The Happiest Season Director and Cowriter Responds to All That Harper Backlash

This post contains spoilers about Hulu's new rom-com Happiest Season.

When Happiest Season, the refreshing queer Christmas rom-com we've been waiting to see forever, dropped on Hulu in November, the internet was instantly divided over its “happy” ending.

According to scores of fans on Twitter, many viewers would have much rather seen Abby (Kristen Stewart) find love with Riley, who was played by the wonderfully charming Aubrey Plaza. However, even beyond the ship wars, many felt Harper's treatment of Abby while she attempted to conceal her sexuality from her conservative parents was too traumatizing to forgive.

“I appreciate that people have taken the time to watch the movie and continue to process it—that’s really great," cowriter and director Clea DuVall recently told Elle in response to the controversy. “I think the debate is less about the film and more about your philosophy on forgiveness and growth.”

It was incredibly important to DuVall that Harper get the chance to work through her trauma. “I think as long as you’re processing and dealing with things in an open, honest way and making the conscious choice to work through them, then the road to a happy, healthy relationship is bumpy, and you work through stuff, and that’s what makes it stronger,” she continued. “You don’t go through a hard couple of days after a long period of time, meet a stranger, and cut and run. Even if that person is Aubrey Plaza.”

DuVall does understand why people had such a strong reaction, though. “I think because it is so relatable, and it is very real,” she said. “We don’t shy away from the reality of that experience. We’re watching a person go through the most difficult four days of their life. We’re watching someone hit bottom, and that is messy, that is uncomfortable.”

She continued, “But I think what we really wanted for the film and for Harper was, she didn’t sink further down [when] she hit bottom. She used that as an opportunity to propel herself back up and make a different choice.”

Before the film even dropped, DuVall discussed Stewart and Plaza's obvious onscreen chemistry and why she didn't have Abby pursue a relationship with Riley with Glamour.

“Very early on in the writing of the script, before anyone was involved, there was,” she said in November. “But we really wanted to make a traditional romantic comedy and give it a happy ending, you know?”

DuVall continued, “There are so many lesbian movies that end in tragedy, or these people fall madly in love and then they never see each other again. We don’t get a lot of happy endings, and I wanted them to make it.”

Originally Appeared on Glamour