Jennifer Lawrence is attempting to redefine herself

Jennifer Lawrence was Hollywood’s sweetheart and ‘Cool Girl’ at the same time back before 2014— until the ‘Hunger Games’ actress fell from the graces of the public eye and started to receive intense scrutiny for her behavior.

Lawrence has gone from the Hollywood stereotype of the ‘Cool Girl’, coined from Gillian Flynn’s 2012 novel, ‘Gone Girl’, and made into a movie starring Amy Dunne and Ben Affleck.

Making her own identity

Now, after being away from the limelight for several years, Jennifer Lawrence is determined to overhaul her image by defining it herself, rather than what other people say about her.

Lawrence said that she has struggled with her identity, especially her name. It has been raked over the coals too many times, she said in an interview with Vanity Fair.

“I was born with the name Jennifer Lawrence, but that got taken from me when I was 21 and I never got it back,” Lawrence said. “That name already belongs to them,” she added.

“I felt like more of a celebrity than an actor … cut off from my creativity, my imagination,” she later told the Times.

The pre-2014 Jennifer Lawrence

When Jennifer Lawrence was at the high point of her career, women of all ages perceived her to be relatable and someone who they could be friends with, while men found her to be attractive, fun, and, well, cool.

The ‘cool girl’ is one who hangs out with the guys, drinks beer, and watches sports. She never argues or makes a fuss and is never jealous of other women.

Lawrence’s public persona was the embodiment of this. The actress would drink champagne straight from the bottle at award shows, tell stories with profane humor, flips the bird to photographers, and would “fangirl” other celebrities.

The Jennifer Lawrence of that era broke the boundaries of traditional womanhood, and her rambunctious and uninhibited behavior was a whole new thing among Hollywood movie stars.

From ‘Cool Girl’ to ‘Pick Me Girl’

While everything was going her way for a while, J. Law had a downfall that started, quite literally, with a fall.

Now coined the ‘Pick Me Girl’, someone who is similar to the ‘Cool Girl’, but with less charm and more attention-grabbing. According to Cosmopolitan, this stereotype is someone who outwardly denounces typically feminine behaviors to illustrate that she is “not like other girls”, chases men, and puts down other women.

While she did fall at an earlier awards show when she was the ‘Cool Girl’, audiences perceived the trip to be candid and cute, but when she tripped at the 2014 Oscars, there was an abrupt shift in public opinion.

No longer endearing to the public, the trip had the opposite effect as the first.

Lawrence was accused of being calculating and playing up the cameras and intentionally creating a viral moment.

The general reception of the incident was that the actress was trying too hard, and thus, became the ‘Pick Me Girl’.

Though she was no longer the crowd favorite, Lawrence was not short on work.

After the 2014 Oscars incident, she made several films, including ‘Joy’ in 2015, ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ in 2016, ‘Passengers’ in 2016, ‘Mother!’ in 2017, and ‘Red Sparrow’ in 2018.