There’s nothing that pop-culture obsessives love more than when two famous people start dating. How did they meet? What do they talk about? Are they truly in love? Is it all for show? When they break up, who will write the chart-topping ballad? (That last is reserved only for a specific type of person, but we’ll get there.)
Because we’ll never know for sure until the tell-all memoirs start coming out, we write fan fiction in our heads about their lives, speculating about every public sighting and every private encounter. The most secluded ones get the most scrutiny, which is why there are a million Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce-“inspired” movies coming out right now. So far, the closest to reality (up to a point) is Lifetime’s holiday-themed rom-com Christmas in the Spotlight, which premieres Nov. 23.
World-famous pop star Bowyn Sykes (Jessica Lord) is weeks away from releasing a Christmas album just in time for the holiday season, but she and her management are a little worried her fans won’t be feeling the cheer—especially given that the single she’s chosen is all about spending Christmas alone (all having apparently forgotten the fact that Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas,” Wham’s “Last Christmas,” and Swift’s own “Christmases When You Were Mine” were forlorn hits in their own right).
A universe away, in football world, Drew “Gonzo” Gonville (Laith Wallschleger) is the star wide receiver of the Bombers, yet for the last few games he’s been distracted, and doesn’t feel as in love with the sport as he used to. Drew and Bowyn have a chance meeting when Drew takes his young niece to see her in concert. (Sadly, it doesn’t turn into a Trap scenario.) Drew asks her out via a public social media post. Bowyn acquiesces, but only if they keep things casual. Once the public gets wind of it, however, the rumors start to roll in, and Bowyn and Drew will have to decide whether or not they’re taking the leap for real.
The movie ends with the requisite “any resemblance to real persons is purely coincidental” disclaimer, but of course we all know where Christmas in the Spotlight got its story beats from. Bowyn’s legion of exes is referred to as a bunch of “pretentious actors and indie rockers,” Drew has a brother who plays on the same team, Bowyn shows up to one of Drew’s games sporting bright red lipstick, and Drew professes his affection for her via a beaded friendship bracelet. Even the snippets of Bowyn’s songs have that unmistakable Jack Antonoff synth beat.
The dialogue is peppered with Swiftian groaners, like the moment when Bowyn self-deprecatingly describes herself as “never the cheerleader type, more of a bleacher girl.” The only news program in this movie’s world is run by two catty sports commentators, one of whom notes, “The alchemy between these two is off the charts.” Har-har.
The two immediately present themselves as even more idealized versions of their real-world counterparts. Bowyn is Swift if Swift could also dance like Tate McRae. Drew is Kelce as the Swifties love to imagine him: the beefy, affable, affectionate himbo whose only calling on this earth is to make our beloved pop star happy. “You need someone in your life whose sole purpose is to show you a good time,” he declares. Don’t we all!
Given all of this, it’s actually kind of interesting that the movie chooses to address the fan culture around these dynamics, and that it ultimately makes, if not an ironclad declaration, a soft suggestion that maybe the extreme attention we pay to these types of people and the most private parts of their lives isn’t doing them, or us, any favors, and maybe even has real-world consequences.
Innocuous conversations recorded on the sly become PR crises. Your favorite pop star isn’t feeling up to performing. Your favorite football team keeps losing. Is it, perhaps, because of the intense pressure we ourselves put upon these people—even more when they just happen to be romantically involved? A movie like this is ostensibly made for the fans, and yet it’s bold enough to propose that maybe we should all, ahem, calm down.
