Jennifer and I are attending a Christmas gathering tomorrow evening. Some lovely people have invited us for a lovely evening. It’s a seasonal event with a particular focus. We are gathering to be together, to celebrate the season, perhaps even to exchange gifts, but mostly we are gathering to watch a Hallmark Christmas movie. Any advice on how to attend such events and watch such movies is appreciated.
I am a novice.
We attended this event two years ago and we had a great time. I don’t remember the name of the movie that we watched, and, truth be told, we did not watch with the utmost attention. I recall that the movie had something to do with a successful career woman heading from the big city back to her small town to help out with something at Christmastime. Maybe from this description you can let me know the title of the movie. Maybe some more notes from memory might help.
The small town was Norman Rockwell-esque. There was some kind of Christmas festival that the town had celebrated every year that was in danger of not happening. It snowed at the perfect time.
As I look towards tomorrow’s gathering I recall the one from two years ago. Jen and I were first timers, and we were afforded much charity for our ignorance of most things Hallmark. Tomorrow we are not assuming the same grace. I do recall that, for the most part, the people present did not take the movie seriously. However, it was not straight mockery, either. I think that at least a few people present had watched quite a few Hallmark Christmas movies. I tried to measure my sarcasm and eye-rolling, but it’s not always easy to discern if you have gone too far or made fun of the wrong thing. I must not have been entirely offensive because we have been invited back.
All of this, in this reflection, to introduce a word that absolutely soaks through every moment of Hallmark movies, as much as I am familiar. Sentiment. If there is one thing that almost all of us want at Christmas, it is sentiment. We want to feel something. We want to feel Christmassy. We want to feel the sentimental side of emotions like love and hope. We want to feel holiday cheer (whatever cheer is). Without vomiting, we say things like, “Christmas is love”. Enter Hallmark.
I’ve done a little research in preparation for tomorrow night’s gathering. I have found out that there have been 147 Hallmark or Hallmark-like Christmas movies produced for 2021. The genre now reaches to Netflix and other producers. Some of the titles that I found;
“You, and Me and the Christmas Trees”
“Boyfriends of Christmas Past”
“Gingerbread Miracle”
“Mistletoe and Molly”
“Baking Spirits Bright” (seem to be 2 different movies with this same title)
“A Very Merry Bridesmaid”
“A Furry Little Christmas”
“Time for Them to Come Home for Christmas” (this title seemed lazy to me)
In my research I also came across an article from a few years ago about why these kinds of movies are so popular. It was a good article. Social psychologists and behavioural scientists pointed out that the predictability and patterns of the movies act as a counter to the chaos we can often feel in a busy time of year. The suspended disbelief with which such films are watched acts as a counter to the stress present in most of our lives; that kind of thing. The article even included a section about how to get the most out of binge watching Hallmark movies.
So, that’s not bad. Some of us spend hours and hours watching sports at this time of year. It is hard to argue that there is more value in that.
Sentiment is okay. It can even be helpful. However, we should accept that much about sentiment is a longing for a reality that does not exist. For just a couple of hours we want to feel Christmassy. When sentiment becomes a value in itself, when it supplants actual life and hope, that’s when it becomes a problem.
Sentiment is present in most social, religious and cultural entities. The longing for a better time (which mostly did not exist) can help us in some ways, but living as if it were real life would be like living as if the Hallmark Christmas world is something to attain. Sentiment in the evangelical church existed and exists for a time when the larger culture accepted, supported and promoted the beliefs and values of the evangelical church. Living out faith in such an imagined world might be easier, but it is as artificial as a Hallmark Christmas town. Faith that demands such idealized reality is to real faith what Hallmark love is to real love.
I recently watched some of Cornel West’s Masterclass on Philosophy and Humanity. West has a faith that is strong and lively and hopeful, but not sentimental. He actually quotes Irish playwright Oscar Wilde in drawing a distinction between unconditional love and sentiment.
“The sentimental person,” Wilde said, “wants the luxury of an emotion without the cost.”
When I was growing up, the local mall had a Hallmark store. It was one of the anchor tenants in the mall, and it was where pretty much everyone went to buy cards, little keepsake gifts, and other things that expressed sentiments. Life was so much better when our mall had that store. Can someone please write a movie about a successful career woman from the big city finding love in the process of re-opening an abandoned Hallmark store during the Christmas season?
In my Hallmark movie research I learned about the history of Hallmark and how the movies and the network have largely come to replace those stores. It does feel as if everything from that Hallmark store of my childhood has been translated into movie form and packaged over and over again.
Sentiment sells. I hope that you get some good sentimental feelings this Christmas.
I also hope for things much better and more meaningful than that for you.
I’ll let you know how the Hallmark movie gathering goes.
This afternoon I am actually watching a Hallmark movie.
It is really only background as I catch up on emails.
I don’t know if the movie is actually “about” anything.
The script is pretty lame.
One benefit of Hallmark movies is that they create lots of work.
There is a large cast in this movie and there are plenty of “extras”.
They, at least, went home with a pay cheque..
If I were really serious I would watch the movie as a critic.
The quality of the movie relies mostly on the goal of the Director and Production Company.
Most of this cast are too cartoonish, they laugh too loud.
They are too happy. They smile too much.
Even the clothes/ “costumes” are too colorful.
I can imagine the cameras behind them and the Director saying “Cut.”
The movie “sets” are garish, way too many Christmasy “decorations”.
There are too many people walking around “on cue”.
There is nothing about this movie that is “real”.
However, the audience might be looking for escape rather than quality.
This movie is called The Christmas Contract. I am not sure what the contract is.
Yes. Let us know how your Hallmark movie gathering goes.
I don’t expect to watch another one but it would be fun to watch as a group of friends.
This movie does not make me feel sentimental.