It Ends With Us is a romance novel by Colleen Hoover centered around themes such as love and determination, but also more serious ideas, like domestic violence. This summer, the film adaptation was released with Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni taking on the role of the main couple of the story. Ever since its release, there has been backlash to the movie’s advertising by the cast and the movie in general. It’s important to understand the portrayal of certain themes in the media, and how they can cause controversy online.
The main character of the story, Lily Bloom, moves to Boston to open her own flower shop. There, she meets charming Ryle Kincaid, a neurosurgeon, and the two of them fall in love. However, as they spend more time together, Lily starts to see the violent sides of Ryle. To make matters worse, Lily’s first love, Atlas, suddenly comes to Boston and re-enters Lily’s life, leaving her with a difficult choice between the two men.
What makes the story even more emotional and sensitive is the fact that Hoover allegedly based it on her own parents’ relationship. When talking about her biological father with Today in 2023, she said, “One of my earliest memories was him throwing a TV at her. We grew up in an abusive household up to that point.” This behavior was reflected in the story in Ryle’s character.
When the adaptation of the movie was first announced, there were a lot of mixed reactions. Some people were excited to hear about the adaptation, especially since it would be starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. However, others were more skeptical, especially in the first announcement posts on the official It Ends With Us Instagram page. People left comments saying that they ‘can’t stand her [Lively] as an actress’ or that she isn’t the Lily they pictured for the movie. Baldoni received similar reactions, with people saying he isn’t ‘fit for Ryle at all’ or that the overall casting choices for the movie were ‘horrible.’ Some of the hate towards this adaptation increased when it began to be advertised on social media. The main example of what fans were annoyed about, was one line that Lively said when advertising the movie in an Instagram video, on the official It Ends With Us page. She said, “Grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it!” This caused backlash from people in the comment section, some mocking Lively for making the movie seem like it was similar to Barbie. Some comments also remarked that this was ‘tone deaf,’ and that Lively could have advertised the serious themes in the movies more. A particular comment explained that Lively was making ‘it sound like a typical rom-com.’ Overall, fans have been disappointed with Lively’s lighthearted, unserious approach to the movie and its serious themes.
Even though the movie itself did receive backlash, it’s not the only issue as both Blake Lively and Colleen Hoover have had controversy in their pasts. A primary example was two months ago, when journalist Kjersti Flaa released an interview with Blake Lively and Posey Parker from 2016, which made Flaa want to quit her job. At the beginning of the interview, Flaa congratulated Lively’s pregnancy by saying, “Congrats on your bump!” Lively answered in a defensive tone with, “Congrats on your bump!” The journalist wasn’t pregnant during the interview, and it was clearly a comment about Flaa’s figure. Additionally, throughout the rest of the interview, whenever Flaa asked the actresses a question, they both answered it and discussed it between themselves, purposefully ignoring the journalist’s presence. Many people in the comment section called this a ‘high school bullying’ method, to make Flaa feel excluded. Lively received a lot of backlash for this interaction as well.
Alongside Blake Lively, Colleen Hoover has also had a controversial past, which was a key reason why the movie’s announcement had backlash. In 2022, when It Ends With Us became a popular novel on social media, Hoover started getting a lot of criticism. According to Vox, readers disliked Hoover’s novels because of “her simple sentences, her melodramatic plots, her toxic love stories that they say romanticize abuse.” Readers have also said that generally, “Hoover’s subject matter is heavy, but her writing style is bubbly and fun. The contrast is weird.” Another thing that upset readers was that Hoover planned to release an It Ends With Us coloring book. However, Hoover immediately received backlash, with many fans saying that it was tone deaf and inappropriate to create a coloring book based on a novel discussing domestic violence. Hoover apologized and canceled the release of the coloring book, stating that “the coloring book was developed with Lily’s strength in mind, but I can absolutely see how this was tone-deaf. I hear you guys and I agree with you.” However, even after the apology, fans were still left in shock.
Overall, even though the It Ends With Us adaptation has caused controversy, it should be remembered that it is mainly the writer and the female lead that has received the backlash, rather than the film itself. When serious themes are involved, they should be taken seriously, and not seen as a background aspect of a story. During press, interviewees should be thoughtful about what they say and clarify that It Ends With Us has serious topics involved and that it’s not another flowery, happy rom-com. While the story definitely has some positive moments, it’s still important to not glorify or ignore victim experiences, especially outside the movie.
