Love Hards Biggest Christmas Movie Reference Makes Its Messaging Worse

Love Hard’s Biggest Christmas Movie Reference Makes Its Messaging Worse

Love Hard is loaded with references to iconic Christmas movies, but one scene recreation actually makes its divisive messaging more problematic.

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Love Hards Biggest Christmas Movie Reference Makes Its Messaging Worse

Netflix’s Love Hard has been subject to controversy for its divisive messaging about catfishing, and its biggest Christmas movie reference moment makes its themes even worse. Netflix’s 2021 rom-com is filled with references to classic Christmas movies, with the two most important to the film being 2003’s Love Actually and 1988’s nontraditional holiday film Die Hard. Proving how important the two iconic Christmas movies are to Love Hard’s messaging and themes, the 2021 film’s title is actually a combination of the two: Love Actually + Die Hard = Love Hard. While there are no reenactments of scenes from Die Hard, Netflix’s Love Hard does feature a direct reference to Love Actually, with the scene recreation actually making its already divisive messaging even more problematic.

Love Hard’s conflict centers on the complicated relationship between Natalie (Nina Dobrev) and Josh (Jimmy O. Yang), which kicks off after the two strike up a romance online. After an off-hand comment in which Josh says he wishes Natalie could be with him for Christmas, Natalie impulsively hops on a plane and does just that. Love Hard’s characters reach an impasse when Natalie arrives to realize that Josh has been catfishing her – using photos from a locally popular outdoorsman named Tag for his profile. Natalie stays with Josh’s family and pretends to be his girlfriend while Josh promises to get her a date with the real Tag, all of which leads to plenty of overlapping catfishing storylines. Josh and Natalie end up falling in love genuinely, which struck many critics and audience members as a problematic message, suggesting that catfishing is a messy path for someone to still get their happy ending.

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While Josh is made to be a highly sympathetic character, it still felt off for the movie to allow him his happy ending with Natalie that began with unforgivable lies. Love Hard’s catfishing plotline already raises questions for the message that it’s is sending to viewers, but it becomes more problematic when considering Natalie’s final romantic gesture to Josh is an elaborate reference to Love Actually’s most iconic yet divisive scene. In the scene, Natalie plays a song in the background while showing Josh giant cards that profess her feelings – mirroring the classic card scene between Keira Knightley and Andrew Lincoln. While this is the most memorable scene from Love Actually, it’s also been subject to the most controversy.

Some felt the Love Actually scene was creepy, noting how the entire storyline surrounded Mark being in love with Juliet – his best friend’s wife – whom he had a semi-stalker fixation on. He professed his love to her on Christmas through the cue cards in silence, only for Juliet to run up and kiss him before Mark declared “enough now.” This Love Actually love story is the most notable reference-wise, but it may not be the best for Love Hard to copy when already struggling with proper messaging. In fact, Mark and Josh/Natalie’s actions are quite problematic in their respective storylines, and none of them face consequences.

Mark was quite rude to Juliet, snuck around behind his best friend’s back, and creepily focused only on her in videos, and still got to kiss her in the end. Josh catfishes Natalie and forces her to pretend to be his fiancée because he is deeply insecure and still gets the girl in the end. Natalie, in turn, catfishes Tag and professes her wrongdoings to the entire town, only to get Josh back in the end and be welcomed with open arms. If viewers are going off of the messaging from Love Actually and Love Hard’s endings, they’ll believe it’s fine to lie and act inappropriately in the name of love with no consequences.

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At the end of the day, Netflix’s cheesy Christmas movies don’t always warrant the best messaging. They’re primarily centered on elaborate fantasies by the main characters. Love Hard is no exception, but at least they understand that “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is a classic yet quite creepy song. In the name of Christmas cheer, moviegoers typically get a free pass when it comes to problematic love stories around the holidays, whether it be Love Hard or the ever-iconic Love Actually.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/love-hard-natalie-love-actually-easter-egg-bad/

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