Aahana Swrup
In the Prime festive film ‘Oh. What. Fun.,’ relatably dysfunctional family dynamics become the center of focus. The narrative revolves around Claire Clauster, a mother who loves Christmas, even when she has to be the one who pulls all the strings behind the curtain to make the holiday magical for her family. The same family that forgot to get her the one thing she truly wanted this holiday season. Yet, while she grins and bears the worst of their indiscretion, her patience reaches its end when her husband and her kids literally leave her behind during what was supposed to be a family visit to a jolly concert. As a result, Claire decides to throw caution to the wind and gets behind the steering wheel to chase her own happiness. In turn, her family has to face the reality of a mom-less Christmas day, which results in one disaster after another. For Taylor, the lovebug middle child, this proves to be a particularly distressing time for her new, but promising, relationship with her girlfriend, Donna. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Doug Drops the Bomb That Unravels Taylor and Donna’s Relationship
Taylor’s character is introduced into the story as somewhat of a hopeless romantic. Each year she brings in a new girlfriend around for Christmas, and each year without fail, she remains convinced that she’s found her true love this time around. Thus, even though she seems to have gotten burned in love many times, she never lets it douse her own personal flame. Still, as an outsider looking in, it’s easy to misinterpret this attribute of hers for emotional negligence. This is exactly what her brother-in-law, Doug, does when he notices Taylor hanging out with another girl behind Donna’s back. The middle Clauster child and Doug had never really gotten along, mostly due to the latter’s inability to mingle with his spouse’s siblings as an only child himself.
Taylor and Sammy’s wisecracking and teasing approach to familial relationships simply remains foreign to Doug, causing a rift between their relationships. Still, when he initially sees the young woman spending her time with another while her girlfriend is out, he initially keeps the information to himself. That is, until he dreadful Christmas Eve dinner sends the entire Clauster family spiralling out. Earlier in the day, the entire family managed to leave Claire behind as they drove to the “So You Think You Can Dance” concert. This becomes the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back and cements the matriarch’s feelings of underappreciation and abandonment. As a result, she ends up taking off on an impromptu solo road trip.
In Claire’s absence, the family has no choice but to wait for her return and attempt to celebrate Christmas without her. Nonetheless, it becomes evident quickly that without her working the magic behind the scenes, with food, decorations, and gifts, the holiday spirit could simply not stay alive. The family gets an early taste of it during their first dinner without her, wherein everyone ends up snapping at each other. As Taylor fires off a few missiles at Doug, she reveals the secret meeting she had with the mystery woman in Donna’s absence. Naturally, this revelation proves to be a little too much for the latter to handle.
Taylor’s Past and Her Lovesickness Prove to be Too Much For Donna
In the aftermath of Doug’s big reveal, Donna packs up her things with a clear intention of leaving the Clauster residence. Nonetheless, Taylor refuses to give up on their relationship without a fair fight. She tries to explain that she was only hanging out with one of her straight high school friends. Additionally, the reason their hangout had to be behind Donna’s back is that she had commissioned a very special jewelry piece from this friend: a ring. Even though the couple has only been together for three months, Taylor is sure about her feelings for the other woman. Yet, that doesn’t mean her girlfriend reciprocates this sentiment. Donna is less of an idealist, certainly with a smaller hopeless romantic streak in her.
Unlike Taylor, Donna doesn’t wish to get swept up in the honeymoon phase of a new relationship. More importantly, she’s unwilling to accept the young Clauster’s past, which involves an onslaught of idealized relationships that ultimately crashed and burned. Therefore, it seems their relationship was always doomed, and this messy Christmas celebration simply provided the catalyst for an inevitable breakup. Initially, this leads to much heartbreak for the young woman, who manages to carry a mean grudge against her brother-in-law for his part in the entire thing. Still, over time, she manages to forgive Doug. Similarly, she also manages to move on, and by the time next Christmas rolls around, Taylor brings a new girlfriend, Serena, home. Whether or not Serena would prove to be the love of the young woman’s life remains unknown. Even so, one thing remains clear: despite the number of heartbreaks she suffers, Taylor’s optimism and trust in finding true love remain steadfast.
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