There has been conjecture that the recently released romantic comedy “The Idea of You,” starring Anne Hathaway, could draw inspiration from the romance of Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde. The filmmakers of the movie, however, have insisted that the relationship is not as clear-cut as some might think.
“The Idea of You” revolves around the story of Solène, a forty-year-old woman who has just divorced, and Hayes Campbell, a twenty-four-year-old British pop star who plays lead vocals for a fictional band called August Moon. Many have drawn comparisons between the real-life Harry Styles and the fictional Hayes because of this arrangement. Styles has dated older ladies, such as Olivia Wilde, who is over ten years his senior.
To add to the rumours, the novel that served as the basis for the movie was released in 2017, before to Styles and Wilde’s romance becoming well known.
But the original novel’s author, Robinne Lee, and the movie’s star, Anne Hathaway, have both insisted that there is a more indirect relationship to Styles and Wilde than some may think.
According to Lee, a variety of sources, including Styles, Prince Harry, and her own intimate encounters with younger men, served as inspiration for the character of Hayes. She underlined that the book was always meant to be an investigation of female sexuality and desirability after middle age rather than a narrative about Styles.
These opinions have also been expressed by Hathaway, who claims that the movie is not “Harry Styles fan fiction” and that the parallels are only accidental.
The writers of “The Idea of You” have stated that their goal is to delve deeper than a mere celebrity-inspired romance, despite the obvious parallels between the film’s premise and the relationship between Styles and Wilde.
Given that the narrative centers on Solène’s quest for self-discovery and the reclamation of her sexuality as a woman nearing forty, it appears that the film is primarily concerned with subverting conventional wisdom and ideas about the desirability and agency of women.