No Hard Feelings Director Finally Addresses The Movie's Biggest Controversy

The comedy starring Jennifer Lawrence No Hard Feelings was at the center of a scandal even before its release.

Many viewers were outraged by the age difference between the two main characters and accused Jennifer Lawrence's character of grooming.

According to the plot, the main character Maddie is in danger of losing her car and house because of debts. She goes looking for quick cash and finds a respectable rich couple looking for a woman who will agree to date their son.

The guy is about to jump out of the parental nest into adulthood in college, and he is still uptight and shy, so mom and dad want their son to loosen up a bit.

The heroine's attempts to make a man out of the boy lead to many hilarious situations. However, some viewers assumed that the basis of the plot is not a subject for jokes at all.

According to the plot, the main character is nineteen years old, and although the age of the Lawrence's Maddie is unknown, she is clearly much older than him.

Director and co-writer Gene Stupnitsky was asked about the controversial topic at the film's New York premiere.

The director mentioned that in the movie Silver Linings Playbook there was a 15-year age difference between Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, and it works both ways:

"We took great pains to be careful about the ick factor because it could go that way. […] We took a humanist approach and I think that's all you can ask for."

One of the cast members, Natalie Morales, also recalled that when a man is older, a large age difference usually does not cause any outrage at all:

"[Lawrence is] supposed to be playing an older woman. There are so many movies where the male lead is much older than the female lead, and TV shows especially, and nobody bats an eye. So what's the difference?"

No Hard Feelings is an endangered species – a Hollywood rom-com about sex. Couple decades ago American Pie broke all taboos and major directors began their careers with movies in this super-popular genre.

Then came the time of self-repetition and more and more pathetic attempts to surprise and outrage the viewers.

No Hard Feelings seems like American Pie if it was made today and you can already watch it in theaters.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter