I got roped into watching this holiday romantic comedy called Love Actually. Apparently it’s popular? I thought it was awful. All the romances were underdeveloped, superficial, or unbelievable and the movie spent an inordinate amount of time putting down women who aren’t thin as stick figures. There was this character named Natalie who looked entirely normal and her boyfriend dumped her for having “thighs like tree trunks.” One of her coworkers called her chubby and said she had a huge ass (she absolutely did not). Her own family called her “plumpy” in front of the Prime Minister.
There’s a subplot where some obnoxious incel decides British women are stuck up and goes to Wisconsin (yes, Wisconsin of all fucking places) to get laid. He gets off the plane, goes to a random bar outside Milwaukee and implausibly meets three attractive women who are immediately attracted to him just because he’s British and invite him to sleep with them. I thought for sure the movie was going to have the women rob him or something, but no, it played the absurdity entirely straight.
I’m at a loss for why some consider Love Actually a Christmas classic. It’s not heartwarming or charming or funny.