The Independent

Why we need justice for Love Actually’s ‘Office Tart’ in 2023

Source: Universal Pictures

Picture an “office tart”. Is she tall and slim with bee-stung lips? High cheekbones and come-to-bed eyes framed by a razor-sharp brunette bob? Sitting on an office chair, all Machiavellian smiles and legs akimbo? Thought so.

For 20 years, this is the image the nation has come to associate with “the other woman”, specifically if that woman is young, has a nondescript corporate job, and wears miniskirts. Yes, I’m talking about ’s Mia. You know, the smoking hot, red lingerie-wearing, inappropriately smirking woman who fervently flirts with her married boss, Harry (played by Alan Rickman), prompting him to surreptitiously buy her a gold necklace CD he buys his wife, Karen (), and you get the idea.

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