Let’s be honest: It’s not often that filmmakers add LGBTQ representation when it adapts a book into a film. But that’s exactly what happened with Netflix’s new holiday-themed teen romance. And the authors had a strong reaction to the added storyline.
Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances is a 2008 anthology of young adult stories from authors Lauren Myracle, Maureen Johnson, and pre-Fault in Our Stars John Green. And while it took over a decade for the book to be adapted into a film, the authors are thrilled with the finished product.
Netflix’s Let it Snow keeps the book’s Love Actually-esque approach to telling interconnected stories. But the screenwriters added a new story, featuring two girls who struggle to admit their feelings for one another. Though this marks a significant departure from the book, Lauren Myracle understood the value of the new storyline. Here's what she told BuzzFeed News:
Having a heteronormative story all around would be abnormal. It would be weird. The version in the movie is much more satisfying.
Liv Hewson was also impressed with the changes from page to screen. She pointed out that the approach the filmmakers took to telling a lesbian storyline felt true to life. In an interview on the red carpet with MEAWW, she said:
Coming out in high school is really hard, and some people aren’t able to come out in high school in the same way that others are.
Some spoilers ahead: In the Netflix movie, Dorrie (Liv Hewson) approaches Kerry (Anna Akana) at the diner she works at, but is rejected at first. Later in the film, Kerry reveals to Dorrie that she hasn’t come out yet. Their story ends on a somewhat ambiguous note, as Kerry admits her feelings for Dorrie, despite her ongoing fear of being fully open about her sexuality. John Green admired the complexity that Let It Snow’s writers brought to their story:
What made it difficult for them to be together is that the world in which we live in is not a world of equality that it needs to be...I hope that is changing for a lot of young people, that they do feel supported. I hope more young people feel supported coming out and being who they are, because certainly that was different when I went to high school.
Over the past several years, LGBTQ representation has slowly begun to increase in TV and film. And John Green thinks these more inclusive stories should be commended:
I think it's important to celebrate those moments. They don't happen all the time in pop culture, they should happen all the time, but I think it's important to celebrate them.
Let It Snow premiered on Netflix on November 8.
