Jane Austen

• Jennifer Lawrence’s new film No Hard Feelings is a modern-day feminist sex comedy, enlivened by ribald humour and occasional gross-out moments.
• But it’s also a crucible for working through a range of cultural anxieties dogging both romantic comedies and the wider popular culture.

The importance of sex

• After the 1970s, sex was notionally absorbed into romance but its actual contours were downplayed in mainstream cinema.
• Now, in an era where sex itself has become a relatively scarce commodity, the very act has gained elevated currency.
• While sex is more valuable, contemporary representations of it retain their anti-romantic messiness.
• Sex is real, untidy and essentially human while life online is clean but cold.

Friends with(out) benefits?

• This ambiguity is a phenomenon more commonly seen in buddy films about same-sex characters, such as I Love You, Man or Superbad.
• Such an ending is not really in line with what Percy’s parents had in mind.
• That such ideas are also couched in economic terms highlights the equal importance of wealth dynamics in the film.
• Maddie raises the money to save her house then decides to sell it at a bargain price to friends in any case.

• Offering a unique feast for the senses, the road trips connect 13 captivating European Four Seasons properties across six uniquely curated routes, taking in castles and wineries, caves and cities, mountains and lakes, and much more.
• Traverse centuries as well as counties from the contemporary art of the Tate Modern to the fine countryside art of clay-pigeon shooting.
• Swop the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace for the cottage garden and writing rooms of 19th century novelist Jane Austen.
• Take traditional afternoon tea in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew before taking in the mysteries of Stonehenge.