Love Actually Has Not Aged Well: Why Christmas Classic Fails Woke Check
Much scorn has been poured on the storylines featuring romcom heartthrobs Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, and should we talk about that infamous cue-card scene?
With a stupendous cast of British cinema’s finest, beautiful snowy frames, and the whole Xmas shebang, ‘Love Actually’ makes it to many a ‘favourite Christmas movies’ list. But several people have pointed out — after rewatches over the years — that the 2003 film is not so much the feel-good mush fest it is billed as. They claim the film does its women characters no justice, and some aspects of it are almost creepy — a tip of the hat here to the cue-card scene between Keira Knightley’s ‘Juliet’ and Andrew Lincoln’s ‘Mark’, which was reportedly a put-off even for the Bend It Like Beckham star, then a teenager.
Much scorn has been poured on the storylines featuring romcom heartthrobs Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, and their lady loves, played by Martine McCutcheon and Lúcia Moniz, respectively. While the common theme of derision is the power dynamic — both storylines involve a man falling in love with a woman working under or for them — each has its individual shortcomings for critics. The fat jokes directed at McCutcheon’s ‘Natalie’ are high up on the list, as is the premise that Firth’s ‘Jamie’ and Moniz’s ‘Aurelia’ fall in love even though their language barrier prevented any conversation between them. As for Aurelia stripping to her underwear, in the bitter winter, to retrieve the scattered pages of Jamie’s writing from a lake... the less said the better, critics say.
The same power dynamic powers the chemistry between Alan Rickman’s ‘Harry’ and Heike Makatsch’s ‘Mia’ as they dance on the fringes of an outright affair. And there’s much heartburn around Emma Thompson’s ‘Karen’, Harry’s wife, not leaving him despite discovering the infidelity.
By far the most problematic plotline for viewers has been the one about Kris Marshall’s sex-crazed ‘Colin’, who goes to the US solely on the conviction that his “British accent” will make him a hit among ladies. When he reaches the US, lo and behold, that’s exactly what happens. Not exactly the most heartwarming moment for even the most diehard Love Actually fan.
A big miss for the movie is its sole gay plotline, about a headmistress and her terminally ill partner, ending up on the cutting-room floor — a decision director Richard Curtis has publicly expressed regret about.
In Defence Of Love Actually
Seen with the benefit of retrospect, many classics now seem outdated, with their limited representation, and celebration of what are now seen as ‘red flags’. But while fans of Love Actually acknowledge the criticism, they also point out that the movie is a true ode to love — messy as it often is.
There is, they argue, something to celebrate about a stepfather helping his late wife’s son woo his first love. And who can deny the butterflies stirred by the innocent romance that develops between two movie stand-ins as they get talking while filming risque scenes in the buff?
Sure, parts of Love Actually may seem irrational, even odd. But isn’t it how love actually is?
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