‘toxic’ relationships? And, how are we doing due diligence as artists for consumers of our media?