Who is Watching Hallmark Christmas Movies?
Me...that's who!
I am a Hallmarkie.
That’s right…I don’t even say a closet Hallmark Christmas movie watcher as I post about watching them all the time. Out and Proud! I’ve been a fan for years. Sure I make the jokes about the formulas and love how there is an entire subculture on TikTok who makes videos about said formula…but I genuinely enjoy watching them.
Perhaps knowing what you’re in for is what gives people comfort when tuning in. They know they can sit for two hours (knowing exactly where each commercial will fall) and be transported to a holiday land where very little else matters outside of tree lightings, contests, hot chocolate, and lots of shopping. (I don’t even need to type the formula here as you have to live under a rock to not know what these romance films entail.)
As there are so many to watch each year, I do have a method to my madness to pick and choose. Of course I have my favorites which I will rewatch when they air each year, but if the chemistry between the two leads doesn’t work…I turn it off within the first 20 minutes. (Twenty minutes is when the first commercial takes place!) I’ll also admit I watch Hallmark first (both the regular channel and the Mysteries channel), but I will turn over to Lifetime if there happens to be an actor I want to see or if they have an LBGTQ film that I want to support. (For said reasons…you won’t find me watching GAC.)
Back when Twitter was actually Twitter, I loved live-tweeting when the shows would first air. There was a community who would watch and tweet along with the actors and creative teams of each film. Yes…there were times I would snark tweet…couldn’t help it, but these films were bringing strangers together and it was a fun night of TV watching. I suppose the Facebook groups have replaced that in some ways as I have taken to posting my thoughts in those groups more and more the past two years.
Something exciting has happened in recent years as Hallmark has ventured out away from “the formula” allowing the leads to kiss before the final two minute mark or as stated above, including LGBTQ and “non white people” stories, creating more ensemble type stories - they even had one on autism this year and another on blindness! Inclusion matters and it’s wonderful to see other cultures and lives displayed on the screen. (I actually love when they make a Hanukkah film as those have been some of the best.) They’ve always given us royal Christmas movies about a prince, but this year we’ve gone to Scotland, Germany, Norway, London…it’s almost like you can take a virtual vacation to another country since they take these films to those countries to get great outdoor shots (often before returning to Canada where most are filmed for interior shots).
I watched My Norwegian Holiday recently and the entire film felt completely different…in a good way! I believe even interior shots stayed in the country and you could feel the authenticity of that film. The storyline was refreshing with twists and turns. The actors felt like they were from that region and not American or Canadians putting on accents. I almost believe they hired crew from there as even the look of the film felt different (hats off to the director and director of photography) - I felt I was watching a really interesting indie film and got so sucked in that I forgot it was Hallmark.
There was another one a few weeks ago that beat out other channels in ratings and people can’t stop talking about it. A Biltmore Christmas was shot at the Biltmore estates in North Carolina (which I visited years ago and loved). This film took Hallmark to a new level in storytelling, casting, music (Tommy Fields captured old Hollywood perfectly with his score), costumes and again - filming ON location which definitely adds to these films. (Plus I’m a huge time travel buff with Somewhere in Time being a favorite film so this movie feed that part of my soul.)
I write all of this to say if you’ve been one that loves to poke fun at Hallmark movies, but have never watched one…give them a try! (You still have a few weeks left in the month to binge.) They put you in the holiday spirit, they tug at your romantic and/or family heartstrings, and they employ a lot of people in the business of filmmaking (which I love). With the split of the past people in charge who went off to GAC to start their own channel, I hope the current powers that be will continue to push the envelope on both storytelling and the way the films are made. Sure we love the older films too, but there is something exciting for those who always watch when you switch it up on us and give us something new.
Here are just a few of my favorite titles for the past few years (as well as those mentioned above): Ghost of Christmas Always, Holiday Road, The Christmas House, A World Record Christmas, The Santa Summit, A Season For Family, Holiday Hotline, A Holiday Spectacular, My Christmas Guide, The Nine Lives of Christmas, Noel Next Door.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my fellow hallmarkies out there!
Loved My Norwegian Holiday. My mother-in-law is born-in-Norway Norwegian and talks to me often of her childhood, her Bestemor, teaches me the language, her traditional cooking... She is from Stavanger, but my husband and I visited Bergen awhile back as well in an exploration of Norway, and we recognized so much of the city in the film with real pleasure. It's "travel with Hallmark" this season and I'm here for it!