Ever since JD Vance became the Republican nominee for Vice president, I have ruminated on the idea of separating the art from the artist. It has been something I’ve been able to do in most circumstances, largely because a film involves hundreds of artists across a spectrum of crafts coming together to provide one singular experience. So much of that experience is reliant upon what the audience sees, and when these actors behave badly, they can create this entire chaotic response to a film, which in turn is reductive to the work of artists whose faces are not on screen.
The reality is that no one would cancel a movie because of a below-the-line talent. If you found out that a grip on Avengers Endgame was secretly the mastermind of a child sex ring, I truthfully believe that movie would have made the exact same money at the box office. Most of that has to do with the average moviegoer not having any idea what a grip is, but the other half is that the grip isn’t in your face. But what about a writer? The person whose work spawned this cinematic adaptation?
I think that’s something that the stream of consciousness from JK Rowling has really posed to her fans. Is it possible to just watch the film now? Or read the book? Can you forget her overtly transphobic stance on life, even though she’s nowhere to be seen? My argument is still that all those other artists, some work for much longer than you would think crafting designs to bring iconic looks to life, toiling away so that you may enjoy this immersive experience. When we cast a film aside, it is often reactionary, because we don’t want to contribute to that one person, but we don’t always think about the downstream effects of the other artists who tangentially have been attached to the Titanic.
With Ron Howard’s adaptation of Hillbilly Elegy, which was released in 2020, it went into production as simply the adaptation of a best-selling novel. JD Vance was still riding high off his status as an author, and known as nothing much more than a venture capitalist. This was even before his run for Senate. Flash forward to today, and as Vance dives into a political landmine of an election cycle, what does that mean for this film? This work that already had audiences divided, critics torn, and earned both Oscar recognition for Glenn Close and a Razzie nomination in the same season. People truly couldn’t come to a consensus even before Vance went after the cat ladies of the world as to whether or not hillbilly Elegy was worth watching.
In the spirit of the election, I took a second pass on the Ron Howard film, and I found myself still where I was before. This is not a perfect movie, by any means. Now that I know that JD has changed his name a few times, I kinda wondered if he was trying to rewrite the past to reflect himself with his name as he’s known now. The performances are really good. I don’t just enjoy Glen Close, who slips into both a bit of a reductive stereotype, but also an impressive performance to get lost in. I can see what the Oscar’s saw for sure, and I’m thinking the Razzies stretched a bit too much. Amy Adam’s is also really strong as an addict trying to get her life together, but failing miserably.
The narrative, which ends where it does for the film, obviously leaves you wanting since you know where this kid ends up in the end. But, in some ways, you could make the same comment about Southside With you, which just looks at Barack and Michelle Obama in this one specific moment in time.
I fundamentally disagree with JD Vance on virtually every thing he says now, but even with his nonsensical vitriol, I’m able to watch this biopic, and feel the same way I felt back then. I’m impressed, it isn’t perfect, but it is a solid effort from an accomplished director. The big question is, should he move to the next level, would that change anything if his theoretical policies started to become a reality? For most, they become magnets of cancellation based on thoughts and ideas, but with Vance so close from being able to truly impact real world policy, could that be the proverbial nail in the coffin?
Final Grade: B+
