Armando Gimenez “22
As everyone approaches this time of year, we see a familiar pattern arise on cable tv. Hallmark movies are iconic in today’s world for their stories filled to the brim with holiday cheer and funk. When it comes to Hallmark movies, you either love them or you hate them. Although many love these movies, Hallmark movies act as a parasite to today’s culture.
Hallmark movies feed off of a large culture infestation that was birthed by Disney’s cultural domination. Disney would come to rule over the American culture and their perception of romance and love. With the continuous rise in popularity of Disney, people’s perception of romance becomes warped. Everyone has to have their own prince charming or fantastical tale of love. The Romanticization of reality would exceed into a gross retelling of reality and realistic experiences of romance. This would all lead to the objectification of the word Love. Love and it’s gross exaggeration of it would become abundant throughout society.
Hallmark feeds off of this phenomenon with dramatic and overly whimsical portrayals of love and romance. The leech consistently produces mediocre formulaic movies that show the ‘true’ values of love during the holiday season. These repetitive B movies would become the purest form of escapism there could be. It’s so blatant in its attempts of escapism that it seems as though there is no aspect of the movie’s endings that could be seen as negative. This escapism is put under question by many: should we let the fallacy continue or is it excessive?
This constant thirst leads people to center their lives around entertainment and distractions. Although it may seem like an extreme cause, it is common for people to center themselves around the entertainment they consume. This takes place throughout all forms of entertainment, but Hallmark is one of the most peculiar circumstances. Hallmark is more interesting because it can directly change one’s view of the world and others around them. Hallmark movies constantly draw towards the viewer’s fantasies of love and romance. One could compare this fantasy towards their own reality and become miserable to the realization that their fantasies may never become reality. This dark realization could further a viewers obsession with programs in order to distract them from a bitter truth.
This possibility of distortion is put under question, due to its vagueness in extremities. This case of obsessiveness can differ from extreme fantasy to mild distraction. This wide range adds to the ongoing debate of Hallmarks negative impact. With all of these details and points of views, the subject becomes a grey topic. Do you believe that society is strong enough to resist the temptations of fantasy, or is it too weak-minded to defend themselves?
The Salesian Spectator 