Let’s start this off with a story about Lady Gaga and Sam Elliott. Back in 2018 at the Toronto International Film Festival, I found myself at a mid-day mixer of some sort in support of A Star is Born. (If I recall correctly, I was hungry and there was a promise of complimentary snacks.) As I’m eating some sort of cheese and cracker combination, a publicist asks me if I want to meet Lady Gaga. Now, this is not as exciting as it sounds. Because “meeting” means being brought over to Lady Gaga, who is already surrounded by, my count, about 20 people hanging on her every word. Now, at the time I had no real opinion on Lady Gaga one way or another (in early 2020 I did see her in concert Super Bowl weekend in Miami and, yes, she does put on a terrific show, but I had not experienced that yet at the time), but being added to this already large group surrounding her seemed unappealing. I decided I’d be happier alone with my cheese snack.