Robinne Lee: Why Art Made By Women For Women Is Undervalued And Considered Less Than

We’re starting to see a lot more female storytellers as of late. ‘The Idea Of You’ is just one of them. The 2021 film, ‘Cinderella’, 2022’s ‘Purple Heart’, 2013’s ‘Red, White, & Royal Blue’, as well as 2016’s ‘High Strung’ were all made by women. All these movies have another thing in common – they all star Nicholas Galitzine. And For all you ‘Red, White, & Royal Blue’ fans, it was just announced that a sequel is in the works, but I’m sure you all know that. Your die-hard fandom made it all happen. And, of course, Galitzine and Taylor Zakhar Perez are returning as Prince Henry and Alex Claremont-Diaz respectfully.

We’ll save the Nicholas Galitizine talk for another day, though. For now, I want to focus more on women and storytelling. Let’s face it; we still live in a sexist world, where women are undermined and seen as less than. In storytelling as well. Society doesn’t believe that women are capable at telling their stories. And yet, women prove time and time again that they can. As ‘The Idea Of You’ came out on Amazon Prime on May 2nd, a piece written by Robinne Lee, the author of the 2017 novel of the same name published a piece that she wrote for Time Magazine.

In it, she asks a very important question – ‘What is it about art made by women and marketed toward women that makes us view it as less than—that makes us think they can’t be complex and important? We don’t wrap male writers’ books in pink and tell readers they’re great for the beach. We don’t frown upon consumers of male fiction as juvenile. We don’t reduce their writing to fanfiction and attach a celebrity’s name for clickbait. Bottom line: we don’t undervalue them and their work.’

Lee goes on to analyze a specific scene from ‘The Idea Of You’ where Hayes, the lead singer of the band, August Moon, is questioning his artistic abilities and discredits himself as a leading man. In turn, Solene, an art gallery owner, tells him there’s no such thing. She says to him, ‘It’s art. And it makes people happy,” she says. “And that’s a very good thing. We have this problem in our culture. We take art that appeals to women—film, books, music—and we undervalue it. We assume it can’t be high art. Especially if it’s not dark and tortured and wailing. And it follows that much of that art is created by other women, and so we undervalue them as well. We wrap it up in a pretty pink package and resist calling it art.’

‘In no other case does Solène’s description of that sentiment feel more personal than with the responses to her story. Labeling it as “fluff” or “fanfiction”—particularly when done by those who have not read it—is both reductive and dismissive. And this is not something that happens to male authors. It’s bad enough that so many novels with female protagonists are labeled women’s fiction, while those with male protagonists are simply fiction, and that these categorizations exist regardless of the fact that fiction readers across the board are disproportionately women. But assuming a novel with a fictional celebrity in a relationship must be based on an existing celebrity—in this case, the internet has decided, Harry Styles—is unimaginative at best and sexist at worst.’

So now, we have a new conversation to be had. A story told by a woman made for a woman. Many of Galitzine’s fans were excited for the movie to come out. There were reports of it being made into a movie back in 2022, and fans were ecstatic to see the first pctures of Anne Hathaway and Galitzine filming scenes for the movie. And on top of it, because it was assumed it was based on a book that was fan-fiction and was about Harry Styles, the movie was misconstrued. The entire premise of the book and the movie was missed because it was marketed as a romance; as a romantic comedy. But ‘The Idea Of You was so much more than a romance between two people, and it was certainly much more than a romantic comedy.

In fact, Robinne Lee didn’t intend for ‘The Idea Of You’ to be a romance novel. To her surprise, her publicist marketed the novel as being that, and she wasn’t happy about that one bit. With that being said, degraded to being a fan-fiction; one that’s based on One Direction and Harry Styles. Lee’s own publicist failed her. But it’s not a surprise, to say the least. Selling and marketing is all about money. It bears the question of how do you sell more of a specific product. And again, women are degraded by businesspersons and marketers and are told they only like soppy love stories.

On the contrary, women love stories, whether it’s books, movies, or any other form of art, where they see themselves in the characters. Robinne Lee did just that with her writing ‘The Idea Of You’. Though the book and movie were marketed as a romance and a romantic comedy, as if that’s the only genre women like and as though that’s the only type of art women are capable to tell. With that being said, by having ‘The Idea Of You’ be marketed as a romance novel and a romantic comedy film, it diminishes what it’s actually about and what Robinne Lee aims to convey through her words.

