Is ‘The Idea of You’ the First Good Fanfic Movie?

Even if it's not really about Harry Styles, fanfic is a state of mind

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The idea of a “fanfiction movie” is a hot topic as of late, and often generates considerable controversy each time it arises. The Fifty Shades of Grey series is the most famous example of this phenomenon, though it hasn’t exactly been great PR for fanfic writers. The After series, based on Harry Styles fanfic, is another critically maligned adaptation that viewers love to hate. Though not a fanfic, the poorly-reviewed The Kissing Booth began as a work on Wattpad and often gets lumped into this category. 

Fans are adamant that Cassandra Clare based The Mortal Instruments series on a famous Harry Potter fanfic, though she’s refuted this assumption (as well as other controversial claims about her work). Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis, based on a Kylo/Rey Star Wars fanfic, is being made into a film. Red, White & Royal Blue author Casey McQuiston wrote a well-known piece of Andrew Garfield/Jesse Eisenberg fanfiction that some think inspired the book, but it’s likely the two works are unrelated. The Red, White & Royal Blue movie – though more fanfic-esque than actual fanfic – was the most well-received out of all of these films, part of a burgeoning genre with a spotty track record. 

Enter The Idea of You, a new romance movie starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine. Hathaway plays Solène, a 40-year-old woman who has a meet-cute with Hayes Campbell (Galitzine), a 24-year-old member of a famous boy band. They have an immediate connection and begin a whirlwind romance, but things are complicated by the fact that he’s very famous and Solène’s worried about how her teenage daughter will be affected. 

Now, I should note right off the bat that according to the novel’s author, Robinne Lee, the project didn’t originate as a fanfic. Lee went so far as to write a piece in Time arguing that “reducing The Idea of You to fan fiction is another way of dismissing women’s art,” illustrating that, among other things, Lee doesn’t hold fanfic in very high regard. A 2020 article in Vogue calls the book “a novel inspired by Harry Styles,” though Lee maintains in the piece that “inspired is a strong word.”

In the end, it doesn’t really matter what Lee’s intentions were. The death of the author and all that. More to the point, it’s clear that The Idea of You has been read and understood through the lens of fanfiction despite Lee’s protests. The book blew up on BookTok (the book lover segment of TikTok) during the pandemic, which further cemented its connection to fandom and internet culture. Lee’s insistence that the book and film be referred to as something other than the “Harry Styles fan fiction movie” is understandable, though Galitzine’s tattoos in the film make this connection impossible to ignore. Either way, it’s become involved in fandom.

To be fair, there is so much overlap between the style of fanfiction and romance novels that distinguishing between the two – or working out which form inspired the other – is pointless. Many of the most popular fanfic stories are also romances, and the tropes employed therein are familiar to both fic readers and romance novel enthusiasts. 

The central function of romance novels and fanfic is the notion of wish fulfillment. Within fanfiction, this process is twofold. First of all, it means dreaming up situations for pre-existing characters (or real people) that haven’t happened on-screen or IRL. For both the writer and readers, it can also mean imagining yourself as one of the characters in the story and living vicariously through them. Fans often engage with works that include characters they relate to from the get-go. As such, fanfic readers tend to have an already heightened connection to the story and thus engage in this process of identification quite intensely.

This idea plays out more literally in reader-insert fics, where the reader is the character in the story and interacts – often romantically – with other characters. Then there’s Real Person Fic, or RPF, which describes fan fiction about real people (usually celebrities). Oftentimes these fics depict relationships between two celebrities (like the aforementioned Andrew Garfield/Jesse Eisenberg fic), while others describe a relationship between a celebrity and a non-celebrity (who might serve as an avatar for the writer or reader). One Direction fanfic is a popular topic in both these categories. This genre plays into the parasocial relationships fans tend to have with their favorite stars, allowing this sense of imagined intimacy to play out in a fictional (yet still personal) realm.

Because fanfic is so accessible and so niche, it provides a means for writers and readers to explore their personal feelings about love, desire, and sexuality. This is especially true for queer folks and those interested in kink or any non-normative sexual practice. Lesbian and sapphic fics do the work of filling in the gaps in terms of queer representation, and sex is a big part of this. 

Of course, most of this is true of romance novels as well. The distinction is that fanfic exists within the context of fandom, a community speaking in a shared language of intimate, usually digital bonds. Fandom adds another layer to the reading (or watching) experience, generating further affinity between reader/writer and reader/characters. 

So, if The Idea of You is indeed a fanfic movie – and I’m arguing that it is, sorry Robinne Lee –  what makes it a uniquely good one? The key is that the film embodies the function of fanfiction in every dreamy breath. Though she lives in a gorgeous craftsman home and has a cool job (runs an art gallery), Solène represents the everywoman. She’s a working mom unable to imagine more for herself, unable to imagine being desired, something many viewers can identify with. Though not as vague as the protagonist of a reader-insert fic, Solène nonetheless invites viewers to invest in her journey.

The central premise may be far-fetched, but it’s easy to get swept away in the romance of it all and imagine yourself in Solène’s shoes. The fact that her love interest is a superstar named Hayes Campbell – who is much less fleshed-out than Solène – doesn’t matter much. Indeed, the viewer can insert whichever dreamboat they wish would fall in love with them in his place. (For some viewers, this might actually be Anne Hathaway herself.) The film paints this theme of empowerment-through-love with broad strokes, and this nonspecific approach to the story works to invite the viewer in, epitomizing the central mechanisms of fanfic: wish fulfillment and reader identification.  

Narrative elements aside, the film’s true saving grace is Anne Hathaway, who puts every fiber of her being into portraying Solène. Hathaway loves this movie so much that cried when it premiered at SXSW because she was grateful the audiences received it well. She is utterly radiant in the role – have bangs ever looked better on a person? – to the point where it almost takes away from Solène’s relatability factor. What keeps this from happening is Hathaway’s commitment to playing every scene with an open heart and no room for embarrassment. Though Solène is just some woman, Hathaway’s performance is unselfconsciously big, leaning into the larger-than-life context of the romance. 

This lack of self-consciousness is ultimately what makes the film a success. It doesn’t try to shy away from its fanfic-like qualities, instead leaning into the classic tropes. It’s not trying to be high-brow, but it doesn’t devolve into trash either. The film will likely appeal to fanfic readers who find these tropes familiar, comforting even. The chemistry, the denial of feelings, the sex, the angst, the reconciliation – it’s a tale as old as time, or at least as old as fanfiction.net. Rom-com lovers might wonder why there are so many tears and so few hijinks, but fanfic readers will no doubt feel a spark of recognition. 

As enjoyable as the film is, it brings up questions about the future of “fanfic movies” and romance in Hollywood. We already know a Kylo/Rey fanfic movie is in the works, but what about something for the lesbians? I’m of the completely unbiased opinion that lesbian fanfiction is the best fanfiction out there, and it’s disappointing that Hollywood doesn’t seem to have an appetite for these stories. We’re hungry.

In The Idea of You, Anne Hathaway plays a character who’s meant to feel relatable to millions of women around the world, and as I’ve argued, this is part of what makes the film work. (Even I, Dr. Lesbian, found myself imagining what it would be like to be in her shoes.) It’s so clear that no one would describe a lesbian protagonist as a universally relatable character, indicating a tragic lack of imagination. Lesbian fanfics also have the function of addressing the absence of lesbian representation within mass media as a whole, which makes their lack of wider recognition even more disheartening. If I ever find myself in charge of a large production studio, you know which projects I’ll be optioning first. 

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Can you think of a femslash or lesbian fanfic that would make a good movie or novel? Let’s brainstorm.