‘Tis the season, again, for Netflix’s original holiday movies! Personally, I’m a fan of most holiday movies because who doesn’t want to watch two people find love just in time for a kiss under the mistletoe? Not to mention the unbeatable combination of Christmas cookies and hot chocolate. I’ll take one of everything please – give me all the warm and fuzzies!
One of the first releases of the Netflix holiday movies this year is Love Hard. The movie stars Nina Dobrev as Natalie Bauer, a writer from L.A., who finally meets her perfect match, Josh Lin (played by Jimmy Yang) on a dating app. After many messages and phone calls, Natalie makes the impulsive decision to fly 3,000 miles and surprise Josh for Christmas. However, things quickly fall apart when she realizes she’s been catfished, and the pictures that Josh used on his profile were actually pictures of Tag, a friend from high school, not Josh. Now stuck in New York for Christmas, Natalie and Josh make a deal: if she pretends to be his girlfriend for Christmas then he will help Tag fall in love with her. Packed with many lies, jokes, and fan-favorite actors (hello – Harry Shum Jr.), this movie is perfect for fans of the fake-dating trope.
When I first saw this movie, I was drawn to two things: Christmas and fake-dating. However, once I started watching, I realized this is more than just another Christmas movie about two people falling in love. Love Hard tackles catfishing, choosing your own path in life, and changing yourself for someone you like.
Being on dating apps myself (courtesy of the pandemic), I love the message in this movie about being yourself. It’s so easy to touch up pictures with filters and photoshop now that it’s hard to trust that someone is who they say they are. And I get it – making dating app profiles can be hard. With only a few pictures and details about yourself in a bio, how are you supposed to show someone that you are enough for them to swipe right? And what happens if someone doesn’t give you a chance because you aren’t their “type” in your pictures?
Now, it may be an uncommon opinion, but I don’t really believe in “types.” I think it’s a more polite way of saying that you’re shallow and are only attracted to someone who fits a certain mold. On top of that, not everyone who fits a physical mold of a “type” has the personality associated with that “type.” This approach to dating simply limits you from experiencing all types of people and enjoying the beauty they offer to the world.
Rejection is a common fear for a lot of people in dating. It’s hard to put your true self out there knowing there’s a chance of getting hurt. But this movie reminds us that no matter how many bruises your ego might take, we need to keep putting ourselves out there. If you’re loud, be loud. If you’re quiet, be quiet. If you’re nerdy, be nerdy. If you’re sporty, be sporty. If you’re all of these, be all of these. But never be something you’re not, because whoever you fall in love with deserves to fall in love with the real you too. And believe me, the right person will.