💕Love Actually: The holiday rom-com we hate to ❤️

Holiday-themed romantic comedies have never been bigger—[just ask the Hallmark Channel and Netflix](. But before there were floods of feel-good, formulaic, made-for-tv films, there was Love Actually. Unlike today’s holiday rom-coms, the 15-year-old Richard Curtis film actually has some wit to the script. It’s also not entirely about romance. It’s about all the kinds of situations love touches—friendships, family, crushes, unrequited love, extramarital affairs, and grief. Not all the plots end on a high note. Some couples get together, others are left heartbroken. But that element of realism is part of what makes the movie good. Today, the homogenous characters—all straight, white, and relatively thin—wouldn’t meet consumer demands for [modern, smart, sweet comedies](. And in the wake of #MeToo, some of the plots are deeply unsettling in their treatment of women, as [several]( [writers]( [have pointed out](. At Quartz, though, we agree with Business Insider’s Kim Renfro: Enjoy as long as you keep [your eyes wide open](. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Sponsored by [Quartz Obsession] Love Actually December 18, 2018 Tis the season --------------------------------------------------------------- Holiday-themed romantic comedies have never been bigger—[just ask the Hallmark Channel and Netflix](. But before there were floods of feel-good, formulaic, made-for-tv films, there was Love Actually. Unlike today’s holiday rom-coms, the 15-year-old Richard Curtis film actually has some wit to the script. It’s also not entirely about romance. It’s about all the kinds of situations love touches—friendships, family, crushes, unrequited love, extramarital affairs, and grief. Not all the plots end on a high note. Some couples get together, others are left heartbroken. But that element of realism is part of what makes the movie good. Today, the homogenous characters—all straight, white, and relatively thin—wouldn’t meet consumer demands for [modern, smart, sweet comedies](. And in the wake of #MeToo, some of the plots are deeply unsettling in their treatment of women, as [several]( [writers]( [have pointed out](. At Quartz, though, we agree with Business Insider’s Kim Renfro: Enjoy as long as you keep [your eyes wide open](. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Have you tried the Quartz app yet? --------------------------------------------------------------- 👉Keep up with news for you, curated by Quartz editors 👉Personalize your feed with the topics you love 👉Engage with an informed community of leaders, subject-matter experts, and curious minds 👉Available for iOS and Android [Try the Quartz app]( Reuters/Regis Duvignau By the digits [41:]( Romantic comedies released in US theaters in 2004 after Love Actually’s success [6:]( Rom-coms released in US theaters in 2017 [80 million:]( People who streamed a romantic film on Netflix in the last year [6]( Rom-coms released by Netflix this summer [3:]( Original Christmas rom-coms released on Netflix this year [37:]( romances the Hallmark Channel released this year [1:]( Rank of the Hallmark Channel among cable channels in its target demographic (women 25 to 54 and women 18 to 49) in November 2017 Sponsored by Synchrony Alexis Ohanian gets schooled by the OG generation of US business owners. --------------------------------------------------------------- Soak up essential business lessons with Alexis as he learns from business owners like Jenny, a Baby Boomer entrepreneur who started her quilt company during the 2008 financial crisis and created a model for the future of retail.[Tune into Business Schooled, a podcast by Synchrony]( Giphy Million-dollar question Why are holiday rom-coms so addictively awful? --------------------------------------------------------------- In the absence of quality rom-coms like Love Actually and its often-overlooked cousin, The Holiday, an unexpected giant has taken over the romantic comedy scene: The Hallmark Channel. Hallmark’s tried-and-tested formula makes for great mindless watching, and the indulgence of settling in for a Hallmark movie binge with a bottle of wine has even become a kitschy pleasure that people proudly cop to on social media. These films are [also objectively bad](. They hinge on undefined traditional values, and imply that there’s a literal magic that spurs improbable behavior around Christian holidays. The characters—particularly the women—are completely one-dimensional. The plots are improbable at best and completely far-fetched at worst. And yet, they’ve never been more popular. While there’s surely some aspect of [escapism]( in these films, there’s also something darker at play. These movies don’t just depict a world that’s brighter and cheerier than our own; they depict one drastically different, where being a woman who Has It All is as simple as embracing the holiday spirit. At the end of another year where the news cycle highlighted the inequalities, hurdles, and abuse that women around the world still face, one reason these movies are still so appealing is that they can be watched with both envy and outrage. We can laugh at them because they’re so far from the truth of modern women’s experience. Charted[atlas_Hy22mc3Cm@2x] Reuters/Stephen Hird Pop quiz Which celebrity doesn’t have a cameo in Love Actually? Denise RichardsClaudia SchifferJanuary JonesKate Winslet Correct. Although she was omitted from this film, Kate Winslet and Jude Law were the leading Brits in the 2006 Christmas rom-com The Holiday. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with Love Actually? [ [Forward link to a friend](mailto:?subject=Thought you'd enjoy.