Does Reality TV Inform Her Role Choices?

If you’re ever wondering what role Jennifer Lawrence is going to take next, look no further than my system for how she selects her next big film projects. I've got it all figured out. It isn’t just the actors or the directors she’s comfortable working with; although I can’t fault her for working consistently with Bradley Cooper or David O. Russell. No, actually, I think the Oscar-winner is obviously influenced by her choices in reality TV. Think about it, Lawrence has said herself that her performance in American Hustle as Christian Bale’s boozy housewife Rosalyn was inspired by the New Jersey edition of the Real Housewives franchise. Well, she admitted that it was mostly the accent that helped, but I think that this goes deeper. Intentional or not, Jennifer Lawrence’s television show preferences have come out in her past movie roles too. I’m starting to think so, at least.

In her recent Vanity Fair interview, the Hunger Games star listed some of her favorites in trash TV:

Shark Tank. Wait, Oh, Dance Moms — that is a good one! O.K., maybe my favorite is Dance Moms, but I do love my Real Housewives. But there’s also — there’s Doomsday Preppers. Hoarders is O.K. I find it gets a little boring after a while, but it’s great.

I love Intervention, New York Housewives—and Beverly Hills, New Jersey, and Atlanta Housewives. I mean, I love them all, but Miami — oh, my God! Miami is really special.

Keep those in mind as we see how these match up with her previous film roles.

Dance Moms — Silver Linings Playbook

OK, not just because there's a ton of dancing, though there is that, but can't you see the same level of commitment, drive, and, sure, slightly off-kilter crazy that Dance Mom's Maddie Ziegler has with J. Law's Tiffany? That or dancing just naturally brings out the competitive, crazy nature in you.

Doomsday Preppers — X-Men: First Class

In Doomsday Preppers, normal, everyday people gear up for the apocalypse by storing cans of Chef Boyardee and possibly a rocket launcher. God forbid we run out of Chef Boyardee, you guys. Extreme survivalists like that remind me of the Cold War, which is when X-Men: First Class took place. The mutant fear and Magneto's extremism sounds an awful lot like Doosmday Prep, but with less ravioli.

Hoarders — The House at the End of the Street

While Hoarders isn't technically a scary show, I am personally frightened because I have hoarder-like tendencies — such as my box of movie ticket stubs dating back to watching Anastasia in theaters or my collection of old cell phones I can't donate. When I watch Hoarders I'm sometimes surprised at how normal the house looks from the inside, then once you're inside, bam! A million cats and a staircase filled with boxes of old toenail clippings. Scary, like that house at the end of the street, maybe? OK that might be a stretch.

Shark Tank — The Hunger Games

Shark Tank with its chairs full of business sharks watching your big money-making presentation — be it a green rental supply van or maybe a guitar teaching video — is very much like that moment in The Hunger Games when Katniss had to perform her skills before the game makers to earn a ranking. Now while Shark Tank contestants aren't in a true life or death battle royale experience, they are at least fighting for their livelihood (and for informercial fees), and that's just as tense. Although, there are less arrows.

Obviously this is all conjecture on my part, but the evidence is quite telling wouldn't you say? So we might not necessarily see Lawrence acting like a Miami housewife or a recluse with tons of stuff filling her home any time soon, but if she mentions loving Keeping Up with the Kardashians next, prepare for an Oscar-worthy takedown of America wealth and excess.

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