Photo: Fred Duval / lev radin / Shutterstock
For women in Hollywood, being adored is a death sentence.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Sep 07, 2022
Aside from her impressive acting skills, Florence Pugh is perhaps most beloved by fans due to her reliability and quirky sense of humor.
But in an industry that loves to build women up only to inevitably tear them down, Pugh could be headed for the same fate as another once-adored actress — Jennifer Lawrence.
In a Reddit post, a user pointed out that Pugh "is in the exact same place" that Lawrence was in during "the beginning of her career in 2012," dubbing Pugh as the "latest IT girl."
"[Florence Pugh] started small with a few breakout roles and is beloved by the internet and the press. People love how relatable and quirky she is. She is also most likely on her way to an Oscar win in the next few years," the post read.
They continued: "I do think there is a real risk of oversaturation and public celeb fatigue."
The comparison is not had to make. Both Pugh and Lawrence had astonishingly rapid rises to fame.
Pugh first gained notoriety for her lead role in the 2019 horror film 'Midsommar.' The 26-year-old actress went on to star in the 2019 version of 'Little Women,' Marvel's 'Black Widow,' and again, reprising her role as Yelena Belova in the Disney+ series 'Hawkeye.'
Pugh will also be starring in Olivia Wilde's film 'Don't Worry Darling,' as well as 'Dune: Part two,' and the highly-anticipated 'Oppenheimer,' along with many more projects slated for the next upcoming years, according to IMDb.
Lawrence's level of success between 2012 and 2016 was similar if not more evident but if there's one thing she taught us it's that for women to have enduring careers they often have to adopt a more subdued persona.
Hollywood has reputation for making it impossible for female actors to survive in the industry and still receive love from the public, a phenomenon that people have called "The Jennifer Lawrence Pipeline."
What is the Jennifer Lawrence pipeline?
Lawrence first rose to fame in 2010 following her role as Katniss Everdeen in 'The Hunger Games.' The franchise launched Lawrence into the public eye, and while doing press tours and various interviews from then to 2017, the actress showed us her "normal people" personality.
It wasn't long before people started to turn on her, and around 2016, the public criticized her "quirky" and "relatable" persona as being "over-the-top."
The theory was first coined by comedian and TikTok user Keara Sullivan, who describes "The Jennifer Lawrence Pipeline" as a widely beloved or relatable actress who eventually loses their public support.
“I think because so much of a woman’s success in Hollywood depends on her persona off-screen, a fall from grace is a lot more frequent,” Sullivan said.
“We, as a public, demand a lot more emotional labor from women; we demand to know them a lot more personally. We form our opinions on them not based on their acting work, but them as a human being.”
Pugh has hordes of adoring fans who tune into her cooking videos and funny Instagram stories — but these same fans are liable to turn on her. This year she was forced to shut down dating rumors with Will Poulter after fans demanded a response from her on her relationship status.
She also faced callouts from other fans when she seemingly refused to promote 'Don't Worry Darling' amid early reports of drama on set.
While still dating Zach Braff, the star was forced to defend her relationship on numerous occasions — the emotional labor that has already been demanded of Pugh is only liable to increase as her career rises.
Lawrence experienced hordes of backlash during her fall from grace — her omnipresence that was only craved became impossible to escape. This continued until she decided to remove herself from the Hollywood spotlight following the release of her 2017 film 'Mother!'
The actress eventually made her comeback with the 2021 film 'Don't Look Up,' and in her first major interview with Vanity Fair since taking her break from acting, Lawrence opened up about why she'd left in the first place.
“I just think everybody had gotten sick of me. I’d gotten sick of me. It had just gotten to a point where I couldn’t do anything right,” Lawrence said. “If I walked a red carpet, it was, ‘Why didn’t she run?’… I think that I was people-pleasing for the majority of my life."
During the interview, Lawrence even expressed her nerves about speaking so candidly about the topic.
"I haven't spoken to the world in forever," she admitted.
This "Jennifer Lawrence Pipeline" is deeply rooted in misogyny, and while such a theory exists for male actors, coined "The Chris Pratt Pipeline," male actors such as Pratt would never think they needed to take a break from acting because the public wasn't in favor of them anymore.
The unrealistic standards held for women in Hollywood are extremely damaging, and through the public lens, they are scrutinized and held on an impossibly-high pedestal.
They constantly have to apologize for taking up space and worry about if people will suddenly grow tired of them because they are everywhere.
One moment, the public is praising women like Lawrence and Pugh for being their most authentic selves, but in the snap of a finger, we force them into being silent once we deem them not enough anymore.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.