&body=Read this Quartz Obsession email – to the email – Explain it like I'm 5! What actually happens in Love Actually? --------------------------------------------------------------- Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) is a fading rock star, who, while clinging to fame, realizes that his only close friend is his manager Joe (Gregor Fisher). (Giphy) Billy’s horrible Christmas song inspires Sam (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), a young boy, to pick up the drums in the hopes of winning the heart of his school crush (Olivia Olson). The whole process allows him to bond with his newly widowed step-father, Daniel (Liam Neeson). Daniel is friends with Karen (Emma Thompson), who is married to Harry (Alan Rickman) and is the sister of David (Hugh Grant), the new prime minister. (Giphy) David has a flirtation with his house assistant Natalie (Martine McCutcheon). They end up smooching at the back stage of Karen’s children’s Christmas pageant. John (Martin Freeman) and Judy (Joanna Page) also attend the Christmas pageant as a date, after meeting while working together as body doubles in some sort of erotic drama. Harry has a crush on his secretary Mia (Heike Makatsch), and also employs Sarah (Laura Linney), who has been secretly in love with Karl (Rodrigo Santoro) but has an ailing brother who takes up the majority of her free time. (Giphy) Sarah attends Juliet (Keira Knightley) and Peter’s (Chiwetel Ejiofor) wedding, where she asks Mark (Andrew Lincoln), the best man, if he is in love with the groom. (He is in love with the bride.) Colin (Kris Marshall) is working as a caterer at the wedding, where he decides he needs to run away to America to find love. Jamie (Colin Firth) is also invited to the wedding, but leaves his sick wife at home. When Jamie goes to check on her, he finds that she’s having an affair with his brother, which prompts him to go to Portugal to write for a few weeks. There, he meets Aurelia (Lúcia Moniz). They do not speak the same language, but manage to fall in love. (Giphy) The last storyline is a single character—Rufus played by Rowan Atkinson, who helps Harry purchase an expensive gift for Mia, and allows Sam to say goodbye to his crush. TL;DR[obs love actually] Fun fact! Love Actually was originally supposed to include [four more plots](. But at two hours and 15 minutes, it’s already plenty long. Giphy Hold up What’s with that weird sign scene? --------------------------------------------------------------- The most memorable scene from Love Actually is when Mark professes his love to Juliet by holding up signs. It’s meant to be romantic, and explain why he’s always been cold to her yet filmed nothing but her at the wedding. It’s also the most problematic part of the movie. As Lindy West [wrote for Jezebel]( “Thanks, Love Actually. Thank you for telling a generation of men that their intrusiveness and obsessions are ‘romantic,’ and that women are secretly flattered no matter what their body language says.” But hey, at least we got one [good]( parody out it. How we 🍿💕now A growing demand for realistic romance --------------------------------------------------------------- Romantic comedies have made a comeback in the last few years, many with a modern and realistic twist. The Big Sick was a surprise hit last year, picking up an Oscar nomination for its screenplay (with some complaining it should have gotten more awards recognition). 2018 delivered the [highest-grossing romantic comedy in a decade]( in Crazy Rich Asians. With its all-Asian cast and its unpacking of class and cultural divides, it proved that a rom-com can be so much more—if it wants to be. The women of Crazy Rich Asians were refreshingly complex and flawed, and not afraid to call out toxic masculinity. There’s also a growing appetite for light-hearted romantic fun, evidenced by some of the most successful movies of the last 12 months, which include The Greatest Showman and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!. Netflix has picked up on the trend, and appears to be trying to dethrone the Hallmark Channel as the reigning rom-com king. The office rom-com Set It Up may not have reinvented the genre, but it reminded us what we’d been missing since the rom-com’s multiplex reign [came to an end in the early ‘00s](. Then came To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, the inspiration for months of memes and the crowning of the [internet’s newest boyfriend]( Noah Centineo. With its Asian-American heroine, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before was already something new, but it was [“quietly revolutionary”]( in other ways. Lara Jean (Lana Condor) is a refreshingly average teen. She’s not the most popular kid in school, nor does she want to be. And she doesn’t need a makeover to get her happy ending. Listen to this Unlike most Christmas movies, the soundtrack to Love Actually has few holiday songs on it. It’s mostly just a great mix of pop and R&B that surprisingly holds up today. [Love Actually soundtrack]( take me down this 🐰 hole! Love Actually was a huge win for turtlenecks, and of course [Buzzfeed ranked them all](. Giphy Poll Are you watching Love Actually this year? [Click here to vote]( I’ve done so 3 times alreadyMore of a Christmas Prince kinda personI'm a rom com scrooge 💬let's talk! In yesterday’s poll about [placebos]( 39% of you are sticking with drugs. 📧 James wrote: “I feel better already. Thanks. Actually I’m a retired psychologist and I’ve known about this for many years. Still, I think you presented the subject well.” 🤔 [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20Love%20Actually&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) [🎲 Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s email was written by [Katherine Ellen Foley]( with [Sam Rigby]( edited by [Jessanne Collins]( and produced by [Luiz Romero](. Infographic by [Amanda Shendruk.]( The correct answer to the quiz is Kate Winslet. Enjoying the Quartz Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! If you click a link to an e-commerce site and make a purchase, we may receive a small cut of the revenue, which helps support our ambitious journalism. See [here]( for more information. Not enjoying it? No worries. [Click here]( to unsubscribe. Quartz | 675 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Fl | New York, NY 10011 | United States [Share this email](