Chasing Happiness is a documentary telling the story of the ups and downs of the Jonas Brothers‘ career. Even though I was not a fan of the Disney Channel stars, CH was a telling human story about faith, family, and fame. Debuting in 2006, Kevin, Joe, and Nick took tween girl’s hearts by storm. I was, however, within almost the right demographic to completely ignore the band’s existence. While I was off at college listening to MGMT and Fleet Foxes, the Jonas Brothers meant a whole lot to the younger millennials. I say almost the perfect demographic because the band gave a lot of press to their Christian upbringing. Some of the Christian publications I read praised the young men as they wore their purity rings and kept a squeaky clean image. But there was a lot more to that story.
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| Nick Jonas posing for Calvin Klein. |
YOUR BODY, MY MOTIVATION. After the Jonas Brothers’ hiatus starting in 2013, Nick Jonas’s career began to blow up. Like many other Disney stars, he stopped making G-rated music, and he also shook off the Christian following. I mentioned the Jonas Brothers last month when I talked about purity culture. The band has talked about these rings a lot because they were asked about them throughout their career. Nick spent his early 20s embracing his role as a sex symbol. Whether it was Calvin Klein ads or shirtless photo shoots, Nick Jonas was no longer the 13-year-old star. In 2018, Nick married Bollywood actress Priyanaka Chopra, and the two have been media darlings since then. As a love song to his wife, “This Is Heaven” focuses on the here-and-now of love, rather than the heaven his father preached about. Instead of focusing on what many believe will be the soon-coming tribulation before the return of Christ, Nick focuses on how every moment in love gets better and better to the point where you can’t comprehend it getting any better. And a love ballad with a saxophone solo, how could it get better?
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