Sofia Carson defends new movie ‘Purple Hearts’ against backlash… after viewers called script ‘sexist and racist’
Sofia Carson has offered her reaction to her Netflix hit Purple Hearts after viewers called some of the script’s language “sexist and racist”.
During an interview with Variety, 29-year-old actress and director Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum both understood why her new romantic drama was drawing some criticism.
“I hope people understand that characters have to be flawed in the beginning in order for them to grow. So we very consciously created two characters who were bred to hate each other,” Elizabeth told the outlet.
Backlash: Sofia Carson, 29, is facing the backlash leveled against her latest project Purple Hearts
She continued, “They are flawed in the beginning and that was on purpose. For the red heart and blue heart to turn purple, they have to be a bit extreme.
Meanwhile, Carson interjected, “Why I fell in love with the movie is that it’s a love story, but it’s so much more than that. It’s two hearts, one red, one blue, two worlds apart, the real raised to hate each other.
“Through the power of love, they learn to lead and love one another with empathy and compassion, and transform into this beautiful shade of purple. We wanted to represent both sides as accurately as possible,” continued the Austin & Ally alum.
Synopsis: In the romantic drama, Sofia plays a singer-songwriter who marries a Marine, Nicholas Galitzine, 27, to get health insurance for her type 1 diabetes. He agrees to the plan to get a surcharge to cover his debt
“What I’ve learned as an artist is to detach from all of that and just listen to what the world is feeling and what it’s responding to with the film,” she continued. “It was so beautifully overwhelming and so many people felt seen or comforted by this film. That’s all we could wish for as filmmakers and as artists.”
In the film, Carson plays a struggling singer-songwriter named Cassie who marries a Marine just before she ships out so she can get health insurance to cover her type 1 diabetes.
Her husband, played by Nicholas Galitzine, 27, agrees to the plan so he can pay off his debts with the supplement offered to married soldiers.
Comments: Critics are angered by sexist and racist comments made by other characters in the film, which has been watched on Netflix for more than 100 million hours
It’s fair to say that Cassie is more liberal than the straight forward Luke, who grew up in a military family.
The backlash is a result of some sexist and racist comments from minor characters in the script. A Marine proposes a toast saying, “This is for life, love, and chasing some goddamn Arabs, baby!”
While Cassie criticizes the racism and storms off, Luke sits silently by.
Despite some episodes of dialogue described as “misogynist” and “bigoted,” the film has been watched on the streaming service for more than 100 million hours.
In addition to starring in the film, the Come Back Home singer served as an executive producer on the project.
Love: The Come Back Home singer explained, “Through the power of love, they learn to lead with empathy and compassion and to love one another, and transform into this beautiful shade of purple” (seen last month)