Author: Green Wind
When you hesitate, do you follow reason or follow your heart?
If you want to see a relaxed, joyful, plot, does not hurt the liver and lungs, and after watching a movie that can also cause some brain movement, I recommend watching this American movie "Happiest Season" (aka "Marriage Proposal Accident") released in November 2020. This is a comedy for Christmas, the picture is fresh, the ending is warm, especially suitable for my aunt who likes the reunion plot, but if there is a prejudice against homosexuality, then please go around, there is no need to live with yourself.
The release time of this movie is very close to "Ammonite", because it does not have such a strong publicity offensive and cast, so the popularity seems to be not high, but the Douban score still reaches 8.1 points, and it seems that the audience's love is self-evident.
I think this film is a good fit for a pack of popcorn, nestled in a comfortable boss chair, and enjoyed on the weekend.
First of all, talk about the starring role, this film is blessed by the double heroine, the appearance is absolutely online, and the viewing feels pleasing to the eye. One of the main actors is "Twilight Girl" Kristens Stewart (nicknamed Little K), I believe many fans are impressed by her and never forget. Her facial features are exquisite, her eyes are sharp and sharp, her posture is refreshing, and she seems to contain a bold and fearless force in her delicate body.
In 2014, the feature film "Sils Maria" starring K Jr. won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the 40th French César Awards for this film, becoming the first actress in American history to win the César Trophy.
The other lead actor is Mackenzie Davis, a Canadian actress who began her acting career in 2011 and has shot more than a dozen films so far, and in 2018, starred in the comedy film "Iz Big Trouble Los Angeles", for which she won the Napa Valley Film Festival Most Breakthrough Performance Award.
As the best of the new generation of Hollywood actresses, Mackenzie Davis's performance in "Black Mirror 3" is quite eye-catching. As a supporting role in "The Martian" and "Blade Runner 2049", the role is not much but it can leave an impression. This led to the opportunity to co-star in "Tully" with Theron (Richards Theron), and Tully, played by her, played a considerable role in the film. Later, she won the starring role of "Terminator: Dark Fate" as the female number one, and her performance was quite eye-catching, even brilliant. Unfortunately, the film ended up being dudded, and Mackenzie Davis's efforts were in vain. This also made her have to return to literary films and reproduce her acting strength. "The Happiest Season" is this opportunity to prove yourself.
Kristens Stewart + Mackenzie Davis, two actors of equal beauty and acting skills, played a gay couple in this film.
In the film, Abby, played by Little K, is a doctoral student in art history at Carnegie Mellon University, her parents are also professors at the school, but unfortunately, her parents died unexpectedly when she was 19 years old, leaving her with deep pain, as an orphan, she did not want to face the excitement and joy of Christmas, and did not participate in the celebration of Christmas for many years, until she met Harper, who was a writer for the Pittsburgh Post, they had sweet feelings and deep love. Harper, who had always wanted to pull Abby back into the Christmas reunion atmosphere, offered to take her home for Christmas together, and Abby agreed out of love for Harper.
When they embark on the journey, Abby learns that Harper has never told her family about her sexuality, and that they need to play ordinary friends for the next five days, which makes her feel uncomfortable, but she has to respect Harper's wishes and expect her to confess to her parents after the holiday and fulfill her promise.
Harper's family is complete and sounds happy. His father is a city councilor and is working to run for mayor. As soon as they entered the house, they were taken directly into their father's campaign career, and Harper and her two sisters were a plus for the good image of their father who participated in the election. In particular, the eldest sisters, Slona and Harper, are the proud daughters of their parents, and this dependence also makes them unconsciously bear a lot of pressure.
With Abby's five-day experience and perspective, the director slowly let us see the relationship between people in this family, and put Abby and Harper's relationship to a test.
This small-budget film, which superficially looks like a story of how to come out, is actually exploring what kind of face an adult should live, whether to insist on himself, or as Harper said in the film, "I'm not hiding you, I'm hiding myself." "If you have been striving to be the perfect child in the eyes of your parents, in order to win the love of your parents, you are bound to feel depressed, show your true self, and not be afraid of the expectant eyes of your parents and outsiders, and you need a lot of courage."
