Hallmark gets a lot of holiday hate. To its credit, the media company has created a formula that works. And, well, they never bothered to create anything else. It has developed its own brand of holiday rom-com (although, the ‘com’ is not always there). The typical Hallmark plot: a rich, career-oriented white woman wearing a white or red beanie and in a bad relationship with a real estate investor and/or stock broker goes to a small town in order to inherit her family’s business and falls in love with a cleanly groomed, fashionable man that she met while dropping her suitcase. Netflix has adopted Hallmark’s formula with movies like Christmas Inheritance. Sometimes, they will drop a prince or princess into the plot for kicks and giggles.
Hallmark movies are obviously fantastical, but that is kind of the point. Most movies are unrealistic, Hallmark movies are just up front about it. A knight (which you will fall in love with) isn’t going to be magically transported in front of your moving car (as is the plot of Netflix’s The Knight Before Christmas). Yet, it is fun to pretend. Christmas is the most magical time of the year, isn’t it? What is the harm in a guilty, feel-good pleasure? Hallmark movies aren’t meant to make you think about the political problems of the media industry or the racial tensions of 1970s New York. These escapist fantasies are supposed to get you away from that, so you can enjoy your holidays. As long as you don’t turn into the Scrooge and steal money from orphans, there is no harm for leaving the woes of the world for an hour and forty minutes.
The holidays are a busy time. Going home, there are internships to apply for, houses to clean, cookies to bake and shopping to be done. Hallmark movies are perfect to put on in the background. With the simplistic, repeated plot, there is no need to pay much attention. Plus, turning off your brain for a bit is just plain cathartic, after the stress of semester finals and term papers.
Hallmark movies deserve a lot of the criticism they get. They aren’t exactly cinematic gems. However, the entertainment value does not always equal cinematic value or a Rotten Tomato’s score. Sometimes, bad movies are so bad they’re good, especially when there are no expectations of movie gold. Maybe, this winter break, you can curl up on the couch with a warm cup of cocoa and the tree lights, and you can give Hallmark movies a second chance (if you don’t already love them, of course).