It was only a matter of time before I wrote a post about Hallmark movies. I just realized the genius of these last holiday season when the weather was luke warm and I was a single lady. I’d go to my parents’ house for dinner and we’d turn on the latest Hallmark Christmas classic and drink hot tea.
There were just so may choose to from and a new one came out EVERY WEEK! Hallmark played them on repeat throughout the day, so as soon as we were done with one, we would often go straight into another.
If you've watched a Hallmark Christmas movie, you know there storylines have as much depth as a Christmas card, and I'm pretty sure they recycle the holiday décor as often as they recycle the actors who play the leads. They are light and fluffy and delicious, like a dollop of whipped cream on hot cocoa.
My dad gets into these movies, too. At the end of one, he's often the first to ask if we want to see another. He cheers when the romantic leads kiss. We saw so many Hallmark movies that by the time my parents and I saw “La La Land” last year, we lived in a gingerbread and mistletoe world where Santa is real and all things end well.
We were not prepared for the ending of “La La Land.” We were not prepared for the romantic leads to not choose each other. We were shocked that it didn’t end with a kiss and we left that movie feeling cheated out of our Hallmark ending.
Some people love “La La Land” because that’s real life and things don’t work out. That is real life, but there’s something different about the movies. We get to write them. We get to decide how they end. I enjoy movies not because they reflect the disappointing parts of life back to me, but because I get to escape to new places and learn something different about life, people or about myself.
In the process, we feel a little less alone. We know that our struggles are shared by those around us, and we’re going to get through it.
Everyone watches movies for different reasons. For me, I don’t need more darkness than the world offers in real life. I look to movies for hope and inspiration. The power of storytelling is that it can give us a picture of what could be, of the life we can create if we put our mind and heart behind it.
And, I need that reminder. In the daily grind, it’s easy to forget that Hallmark movie endings are possible. It may not happen as fast as we’d like it to, and it sure won’t be as easy as the movies make it look. But, there is such a thing as happy endings.
Once a year, at Christmas, we're reminded of that... thanks to Hallmark.