CNN
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Every year, as the weather gets colder and Christmas gets closer, Love Actually is quickly becoming a holiday favorite on people’s TV screens.
But nearly 20 years since the 2003 romantic comedy was released, the film has faced scrutiny for its storyline and lack of diversity.
“There are some things you can change, but thankfully society is changing. So at some point my film is bound to feel, you know, dated,” said the film’s writer-director Richard Curtis said earlier this week.
He was interviewed by Diane Sawyer in the ABC News documentary “The Laughter and Secrets of True Love: 20 Years Later.”
Love Actually has an intertwined storyline that tells the story of several romantic relationships. However, most of the protagonists are white and all relationships depicted are heterosexual.
Asked about any moments that might have made him “cringe”, Curtis said: “The lack of diversity made me uncomfortable and a little silly.” He added: “I think all three episodes had bosses and People who work for them.”
The film stars many of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, including Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Keira Knightley, Bill Nighy, Colin Firth Elsewhere, Liam Neeson, Martin Freeman, Laura Linney, Martin McCutcheon, Rowan Atkinson and Thomas Brodie-Sangster all appear at some point.
Nearly 20 years later, Love Actually remains popular and is a popular show during the holiday season.
“It’s amazing how it enters language,” Nye said in the ABC News documentary.
“I’ve had people come up to me and say ‘It helped me get through chemo,’ or ‘It helped me get through my divorce,’ or ‘I watch it every time I’m alone.’ People did that, people held ‘Love Actually’ party.
When asked if she understood why Love Actually remains popular, Thompson responded: “I do.”
“Because I think we forget, over and over again, that love is the most important thing.”
Curtis also created several other popular romantic comedies, including Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’s Diary.
Four Weddings and a Funeral was released in 1994 and featured a special depiction of the relationship between Matthew, played by John Hannah, and Gareth, played by Simon Callow. same-sex relationships.
Fourteen years later, Callow wrote in The Guardian: “It is almost unbelievable, but in the months after the film came out I received many letters from apparently intelligent and articulate members of the public who Said they never realized, until seeing this movie, that gay people have emotions just like normal people.
