🚨 Warning: I’m gonna spoil Happiest Season in this newsletter. 🚨
Hey, a lesbian Christmas movie written and directed by Clea DuVall?? I’m here for it! Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, and Aubrey Plaza? Heck yes! Dan Levy being super charming? Fantastic!
But that ending… oof.
There is no way to convince me that Abby (Stewart) — after being pushed back into the closet by Harper (Davis) and spending several days being treated like crap, watching her girlfriend flirt with her ex-boyfriend, and also finding out that her girlfriend treated her ex-girlfriend SO BADLY in the past — should have ended up happy and engaged to Harper. Harper sucks. Now, I am a straight woman and obviously cannot remotely fathom how difficult it is to come out of the closet, especially to your judgmental, WASP-y family, but I also don’t think that justifies hurting the person you’re in love with. I don’t think Harper should be vilified or anything, but she’s clearly at a MUCH different part than her journey than Abby is and should probably work through that on her own for a while.
And Abby DEFINITELY shouldn’t have ended up with Harper after we’ve watched scene after scene of her with Riley (Plaza), having actual chemistry and things in common. Oh, and Riley didn’t actively try to hurt Abby for several days. Even Plaza herself thinks they should have ended up together!
Furthermore, though, it’s just so strange to me that this story is told from Abby’s point of view, when clearly this is Harper’s story of accepting her sexuality and dealing with her overbearing family. Abby doesn’t even really have a character arc! She’s the same person by the end of the movie as she is at the beginning. Yes, it’s Kristen Stewart looking great in a suit, but still.
On Twitter, I thought with just a few tweaks (and, obviously, an overhaul of the ending), Happiest Season could have been really great!
There’s still a lot to like about Happiest Season (along with Levy being very funny, Mary Holland as one of Harper’s sisters is just excellent, and I do love Victor Garber and Mary Steenburgen), but the ending did not feel earned and should have been thrown into the sea.
Far smarter and more qualified people than I have written about Happiest Season, and you should seek them out, but special shout-outs to Shannon Keating’s The New Kristen Stewart Lesbian Rom-Com Is Kind Of A Bummer on BuzzFeed News, and Jill Gutowitz’s Why Abby Absolutely Should've Ended Up With Riley In Happiest Season on Bustle.
That’s all for me today, gorgeous. Talk to you soon.
Love,
Kat
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I 100% agree with the changes that you tweeted. I so wanted to like this movie, and I’m sad that the ending ruined it. I was so sure Abby would end up with Riley, and the conventional ending left the movie on a sour note. It even would have been better if Harper and Abby still ended up together, but broke up for awhile in between. I think giving Harper friends and an ex-boyfriend was a huge mistake. There were too many scenes of Harper ignoring Abby to hang with them. Also, maybe having Kristen play Harper and Mackenzie play Abby might have livened up their dynamic a bit. Just some extra thoughts. But your analysis was spot on.