Everyone celebrates the holidays in different ways. There is always the tradition of meeting with friends and family, eating giant, calorie-stuffed meals and exchanging gifts, but what are the little things that make the holidays the way they are? If you’re from Charlotte, the lighting of virtually every shopping center is a pretty good indication that the winter celebrations are close. If you are nearly anywhere in America, the constant jingle of the usual songs are another great way to increase the holiday spirit. A pivotal way for me to get cheery for the upcoming festivities (aside from being done with finals) is watching a good ol’ Hallmark movie.
They are terrible. The movies must be produced with only a couple thousand dollars because most of the scenes are just set on a public street or in a single house. I will admit that Hallmark was feeling a little hip one time and made the major set of a movie a window of a popular department store. Along with the awful sets, the actors remind me of those who performed in the plays at my high school, so, in other words, they are not the best. Over-acting and being super dramatic must come in the job description of each role because it seems to be a common trait in Hallmark actors. Even the plots are outdated and overdone. Why can’t I stop watching them?
It must have started freshman year when my friends and I valued TV and ice cream much more than parties. When the chill rolled around and the other movies had been exhausted, we flipped to the Hallmark channel to find an endless array of festive movies to suffice the entire month of December. Even when the movies were terrible, we kept watching them because the mediocrely dreamy guys were entertaining enough, and, honestly, mediocrity is really all I want in life.
Aside from all of their bad qualities, these movies have one great quality: They really capture the holiday spirit. Hallmark movies have become a part of my holiday routine, and the best part is that they are reliable. They will always be playing on the Hallmark channel when I need to flip to it, and they will be just as terrible as they were the year before. So, thank you, Hallmark. You make up (a small percent of) my holiday season.
