Purple Hearts director defends Netflix film over backlash

One of the most popular Netflix films to launch over the last month, Purple Hearts, was a divisive subject for many across social media.

The film follows a classic tale where two enemies enter into a marriage of convenience, only for a tragedy to propel them into a situation where they realise they share real feelings for one another.

Some flocked to Twitter to share how they thought it was “a beautifully raw and intimate portrayal of true love and affection”.

And other people started trending hashtags, such as #Sicholas, a pairing of the two protagonists’ names.

However, some were less than impressed with the film’s launch and criticised it for being racist, sexist and transphobic.

One user said: “B***h if a guy I’m dating tells me to ‘sit down’ while I’m educating his pea-brained (racist, transphobic and proud) colleague, imma get out of there.”

My favorite scene from #PurpleHearts. It was a beautifully raw and intimate portrayal of true love and affection. May we all find a love so deep it hurts to leave. pic.twitter.com/hrpTTVrBqj

— Daniella Da Silva (@Daniyella2022) August 13, 2022

And someone else wrote: "Purple Hearts on Netflix is definitely some kinda racist Military Propaganda because why in the first 5 mins they have my girl Sofia Carson singing the yt man's anthem SWEET CAROLINE. I f****n hate that song. Idk why but it's racist. I can't explain it lmao."

Naturally, the director of the film wanted to address accusations of the film promoting discriminatory themes.

Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum, who was director of the film, responded to the accusations in an interview with Variety, saying: “I hope that people understand that in order for characters to grow, they need to be flawed in the beginning.

"So we very much intentionally created two characters that had been bred to hate each other.”

She then went on to explain that the purple heart was a combination of two opposing emotions.

She said: “In order for the red heart and the blue heart to kind of turn purple, you have to have them be kind of extreme.

"Some of the people that they’re surrounded with are even more flawed than they are.”

Rosenbaum made it clear the film’s intention was never to offend viewers, but rather show a journey of evolution.

She continued: "They both have been neglected by the system; he’s hurt in a war that doesn’t seem to be ending and she’s slipping through the cracks of the healthcare system.

"I do hope that anyone who’s in any way insulted by it understands that our intentions are very pure, and it’s because we feel like people need to grow and need to start to become more moderate.”

One Twitter user responded to the director's defence with bewilderment, saying: "Imagine being a filmmaker and having to actually explain that characters need to be flawed in order to grow. What a braindead timeline we're living in."

Meanwhile, another user was less impressed with the director's reply: “That Purple Hearts director saying characters need to be flawed to grow and become moderate... girl shut up there's a difference between being flawed and being a literal sexist and racist piece of s***t.”