A Star is Born

Let me start off this movie review with a warning. If you are planning on watching this movie eventually, this review gives away the entire ending of the movie in detail, so you have been warned, spoiler alert ahead.

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I am no movie critic, but I love a good storyline with an even better soundtrack. “A Star is Born”, coming out as the fourth remake of an original movie made in 1937, now starring the dashing Bradley Cooper and the magnificent Lady Gaga, is a gut-wrenching story about so many social issues, mental health being the main one. I have been a witness to a vast majority of different shows and movies trying to take on the mental health issue, but I really believe Cooper got it right with this remake of a famous story. It is also interesting to note, that in even the original movie in 1937 had the main character struggle with addiction and mental illness, and also kills himself when the stigmatism's around mental illness were at the peak.

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Cooper's character, Jack, had evidently struggled with substance the whole movie, starting with alcohol and moving onto pills later on in the movie. His mental illness never really seemed to be at the forefront of the discussion of the character, until he hung himself at the end of the movie. Being an alcoholic was who he was, and as an audience member, I did not really consider other factors because he was embarrassingly drunk for ninety percent of the film. It all came down to one incident. His wife Ally, who is played by Lady Gaga, was receiving an award and Jack stumbled on stage with her and wet himself because he was high and drunk. After this point, he was admitted into rehab for his substance abuse where he seemingly had gotten better. Ally had clearly reached stardom, and Jack equally had reached rock bottom. Ally’s manager told Jack that he was a disgrace to his wife and that he was a detriment to her career and success. After this brief conversation, he said goodbye to Ally, as she was leaving for a performance, fed his dog, grabbed a belt, took a handful of old pills, and hung himself in his garage.

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I think the media is such an amazing platform to talk about things as common as a mental illness in such a relatable way. There is no other place than the media that has the attention of more people around the world. It is ironic however since I feel social media can cause so many mental health issues within people. I personally struggle a lot with how social media affects my mood, but I could write a whole other thousand words on that. Back to the point, “A Star is Born” really was able to capture and bring up the important issues we see people facing more and more these days, and I would recommend the movie to anyone. However, I would send a fair warning to anyone struggling with mental health, to either pass the movie up or watch the movie in a safe environment with people they know and trust.