Jennifer Lopez is getting relentlessly mocked for her documentary. Why you can’t look away.

 

Jenny from the Block? More like Jenny getting mocked, mocked, mocked.

Jennifer Lopez is in the midst of a major career moment – the release of her album “This is Me … Now” and its complementary musical film, “This is Me … Now: A Love Story,” not to mention the Amazon Prime documentary “The Greatest Love Story Never Told.” It follows her reuniting with now-husband Ben Affleck after decades apart.

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“This was going to be the quintessential thing I have been searching for and wanted to say about love,” Lopez told USA TODAY earlier this year. “I’ve been on this search for so long, since people first met me and my first record came out and even before that in my first movie role, where I’ve been on this journey trying to figure this thing out for myself. This (album) kind of closed the loop in a way,” Lopez says. “It captures this moment to really say the things I want to say about love, and that is that true love does exist and some things are forever. Please don’t give up on that because that’s all that matters in life … love.”

But with all this art comes many, many haters. Though the documentary dropped at the end of last month, TikTok users have flooded the algorithm in recent days with criticisms of the pop star, labeling her work as “creative narcissism” and pouncing on her perceived callousness. They accused her of inauthenticity in her documentary, a failed attempt at relatability. They’re also resurfacing old interviews she’s done and tearing her quotes to shreds.

“People weren’t loving her even before all this anyway,” one TikTok user wrote. Another added: “People are done with all stars!”

Watching rich and famous people crumble is an appetizing pastime for many – particularly when it comes to reality TV, or in Lopez’s case, this documentary.

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But the lampooning of JLo may say more about us than it does about her. Experts say we can’t look away because of schadenfreude – finding joy in others’ hardships – and the ever-tantalizing appeal of a good story.

“There’s pleasure in watching rich people who seem to have it all and these (moments) remind us that, well, they really don’t have it all,” Elizabeth Cohen, associate professor at West Virginia University who researches psychology of media and pop culture, previously told USA TODAY. “And maybe they don’t even necessarily deserve it all.”