In Harper's family, the love of parents is conditional, and only children who are obedient, well-behaved, excellent in learning, and stand out from the crowd will receive parental attention and more love. Parents unconsciously expose such ideas and performances, resulting in three daughters living a restrained life in front of them, and they are unconsciously desperately trying to please their parents and act according to their parents' wishes. The sister and Harper have excellent academic performance and a career that has emerged, making her parents proud and happy, while the younger sister Jane is abrupt and somewhat neurotic, and her parents are very indifferent to her, only treating her as a family laborer, solving the problem of router failure, printer jamming, making Christmas desserts and other matters.
We see that if the love given by parents is unbalanced, and various conditions are attached, and there are obvious differences in attitudes towards their children, then it will inevitably lead to the formation of a competitive relationship between children. This is a problem that families with many children are prone to and need to be warned of. In the film, Harper and his sister are like this, in order to compete for favors, they are tit-for-tat everywhere, trying to overpower each other in order to get more favors from their parents.
Because Harper has been living in the expectations of her parents, she can't show her true self. Regarding her sexuality, even though she loves Abby very much, she tries to hide herself from her parents and continues to play the good boy in the world.
For the sake of this good child image, she did not hesitate to hurt her first love classmate, and now she is still hurting Abby. In the final analysis, she does not want her parents to be disappointed, does not want to lose their love, and the important point is that she does not identify with herself enough and does not have full confidence in the future.
Prejudice is also deep in Harper's own heart. The label of homosexuality is also something she does not want to face. She once had a boyfriend, and no matter what, she tried to conform herself to the lives of the masses according to the world's vision, and maybe it was safe to go the usual way. After all, even though many countries have passed laws on same-sex marriage, people's cognitive biases still exist, and in reality, no matter where they are, they will still be suspected and denigrated differently from heterosexuals.
Fortunately, the times are different, people's cognition is gradually changing, in civilized and open countries and regions, more and more respect for personal feelings and choices, there is more tolerance for LGBT people. At least if you are financially independent, you can also ignore those prejudices and denigrations and live your own little life. I remember reading an article about Yang Liping's student Shui Yue marrying a same-sex lover. It can be said that this is the progress of Chinese society and the victory of civilization.
Abby is undoubtedly lucky, her parents have great respect for her and encourage her to live out her true self, so although Abby is an orphan, she does not lack love or courage.
Her boyfriend, on the other hand, was not as lucky as she was, he said, more than a decade since he boldly came out to his parents and was kicked out of the house. You can imagine his helplessness and heartache, and he can only be alone when the family gathers at Christmas.
Where does one's happiness come from? I think the first thing is a sense of identity, the recognition and support of parents, the understanding of relatives and friends, the appreciation of lovers, the self-confirmation and sense of value... The attitude of these important people in life will give people more courage, will tell them what posture to deal with the accusations and rejections in life, so the sense of identity is the greatest comfort and strength that the world gives to a person.
Parents are, of course, the main source of this power. Every child cares most about the opinions of their parents and relatives, and getting their approval and blessings will also have the confidence to face the challenges of the world. If parents are narrow-minded, full of desire to control and transform their children, and demand their children according to the established secular model, it is difficult to cultivate happy children who can adhere to their own personality, let alone how high the happiness index is.
Therefore, as a parent, in addition to loving children unconditionally, we must also strive to love each child indiscriminately, try our best to help them know themselves, do not screw, do not shrink back, and live out their true selves, which is of course an essential skill for excellent parents.
Although these seemingly heavy topics are discussed, the overall tone of the film is very pleasant and relaxed, especially with a comedic mother, which adds to the joyful and festive atmosphere. Stewart's handsome style and performance are pleasing to the eye, and the interaction between the sisters in the film is also very witty and funny, and the deep love and sincere friendship are also gratifying. Spending a hundred minutes in a relaxed and joyful mood is worth it.
(Image from the Internet, copyright belongs to the original author)