Jennifer Lawrence Gives the Finger Again, and This Time She Means It
A famous woman’s middle finger, like pretty much any part of a famous woman’s body, can be up for public debate, whether she likes it or not. Elisabeth Moss gave the finger to E!’s “mani cam” and earned our undying devotion. M.I.A. gave the finger during the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show, and the NFL is trying to sue her into oblivion for it. Jennifer Lawrence, dressed like a princess and clutching her Oscar, gave the finger on the night that rocketed her into fame; the rude gesture was just seen as more evidence for her real-girl coolness.
Now she’s gone and given the finger again, responding to the paparazzi waiting for her outside a London club; with her head ducked beneath her jacket collar, she looks like any other celebrity trying to keep a low profile. (The photos can be seen at Jezebel.) Unlike all those examples mentioned above, this isn’t a playfully transgressive middle finger; it’s a middle finger saying what the middle finger is traditionally meant to say. And given that it’s aimed at photographers following her, while out on a date with her boyfriend, Nicholas Hoult, it seems like a perfectly merited middle finger too.
Will this angry gesture kick-start the J. Law backlash we’ve been fearing for some time now? How about we let it do the opposite—prove that, no matter how cool and friendly an actress seems, she has her limits too. Lawrence is our model for pretty much all things involving grace under pressure, and that now includes knowing when a rude gesture is the only right response.
