We wish this amazing plot line didn’t get cut from ‘Love Actually’

To be real with you, I could watch Love Actually at any point during the year. I will watch it in July. I will watch it in January. It is almost always the cure for whatever ails me. Yes, I know it’s sentimental mush, and yes, I know that it features purely heterosexual couples and not a whole lot of PoC, but I was 17 years old the first time I saw that movie, and something in my brain clicked during that airport monologue, and now I can feel the tension leaving my body as soon as the opening credits begin. It’s a very deep and personal relationship I have with this holiday rom-com.

So, when I heard the announcement that on the Love Actually DVD Extras section, screenwriter Richard Curtis discussed a lesbian couple that had been cut from the film, I was, understandably, intrigued. “An older lesbian couple?!” I shriek-whispered to myself. “Ideal!” And then I watched the couple’s deleted scenes. And then, to quote the ever-eloquent Tina Belcher, my heart pooped its pants.

We are first introduced to the couple via the Emma Thompson plot line: her son, who, in the finished product, receives very little screen time, is called into the headmistress’ office for an “inflammatory” essay. The headmistress seems uptight and grumpy, per every portrayal of every headmistress ever. But a-ha! We knew she couldn’t be so grumpy 24/7! There’s a catch!

…and the catch is that her partner is terminally ill with cancer. Merry effing Christmas.

See for yourself:

But despite that fact that I just stared in pained silence at my computer screen for the next 10 minutes after watching this, I really, truly think it should have been included in the film. We see relationships begin, we see relationships flourish, and we see a few of them stumble and fail, but we don’t see the other side of spending your life with someone. What happens to every long-term love story, eventually. And while it’s a heartbreaking concept to wrap your head around, I think it forces you to savor moments spent with those humans who you really, long-term dig.

Also, it would have been great to have some diversity in the film (as I previously discussed). While this same-sex couple wouldn’t have solved Love Actually‘s very heteronormative and racially inclusive cast problem, it would certainly helped.

(Image via Universal Pictures)