Ep. 152: Hallmark Christmas Movies and the Cozy, Conservative Nostalgia Machine
Added 2021-12-15 16:57:05 +0000 UTCA blast from the past teaches a town to embrace tradition and believe in miracles we simply can’t explain. A cynical urban professional finds kindness and purpose while traveling through the heartland. Two old flames living in the fast lane discover, amid the magic of Christmas, that they were meant for each other all along.
These loglines describe the plots of countless movies made for and broadcast by Hallmark, the famed greeting card company-turned-media conglomerate that has become synonymous with made-for-TV Christmas movies. The Hallmark Cinematic Universe is one in which the fantasies of conservatives everywhere are played out: everyone in town is part of a white nuclear family, bartenders and waiters are happy to be of service, single women are emotionally unfulfilled, police and the military are uniformly viewed as heroes, and the largesse of the wealthy brings joy to wholesome small towns.
While it’s easy, and of course fun, to dunk on Hallmark and Hallmark-inspired Christmas movies, it’s also worth examining the political currents of Christmas movie schmaltz. Why is it that they’re produced in such abundance, with upwards of three dozen filmed per year? What ideological precepts are their themes of nostalgia meant to reinforce? And what tropes do they perpetuate behind the cozy iconography of fuzzy sweaters and snow-lined sidewalks?
On this episode, we seek to answer these questions, focusing on four movies: Journey Back to Christmas (2016), The Christmas Train (2017), Entertaining Christmas (2018), and Operation Christmas Drop (2020). We’ll dive into the ways in which nostalgia for an imaginary MAGA-style past informs their character development, settings, and plots, leaving little room for messaging other than dog whistles like ‘Let’s go back to the good old days.’
Our guest is writer David Roth.
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Guest
David Roth is co-founder and co-owner of Defector Media. He has written for Deadspin, The New Republic, and New York Magazine and co-hosts, with Jeb Lund, the podcast “It’s Christmastown.” Follow him @david_j_roth
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Show Notes
Hallmark’s Christmas movies are part of a culture war their viewers are losing
Jeb Lund | December 23, 2019 | The Washington Post
The real love interest in Netflix’s Operation Christmas Drop is the US military
Rachel Ramirez | November 23, 2020 | Vox
Are You What You Watch? Tracking the Political Divide Through TV Preferences [PDF]
Johanna Blakley, Erica Watson-Currie, Hee-Sung Shin, Laurie Trotta Valenti, Camille Saucier and Heidi Boisvert | May 2019 | The Norman Lear Center
It’s Getting Harder for Hallmark to Avoid Politics
Seth Stevenson | February 17, 2021 | Slate
Vancouver actors speak out about "unwritten rules" limiting diversity in Hallmark films
Rumneek Johal | July 21, 2020 | Daily Hive
Hallmark Channel Struggles to Give Diversity a Home for the Holidays
Lesley Goldberg | November 27, 2019 | The Hollywood Reporter
Hallmark, Famous For Christmas Movies, Plans Two Hanukkah Features
Jonathan Berr | November 29, 2018 | Forbes
"We Own Christmas": How The Hallmark Channel Found Massive Success With the Holiday Spirit
Tierney Bricker | October 28, 2017 | E!
Holiday Movie Ad Wars Get More Competitive
Ethan Jakob Craft | November 8, 2021 | Ad Age
A Past That Never Existed, a Future That Will Never Arrive
Jeb Lund | December 19, 2018 | GEN
Hallmark’s Christmas Programming Is the Gift That Keeps On Giving, at Least in Terms of Ad Revenue
Jason Lynch | December 6, 2017 | AdWeek
Before Bingeing On Hallmark Holiday Movies, Please Agree To These Terms
Julie Vick | December 3, 2018 | McSweeney’s
It's a Wrap for Operation Christmas Drop 2020
Staff Sgt. Gabrielle Spalding | December 17, 2020 | U.S. Department of Defense
Introduce Your Winter Blues to Koselig, Norway’s Loneliness-Fighting Version of Hygge
Mary Grace Garis | January 10, 2020 | Well+Good
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Transcript
For a full transcript of this episode, go here.
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Comments
It's funny to me how so many foreigners pick up on the word "koselig". God jul, guys. Remember, this holiday used to be a heathen tradition, so fuck that Jesus dude 😎
Anne Martine Engebakken Grymyr
2021-12-23 13:58:59 +0000 UTCI just moved back to Vermont six months ago and this really made my day.
Orion
2021-12-21 17:10:08 +0000 UTCYou have got to see this so....http://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2021/1220/1267805-melissa-hill-says-making-christmas-movies-is-a-dream/ Because local woman does well in Merica.
Eoin O'Mahony
2021-12-21 15:02:33 +0000 UTCAs in show notes, AMAs, and patron NB’s
Citations Needed
2021-12-20 05:10:41 +0000 UTCMerry christmakkah / happy new year and thank you guys so much Nima & Adam for an amazing season! I so loved this Hallmark episode…sitting in front of a fire *drinking egg nog* & just finished it—you guys are hilarious insightful inspiring and so smart. Looking forward to next season!
2021-12-20 04:04:13 +0000 UTCHey Adam there’s actually a production company that comes through Chicago every year to shoot a spec script to sell to these guys. My buddies do them every season. Catch me in the credits as best boy grip on “The Perfect Christmas Gift” directed by the Bubble Boy guy and with the most insane magical negro moment. My feeling is that the above the line guys are going exactly for the formula you discuss and it’s just a big “WTF is happening” for the crew lol
diosmuertos
2021-12-18 20:27:11 +0000 UTCLOL'd so many times, hope to see some more lighthearted CN episodes every now and then.
Ivan M
2021-12-18 02:22:38 +0000 UTCHope your little Christy-Christmas train goes right to joyville! Thanks for all the episodes this year.
2021-12-17 15:36:55 +0000 UTC“We sell toothpaste with extra gluten in my shop!” Lmao
Evan Hiltunen
2021-12-16 16:10:12 +0000 UTCA Citations Needed Christmas special! At last! Great episode. Nice to hear from one of the people behind Defector as well.
Ciaran Colley
2021-12-16 11:40:17 +0000 UTCThey say at the top that if you cant afford to be a Patron go ahead and [steal it from reddit] but they publish the episodes to soundcloud
One time I was out in the parking lot tryin to remove my excess earwax with a golf pencil when I see this guy Marty
2021-12-16 08:32:15 +0000 UTCThis was a legitimately Fun episode
2021-12-16 03:35:09 +0000 UTCNot sure why but I can't download this episode. I'm able to download tracks from other podcasts fine but this episode hangs up and Android says download unsuccessful.
Zero Gravitas
2021-12-15 21:29:56 +0000 UTCI was on set for one of these where a producer was apparently going through all the background actors and making sure there weren't any mixed race couples in the shot. Pretty gross.
Son of El Topo
2021-12-15 19:19:09 +0000 UTCYes... Ha ha ha... YES!
Rapture Helmet
2021-12-15 17:29:38 +0000 UTCLove this ep theme! I feel more and more enthusiastic about relinquishing my Patreon fee with each passing year
Evan
2021-12-15 17:27:41 +0000 UTCAh man as soon as I saw "Christmas-themed" in the newsletter I thought Hallmark and other WASPy movies would be mentioned somehow. Looking forward to this. Also reminds me of this Salon article: https://www.salon.com/2019/12/25/hallmark-christmas-movies-fascist-propaganda/
Tom Kelly
2021-12-15 17:12:48 +0000 UTC
