Adapted from the 1976 version of A Star Is Born starring Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, the 2018 version received a far more enthusiastic reaction than its inspiration. Starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper to bring this whirlwind, dramatic romance to life, A Star Is Born was arguably the most hyped, buzzed-about, highly anticipated films of 2018.

A Star Is Born would go on to win several prestigious awards, including a Best Original Song Grammy for the iconic “Shallow”. The film received critical acclaim and was a box office smash hit. With all this success, though, it begs the question of whether A Star Is Born actually deserves all the praise it gets.

Not everything about this movie made sense. In fact, not a lot of things in this movie made that much sense. From abandoned storylines to flat characters, to mixed messages, let’s explore some of the things that make no sense about A Star Is Born.

IT RELIED MORE ON THE CHEMISTRY OF ITS LEADS THAN THE ACTUAL STORY

Probably about 90% of the hype that surrounded A Star Is Born stemmed from the fact that Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper would be the leads. A summer blockbuster such as this one should definitely have more going for it other than its main actors.

In A Star Is Born’s case, little of the promotion revolved around the actual story and contents of the film. It became primarily known as the Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga movie, and one of the main takeaways that audiences’ had from the film was the leads’ palpable chemistry.

ALLY’S RISE TO STARDOM

Sure, Ally was a very talented singer, but is her rise to fame and becoming a Grammy-winning artist really all that realistic. The music industry is a hard one to break into, and for most artists, success doesn’t fall into their lap over the course of barely a year.

This is exactly what happens to Ally though. Obviously her performances with Jack have a lot to do with this instant-success, but even so, this just doesn’t add up.

ITS TREATMENT OF LGBTQ+ PEOPLE

One thing that surely is not talked about enough regarding A Star Is Born, is the fact that this film shamelessly flirts with queerbaiting and borderline homophobia. It features multiple LGBTQ+ characters and doesn’t respect a single one. Not only are the characters portrayed as tired cliches and archetypes, but the more problematic issue is Ally’s relationship with them.

Ally works in the club scene before she meets Jack, and several of her coworkers are in the LGBT spectrum. On this topic, Ally says she enjoys “being a lesbian” which is just…no.

JACK’S ENTIRE PERSONALITY

Jack is not confirmed to be bipolar in the film, and this is something that is exceedingly strange. The character clearly struggled with his mental health, but this issue wasn’t present when he first met Ally. The two seemed to have a picture-perfect relationship for the first part of the film.

A Star Is Born’s portrayal of Jack is problematic, to say the least. First, he’s a charming rock star, then he’s jealous of Ally, then he’s a drug addict, then’s he’s suicidal - and this doesn’t feel organic at all.

JACK AND ALLY’S RELATIONSHIP AND ITS PROGRESSION

Sure, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s chemistry was beautiful and memorable, but that doesn’t mean that their characters’ dynamic made any sense. Jack meets Ally at the club and they fall in love instantly. The end. This movie is a contemporary love story, but it panders to all of these tired stereotypes that should be left in the past.

Ally and Jack’s relationship also progresses ridiculously quickly. There’s no slow-burn and the film uses no techniques that should make the audience want to root for these two; it just expects viewers to go into this film and want Ally and Jack to be together, no questions asked.

ALLY’S FATHER APPROVING OF HER BEING IN AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP

As the film went on and Ally and Jack’s relationship progressed, it was clear that not everything about this love story was as beautiful or perfect as it seemed. When Ally started to become extremely depressed due to dealing with Jack’s many issues, this should have been a big red flag for her father.

What makes no sense is that her father, who had obviously protected her without hesitation in the past, didn’t seem to be concerned about Jack’s treatment of Ally.

IT ROMANTICIZES AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP

A Star Is Born frequently receives praise for portraying a “realistic” relationship between Jack and Ally. But did this attempt completely miss the mark? It seems that in the crew’s attempt to convey realism, they actually went a little too far, to the point of romanticizing a relationship that was completely unhealthy.

Portraying realism is one thing, as is trying to get the point across to the audience that not all relationships are perfect and romantic all the time. But this movie goes to the other extreme and glamorizes an extremely destructive, harmful relationship.

IT’S STRAIGHT UP DEPRESSING

The praise of A Star Is Born frequently neglects to mention that it’s actually an extremely depressing movie. The message is backwards and mixed up, Ally is forced to suffer tremendously, and Sam’s suicide is extremely triggering and deeply upsetting.

IT’S NOT INSPIRING

A Star Is Born has an almost perfect score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the majority of its reviews being positive and glowing. The weird thing about the enthusiastic response to this film is that critics and viewers alike seem to regard it as “inspiring”.

This movie was anything but inspiring. It offers a depressing look at fame and the life of being a star, and it delivers a devastating view of romance and relationships.

IT WOULD BE A VERY DIFFERENT MOVIE WITHOUT “SHALLOW”

Countless feature films include original songs that they are known and loved for, but not many films are primarily known and loved for a song that was written for them. “Shallow” was the duet performed by Jack and Ally in A Star Is Born, and it was undeniably iconic.

So much so that it seemed most of the effort was put into the performance of “Shallow”, rather than being put into the actual film. Today, and most likely for years to come, A Star Is Born is best known for “Shallow”, and a movie should really have a lot more going for it than its feature song.