‘Purple Hearts’ Director Defends the Movie’s Politics: ‘They Learn to Become More Moderate’

The film Purple Hearts premiered on Netflix on July 29. Since the movie premiered, it has become beloved by viewers and overwhelmingly panned by critics. One of the most common criticisms of Purple Hearts is the movie’s political commentary, ranging from appearing as military propaganda to promoting misogyny and racism.

Purple Hearts was directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum. It stars Sofia Carson as Cassie Salazar and Nicholas Galitzine as Luke Morrow. In an interview with Variety, Rosenbaum defended the movie’s politics and the messages it sends.

[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Purple Hearts.]

The ‘Purple Hearts’ director wanted to show ‘extreme’ characters

In Purple Hearts, Cassie is a liberal singer-songwriter who marries Luke, a conservative Marine, for his health insurance benefits.

At the start of the movie, Cassie hates Luke for his political views and for tolerating the misogynistic and racist comments his friends make. By the end of the film, the characters’ political differences are no longer mentioned.

In an interview with Variety, Rosenbaum acknowledged why some might feel unsettled watching the movie, but said it was important to show the “extreme” of each political side.

“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,” Rosenbaum said.

She continued, “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.”

The director thinks Cassie and Luke each ‘become more moderate’

While Cassie and Luke’s relationship starts as a marriage of convenience, the two slowly begin to fall for one another.

Speaking with Variety, Rosenbaum shared that she thinks the two characters “learn to become more moderate” because of their relationship.

“They both have been neglected by the system; he’s hurt in a war that doesn’t seem to be ending and she’s slipping through the cracks of the healthcare system. So they’re both neglected by the system, and then they live under one roof, and in these extreme circumstances, they learn to become more moderate and to listen to each other and to love,” Rosenbaum told Variety.

What the ‘Purple Hearts’ director wants viewers to think about politics

For Rosenbaum, what drew her to working on Purple Hearts in the first place was the movie’s politics. In the interview with Variety, the director pushed against viewers who were “any way insulted” by the movie.

While politics in the U.S. have become increasingly divided, Rosenbaum told Variety she hopes Purple Hearts pushes people to “become more moderate” like Cassie and Luke.

“That was the biggest, most important part of the theme,” Rosenbaum told Variety. “I do hope that anyone who’s in any way insulted by it understands that our intentions are very pure, and it’s because we feel like people need to grow and need to start to become more moderate.”