Contrary to what both the novel and the movie were marketed as, ‘The Idea Of You’ is actually a story of a woman’s journey of self-discovery after starting her life all over again in her mid-late 30’s when her husband cheated on her and divorced her, all while raising her teenage daughter as a single parent. The story is told in her words, as if it was a diary or a journal. She’s the main character, and everyone else in her story, including Hayes Campbell, is a guest-star.

It’s art. And it makes people happy,” she says. “And that’s a very good thing. We have this problem in our culture. We take art that appeals to women—film, books, music—and we undervalue it. We assume it can’t be high art. Especially if it’s not dark and tortured and wailing. And it follows that much of that art is created by other women, and so we undervalue them as well. We wrap it up in a pretty pink package and resist calling it art.’

Because of Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine’s fame, ‘The Idea Of You’ saw fans of different age groups watch and love the film and its premise. Hathaway is a Hollywood veteran, having started her acting career in 2001, with the release of ‘Princess Diaries’. Galitzine is an up-and-coming young actor who’s made a name for himself in recent years, and has a lovely connection with his younger fans. It’s important to remember that ‘The Idea Of You’ isn’t about a young woman graduating college, feeling lost in the world while being unemployed, and having a hard time finding herself a boyfriend. This is a story of a mature woman already knowing who she is and where she stands in the world. This a story of a woman raising her daughter and doing everything she can to make sure her daughter is taken care of while also learning to put herself and her needs as a priority. With that being said, Galitzine’s fan base is bringing an entirely new fandom to ‘The Idea Of You’ that wasn’t even intended in the first place.

‘The Idea Of You’ is a reminder for women who are nearing 40 to not degrade themselves. It’s a reminder for them that life doesn’t end at 40, and that it’s okay to start your life all over again at this age. Life doesn’t end because of a divorce and a heartbreak. In fact, it can only mean a new beginning and the start of something new. In Solene’s case, that something new is a love affair with a younger man. Society doesn’t want her to be happy, and they certainly let her, and her daughter, know that. It’s like Solene’s friend told her, ‘people don’t like happy women.’

Because of the vast fandom seen between Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, we see 40 year olds, 30 year olds, and 20 year olds watching and loving the movie, and therefore, new fans reading the novel it’s based on. The 40 year old women see themselves in Solene, and the 30 and 20 year old women see themselves in the future. Those of us who had no knowledge of the book were ready to see a typical romantic comedy where we could forget about our real lives for two hours. I myself thought that back when I first heard of the movie being made in 2022. When I saw the first pictures of the movie being made where Anne Hathaway was kissing Nicholas Galitzine, I thought to myself, ‘You go, girl!’ A mature woman kissing a man that’s more than 10 years younger than her? Yes, please!

News outlets referred to the movie as a movie based on Harry Styles fan-fiction. I degraded the movie in my head as soon as I read that. I immediately thought of it as some teenage dream type of fiction. I also started questioning why such a sophisticated actress as Anne Hathaway would want to even take part in a small role, let alone a lead role, in such a film. She answered my question (not literally) during an interview she did with SXSW. Hathaway said, ‘I don’t want to be pigeonholed and don’t want to be placed in a box of what type of films I have to be making because of my age, gender and because I won an Oscar. I want to have fun, dammit. It speaks to me.’

SOLD!

But then I realized….

Hathaway WAS cast in this movie because of her age and her gender. She is, after all, playing a 40 year old woman in the movie, and she’s a woman who, at the time the movie was filmed, was about to turn 40 herself. And I’m pretty sure she meant she wanted to have a fun experience filming the movie rather than make a ‘fun movie’, because as you watch the movie to it’s entirety, you come to realize that it’s not meant to be fun. It’s a movie that makes you think about our own lives, our own thoughts, and our prosperity. It not only makes you question why we care so much what people think of the choices we make for ourselves as women, but also why do WE care so much about what other people in their own lives. The movie makes you think about ageism and sexism, and how we’re all part of that problem.

But we’ll forgive her for that.

