Don’t Worry Darling? No thanks, I’m pretty concerned

I’ve never been one to follow celebrity drama meticulously, closely. But all of that changed this past summer with the announcement of Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling, starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles. There was just something about the drama that arose from this movie that turned me into a private investigator. Suddenly, I had newspaper clippings on the walls connected with red string. I spent hours watching a slow motion video of Harry Styles spitting on Chris Pine. I was the restless detective who was unsatisfied with my evidence and obsessed with perfection. There were so many questions that needed answers, and I was going to find all of them. 

‘A picture is worth a thousand words,’ but I also think, ‘no picture is worth a thousand words’; especially on social media. Just a couple months before the film’s release, director Olivia Wilde began her online promotion of the film. That same day, Florence Pugh promoted another film that she’s starring in. The curious part though: she was promoting a film that’s being released in a year rather than a film set to release in two months. What Florence posted, and more importantly, what she didn’t post, said all that she needed to say. Everyone on social media instantly read into Florence’s lack of promotion for the film. She didn’t seem very excited about this movie at all, while Olivia was praising Florence’s performance in the film. In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Florence discussed her frustration over the movie being “reduced to [the] sex scenes,” with her character. Juxtaposed with Olivia openly talking about how the film focuses on female pleasure, people heard Florence’s actions and statements and concluded that she was not happy with the movie and opposed Olivia’s direction with the film. The internet is insanely quick to draw conclusions. I felt like I didn’t even have time to form my own opinion, but whatever it was, I was team Florence. 

I got so swept up in the petty drama and I was not ready for the storm that was the Venice Film Festival. Everyone was ready for the Don’t Worry Darling cast and crew to make their appearance. A few days before, Florence was reported to be a no-show at the press conference, because her flight was scheduled to land later. However, an hour into the conference, she was taking pictures holding an Aperol Spritz and wearing a purple three-piece set. The ridiculousness set in when people started analyzing her choice of outfit colour. What seemed like a fashionable choice turned into a deliberate statement to convey power. Instead of being awestruck by her outfit, I was rather astonished by the amount of people that were posting about the meaning of the colour purple and the statement that she was making. I’ve always watched celebrity drama from the outside, but this time, it grabbed hold of me and I was along for the ride, whether I liked it or not. I didn’t know why, but some part of it made me want to stay. 

The Venice Film Festival produced so much material for media outlets and people to discuss and dissect. The awkward (or strategic) positioning of the cast on the red carpet turned everyone into body language experts. Harry Styles spitting on Chris Pine turned everyone into a media analyst. Harry claiming that the “movie felt like a movie” didn’t really do anything except provide my new favourite catchphrase. As I’ve sat down to review this drama, I’ve been asking myself: why? What makes this particular cup of tea stand out from other celebrity tea? How and why does it have me in a chokehold? Someone who normally skims pop culture drama is now a full-blown investigator, ready to find answers. What started as a casual curiosity transformed into something morbid due to the complexity of the drama. I looked too far into things and now I have a complete timeline on the relationship of Harry and Olivia. I know about Florence’s hair and makeup team and other celebrities they work with. My curiosity got the best of me and turned me into a crazed detective on the brink of insanity. It was definitely a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde situation. I went looking for answers and obsessed over where these theories came from, but I didn’t even realize that I was making all of this up. 

Celebrity drama has such an entertaining aspect to it because we, as a society, are able to peer in and live vicariously through it. We don’t have to face any of the consequences that they have to, so it’s fun being able to watch from afar. It’s like a car crash; there’s nothing much to see, but we keep staring. Since the release of the movie, I have not spoken about the drama once, nor has anyone talked about it. Now, I understand diving into celebrity gossip and discussing theories, but I worry for people who do this every single time something happens. I was only super curious because I happen to be a fan of Florence Pugh and had a general curiosity about the plot of the movie. In the moment, researching and analyzing is exciting, but afterwards I’m just exhausted. It’s fun, but sometimes I fear that people take the public lives of celebrities in its entirety and often omit nuance. There’s a fine line between investigating celebrity drama out of curiosity, and having it engulf your life entirely. Take this as a cautionary tale; the more you know about a mess, the worse it gets. That’s exactly what got Florence Pugh’s character in trouble in the first place. It’s no coincidence that her name was Alice.