20 Reasons Why I’m a J.Lo-ver
I love Jennifer Lopez. And let’s face it, she could use the love these days. Bennifer 2.0 has already come to an end, marking 20 years of one of the most documented Hollywood on again-off again romances so here are 20 reasons why I love her. From the highs to the lows, beauties and flaws, this is her then and this is her now.
She made Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People list. If you’re not gonna believe me that Jennifer Lopez is amazing, take it up with Time.
She’s broken barriers within the romcom genre. I didn’t realize it when I was a child, but Jennifer Lopez was doing something exceptional within movies. She normalized headlining popular movies with huge box office success as a woman of color with movies like The Wedding Planner and Maid in Manhattan. Normalizing it, not only for me, but for mass audiences, that movies do not need to have white leads in order to equal success. And she continues to provide, breaking another barrier, proving that women in their 50’s can still be viable leads with movies like Shotgun Wedding and Marry Me.
She co-headlined one of the best Super Bowl Halftime performances. Do yourself a favor and watch the 2020 Super Bowl Halftime show headlined by Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. Just watch it and you'll see why it's one of the best.
She’s the reason why I bought a matching velour tracksuit as a teen in the 2000s. I’m sure there’s some photographic evidence of this in a photo album buried in my family’s home and it should stay that way.
She’s the first perfume I’ve ever bought. Okay, I’m technically not the one who bought it. I basically pleaded with my mom at Macy’s to buy me Glow by Jennifer Lopez cause I wanted to smell just like J.Lo.
She deserves to be Academy Award Nominee Jennifer Lopez. While 2019's Hustlers may have been her most noteworthy of performances to get considerable Oscar buzz, she's shown her range throughout her career with 1997's Selena, 1998's Out of Sight, and 2006's El Cantante.
She deserves to be Grammy Winner Jennifer Lopez. J.Lo has the hits. You know she does, don’t deny it. Ever heard of Jenny From The Block?” Of course you have, and you either hate or love yourself as you start to sing along to it whenever it comes on. Despite a 20+ career in the music industry, Lopez has only gathered 2 Grammy nominations.
She’s the first artist to have a movie and an album debut at #1. As part of showcasing her ability to do it all, she made history with the movie The Wedding Planner and album This Is Me… Then.
She was the reason behind the creation of Google Images. Go ahead and Google her 2000 red carpet appearance to the Grammys in the now iconic green Versace dress for old times' sake.
She’s a part of my favorite rotation of American Idol judges. Yes, there’s nothing quite like the spark of the initial trio of Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell, and Randy Jackson but audiences did not give enough credit to the trio of Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick Jr. and Keith Urban. I also think an American Idol reunion with Connick Jr. and Lopez would be the perfect romanic comedy.
She’s the definitive Selena. Netflix tried with their series on Selena Quintanilla in 2020 but it didn't come close to the 1997 movie and a lot of that was in thanks to the casting of Lopez.
She can deliver a line like no other. Not every Jennifer Lopez movie is a hit. There are some really bad ones out there and The Boy Next Door is one of them. It contains one of the most unintentionally funniest line deliveries ever. The said boy next door gives Lopez’s character, a high school teacher, a book. But not just any book, oh no, it’s the first edition of the Iliad. The ILIAD. An oral poem dating back from 3,000+ plus years ago, that was estimated to have finally been written out around 850-750 BCE. The way Lopez opens the book and utters, “Oh my god, this is a… this is a first edition?” is so earnest. That is capital A acting right there! It’s perfect.
She’s learning Spanish just like us. Like myself, Jenny grew up only learning how to speak English and now, as an adult, is making valiant attempts at trying to learn Spanish. But being a public figure, she has to try and speak it publicly, while I can attempt to learn Tagalog in the comforts of my own home.
She knows how to squeeze in some self- promotion while being patriotic. Lopez has no shame when it comes to promotion, especially when it comes to promoting herself. No one does celebrity quite as well as J.Lo. This was on full display for President Joe Biden’s inauguration when she was performed a medley of not just “This Land Is Your Land” and “America the Beautiful”, but added her song “Let’s Get Loud” into the mix because we got loud with our vote.
She’s the original booty queen. Before Kim K., there was J.Lo and don't you ever forget it!
She’s given us our modern day Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton tabloid romance. Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have already given us 20 years worth of tabloid fodder and I’m sure there’s more to come. While Ben and Jen have gotten together twice already, they’ve only been married once. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton got married twice so the ball is still in your court Bennifer.
She’s a hard worker. This may be what has drawn me to Jennifer Lopez for all these years. She’s a hard worker. She is someone who has to show you the work to show you that it amounts to something. As long as you work hard, you’re special, right? We may not have been destined or gifted with the vocation we’ve chosen, but we’re going to work hard in order to make it work. Lopez has made it work, but it’s work. What has made some of the greats great onscreen is that you don’t see the work. It’s effortless. Jennifer Lopez is a star, and she still has what I believe to be several more decades left of entertaining us. I hope she doesn’t have to work so hard to show us that and for us to finally embrace her as she is.
She gave us 3 iterations of This Is Me… Now. As she says in the behind the scenes documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, of her album This Is Me… Now, “It's not like anybody was clamoring for the next J. Lo record, you know what I mean?” and yet she gave us 3 different projects surrounding said record. The record itself, a play on her album, This Is Me… Then, released about 20 years later in which she finds herself again with Ben Affleck. A don’t call it a music video, so a music journey with moving pictures using songs from the album to create a loose narrative. And a behind the scenes making of the record/not music video. And guess what, unlike most of the public, I consumed and loved all of it!
She loves her children. While we cannot believe everything someone posts on social media, as it’s crafted for us to think a certain way about their lives, I choose to believe that Lopez really is an awesome, loving, supporting, and caring mom.
She believes in love. ❤️
