Sydney Sweeney’s box office is irrelevant until she stops objecting to her online persona
By Joshua Tyler | Published
As her popularity online has grown, so has criticism regarding Sydney Sweeney’s inability to deliver at the box office. Her detractors like to point out that most of her films haven’t made any real money, and then use that to make it seem like her fame is somehow fake or that her looks aren’t really attractive to men.
This is the craziest interpretation one can have. It’s like saying that Anna Nicole Smith wasn’t really famous because she didn’t get to star in The matrix. Or like pretending that no one really thought Charlize Theron was attractive, because they didn’t buy a ticket to see her transformed into a hideous monster for Monster.
Sydney Sweeney’s films ignore the root of his popularity
Sydney Sweeney’s online popularity is due to two very simple factors. Firstly, she is extremely attractive and willing to flaunt her physical assets for the viewing pleasure, without shame. Second, she is not an out-of-touch activist who voices statistically unpopular and politically biased opinions.
Its popularity could easily translate into box office dollars, but for whatever reason, Sweeney didn’t choose to cash in on it. Instead, she just made a movie based on a book, The cleaning ladyknown for being popular only with women, and featuring someone who spent much of his press tour spreading political ideology.
Before The cleaning ladySweeney made a flop called Christiewhere she played a battered, unattractive, sweaty female boxer. The poster makes it repulsive, the trailers for the film even more so.
Sydney Sweeney is loved for being decidedly easy on the eyes. So it shouldn’t be a surprise to her or anyone else that none of the people who love her would pay to see Sydney in a movie where she’s intentionally unattractive.
The housekeeper is a half step in the right direction
The cleaning lady is Sweeney’s first film to do moderately well at the box office. It’s probably no coincidence that this is also Sweeney’s first recent film that builds on his appeal instead of shying away from it.
The last film she starred in, which maximized her appearance, was Netflix’s streaming-exclusive romantic comedy. Anyone but you. However, this was released over a year before its popularity skyrocketed following those hit jeans adverts.
The true test of Sydney Sweeney’s popularity will only come when she finally does something that fully leverages her online persona, instead of spitting in her face. That means making a film that appeals to men, that allows her to be attractive, and that doesn’t get bogged down in unpopular political activism on the part of the film or its co-stars.
Barbarella is the real test
The Ideal Test of Sydney Sweeney’s Stardom Is a Movie Like Barbara. She has long been attached to a remake of the Space Babe movie. If this happens over the next couple of years, expect a box office performance to match the popularity of the scantily clad red carpet photos of Sydney Sweeney shared across the Internet.
Until we get Barbaraor something similar, nothing Sydney Sweeney does tells us anything other than that she’s not smart enough to capitalize on her popularity.
