Pro & Con -- All Those Hallmark Holiday Movies
Pro Hallmark Holiday Movies: By: Rachel Spencer '19
How many of the same kind of holiday movie can I watch? That’s right, all of them. My favorite part of December isn’t the start of the snow fall or the Christmas lights or the holidays themselves, it’s the movies. Every year they add to the list of hallmark style movies. Each one with the same storyline and ending. But I continue to watch every new one that comes out and the movies from years before.
Big city girl meets a small-town boy that shows her the true meaning of Christmas is being around the people you love. Royal prince meets ordinary girl, learns that he doesn’t need riches and titles to be happy, just love. It’s the same story every time. Every time I cry, I laugh, I get angry (even though I know it works out in the end), and I fall in love. I am a huge sap when it comes to Holiday Hallmark movies and Netflix is not lacking.
Each movie has its own awful acting with every scene and situation a cliché. They’re the perfect movies to sit down with a hot chocolate and watch in front of the fire. Nothing too intense that you have to pay close attention to. Just a movie to watch and laugh with or at.
The best part is that you know the ending every time; the girl gets the guy, the guy gets the girl, the guy gets the guy, the girl gets the girl. Each movie had its own little twist to it too. Recently, I saw one that the main male love interest traveled forward in time from the middle ages to fall in love with a small town girl. Another I watched was a new take on the common Cinderella story; the main character’s father had passed away leaving her with a terrible step mother and two horrid step sisters, but she falls in love with a billionaire’s son who knew her father and helps her get away from the step family.
Whether you are trying to escape studying for finals or just avoiding life in general, a holiday Hallmark is the way to go. You can enjoy and relax while being completely distracted from all your responsibilities by a super enthralling yet simple movie.
Hallmark — Con Perspective: By: Rachael Kuper '20
I’m gunna go ahead and admit something here that transgresses tradition: in my house, only one person likes Hallmark movies—my very manly, 6’4” father. At all times of the year you’re liable to walk into the living room and hear the distinctive melodramatic tones that constitute background music in the kitschy made-for-tv films. And around the holidays, their presence is a near constant. I hate it.
Hallmark movies degrade the beautiful, delicate artistry of competent tv and film. They’re overbearing, unoriginal, and dry. Hallmark movies miss the nuance of great and transcendent film, but don’t seem aware. They miss the magic of a neatly packed and digestible sitcom, but can’t tell they do. Hallmark movies scar the potential of uplifting plots and touching themes of Christmas time and romance with their embarrassing and tasteless delivery. Hallmark movies just suck.
Hallmark movies leave me depressed, feeling stuck in a cookie cutter, unengaging world. When Hallmark movies simplify the real world and present it in such a warped way, it’s hard to appreciate. There’s no intricacy or refinement in these films. They’re so in-your-face they’re off-putting, so falsely cheery they’re dark. Some may be grabbing their cocoa and PJs this month to catch marathons of Hallmark movies, but you can count me out for this holiday tradition. I’ll stick to Home Alone and Elf.