Sofia Carson has responded to the backlash about her new Netflix film Purple Hearts

Sofia Carson has defended her new Netflix film, Purple Hearts, following the negative backlash it has received. Purple Hearts premiered on Netflix in July 2022 and has divided viewers ever since. The romance film follows Cassie Salazar, played by Sofia Carson, who is a singer songwriter struggling to pay for her diabetes medicine and Luke Morrow, played by Nicholas Galitzine, a marine who owes money to his dodgy drug dealer. Stuck on what to do about their money issues, the two get married in order to reap the benefits of military insurance.

People have accused the film of being racist and having military propaganda. One scene in particular that has received the most criticism is when one of Luke’s marine friends toasts to “hunting down Arabs” and when Cassie calls him out on it, Luke dismisses her.

Sofia Carson has since defended the movie. Speaking to Variety, she said: “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, who are really raised to hate each other. Through the power of love, they learn to lead with empathy and compassion and love each other than turn into this beautiful shade of purple.

“We wanted to represent both sides as accurately as possible. What I think I’ve learned to do as an artist – is separate myself from all of that and just listen to what the world is feeling and reacting to with the film. That has been so beautifully overwhelming and so many people have felt seen or are comforted by this movie.”

via Netflix

The director of the film, Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum has also defended the film. She said: “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. They are flawed at the beginning and that was intentional. 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.”

Netflix hasn’t commented on the claims.

Purples Hearts is now available on Netflix. For all the latest Netflix news, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.

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