A Star Is Born Out of Authentic LOVE

“The Privilege of a Lifetime is Being Who You Are.”
Joseph Campbell

I went to see A Star is Born for the second time last night – the encore addition with the extra scenes. I was so impacted, I drove home crying. I was sad and deeply impacted by the compassion and love in the film, and how Ally was able to separate Jack’s alcoholic disease from the man and love him so deeply – authentic love. It was also emotional at how much Ally’s character used a different form of disease that allowed her to get swayed into the “veneer image” of the money-making aspect of the music business that wanted to capitalize on her beauty and creativity, which took her farther away from her true, authentic nature and beauty. Both Jack and Ally’s addictions served to cover up their past of never feeling loved for who they were in their authenticity. They looked for approval externally because they didn’t know how to navigate the internal pain they both felt. I found myself asking how much does this show up in all of our lives? Where do we hide our authentic selves and voices to seek approval from the outside?

I was fascinated at how Jack kept trying to keep Ally connected to her genuine, authentic self, especially when she was becoming famous and letting her manager change her image to hit a bigger pop audience. The movie visually showed how her music and looks changed to reflect this more colorful veneer and trite lyrics. I was affected by watching Ally losing herself because of her subconscious need to be accepted and loved by the bigger collective that the music business was orchestrating. You can’t help but wonder if her audience would have wanted her more in her authentic way of being with her deep lyrics that opened people’s hearts. Jack certainly felt that is what people would want, and he could see she was getting lost in the bright shiny objects around her. It was so painful for him to watch her experiencing this it brought him farther away from his own loving presence.

Jack was struggling to stay connected to something real and authentic; Ally was his life line and his way of staying connected to some aspect of himself that could deeply explore his own loving nature so he didn’t have to keep numbing the pain of his past with alcohol.

As the movie progressed, Ally continued to buy into the veneer of her image and be swept away by it, while Jack amped up his drinking episodes at the height of her career (when she accepted a Grammy).

The final straw of the truth of greed was when the manager let Jack know the impact of his actions on Ally’s career. Was it an accident or was Jack trying to save her and himself? Is it possible his subconscious beliefs that were sabotaging both his and her career were actually an attempt to save them and bring them back to their true selves?

This is such a great movie for demonstrating where we are in our own collective. There are so many bright, shiny objects that continue to draw us in searching for external validation verses supporting us in connecting with something deeper inside of us – the pure LOVE we are made of.

This is our birthright: our ability to show love, be love and embody kindness and love. Where do you let the negative beliefs stop you from navigating the internal pain you feel for something to numb it out and temporarily let you feel better?

This movie is a great opportunity to look at ourselves and where we choose to skim the surface rather than dive into deeper terrain that may be uncomfortable in order to stop our pain and feel temporary suave.

Where can you be more kind and loving?
Where can you be less judgmental with yourselves and others?
How can you love yourself through the pain and negative thinking?
How will you shift your operating system to LOVE?

At the end of the movie, Ally is portrayed moving back into her real self with her natural hair color, no makeup and pure essence of love and beauty. Jack couldn’t save himself, but he saved her, which may have been his goal all along.

Living from love not only saves us, but also gives each of us the opportunity to heal and to bring our true selves to a world that is in desperate need of it.