When Hathaway spoke to Extra about the movie, Hathaway added, ‘As a friend, I wanted to do right by her because I love the book. I am a stan of the book. I wanted the movie to be close enough, but also different. So if you’re a fan of the book, or if you watch the movie first and then read the book, it will still feel like discovery.’ The film was based on 2017 novel of the same name by Robinne Lee. Usually when a book is adapted into a movie, the movie isn’t a new discovery. But this particular film was a new discovery to some. It was especially a new discovery for the viewers who saw the movie as a Nicholas Galitzine fan. Most of them are in their late-Millennial or Gen-Z age group. With Galitzine being cast in the movie, a new set of audiences and fans not intended to be interested in ‘The Idea Of You’ made this discovery.

The younger audiences who who discovered the movie get a taste to like what life is like for a woman nearing 40. They see that 40 is the age to thrive rather than die. They see that life sometimes doesn’t go according to plans, and that’s okay. It’s okay to start your life all over again and gain new experiences no matter the age; even at 40. With that being said, it reminded me of how Anne Hathaway’s characters throughout the movies she made portrayed her. In 2001, we were maid to believe she was ugly when she starred in ‘The Princess Diaries’ with Julie Andrews. In 2006, we were made to believe she was fat when she starred in ‘Devil Wears Prada’ with Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt. And now, in 2024, we’re made to believe that she’s old, especially by the 20 year old young women discovering ‘The Idea Of You’ thanks to her co-star, Nicholas Galitzine. But Hathaway is none of those things. She was never ugly and she was never fat. I might be biased when I say this, but I think she looks better now at 41 than she did in her 20’s.

Society is very tough on women. A lot of expectations are deemed on us. All we’re good for is raising our children and taking care of our households. That’s been the mantra since the beginning of time. We now see more and more women in the workforce. We also see women take part in leadership roles – CEO’s and entrepreneurs. ‘The Idea Of You’ saw Solene as an independent gallery owner who’s rebuilding her after being left by her husband for a younger woman.

**Correction…

Solene already got her sh*t together years after her divorce. She already rebuilt her life. She was happy and content in her life. In her words, all she needed was her gallery and her friends. She didn’t any man to save her. She didn’t need Hayes Campbell to swoop her off her feet. She didn’t come to him. He came to her. She didn’t persuade him to be in a relationship with her. He did. She was the one who rejected him timeless times until she gave in and made the realization that she does, too, deserves a chance at happiness. And nevertheless, she was scrutinized for her choice to be happy. It wasn’t that that tore a wedge between her and Hayes, but rather what her relationship with him did to her daughter.

Life imitates art and art imitates life. How Solene was treated by society in ‘The Idea Of You’ is really nothing new. Robinne Lee certainly based her writing process for ‘The Idea Of You’ on real-life events of the sexism that women face every single day. She faced that sexism just recently with the release of the film adaptation of ‘The Idea Of You’ when journalists and reporters alike called her work of art as a Harry Styles fan fiction. No matter the case, whether it is or isn’t fan fiction based on Harry Styles, it shouldn’t be degraded. Art is a very subjective matter. You either really love or you really hate it. Maybe you could say that fan fiction is a silly little made up story written by a fan or a geek. But even so, it’s art. Fan fiction is art. And if Robinne Lee wrote a fan fiction, it’s a pretty damn good fan fiction.

‘The Idea Of You’ should be seen as an example of what a creative mind can do, and the magical wonders it can cultivate. Creativity has nothing to do with gender. It has to do with experience, a skill, and a mindset. The world should stop putting women in a box and assume they can ONLY write about romance, or motherhood, or female friendships. And even if we do write about those things, our work should be celebrated and not considered to be anything less than what a man would do. I know it’s a wishful thinking on my part, but one could only hope. Now that we’re seeing more and more female storytellers taking that lead, hopefully we’re on the right path.

Female storytelling is just as important, if not more important than, as male storytelling. We have so much to say to the world. Society has silenced us enough. It’s time for us to shine and say what we have to say without giving a f*ck, even if it’s degraded; even if it’s undervalued; even if it’s considered to be less than. We need to do it for ourselves. We need to prove to ourselves that we’re so much more than what we’re told…

Just like Solene said, ‘It’s art. And it makes people happy,” she says. “And that’s a very good thing. We have this problem in our culture. We take art that appeals to women—film, books, music—and we undervalue it. We assume it can’t be high art. Especially if it’s not dark and tortured and wailing. And it follows that much of that art is created by other women, and so we undervalue them as well. We wrap it up in a pretty pink package and resist calling it art.’