Actress Anna Faris of “Scary Movie,” “Bad Teacher,” and (let’s redeem her a bit) “Brokeback Mountain” admitted on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that she stalked an ex-boyfriend. Faris, who’s publicizing her new romantic comedy “What’s Your Number,” uses her stalking story to charm, nay, even to boost her sex appeal. Her story gets laughs from her host and their studio audience and is getting play online (video up on HuffPost and elsewhere).
I don’t mean to judge Faris — I think it can be positive for shiny Hollywood stars to talk about these very human moments. But the delighted, knowing guffaws in response speak volumes. It’s safe and fun to see what Faris did as amusing, titillating, identifiable (we’ve been there too!), and harmless. What gets lost is that she was confessing to a moment of great darkness in her life, when she listened to Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” over and over again (you’ve got to be pretty down if you’ve got PF on repeat) and couldn’t stop herself from tracking down the guy who’d once given her a promise ring. He probably was in a pretty low place himself. Contrary to our fantasies, research shows few men take any pleasure in being stalked, no matter how “hot” their pursuer.