Following on the heels of the 2019 controversy regarding the lack of LGBTQ characters in its TV movies, the Hallmark Network has announced that this year’s slate of Christmas movies will, at last, make the yuletide gay.
Crown Media, the parent company of Hallmark, announced July 15 that it has a whopping 40 new holiday movies planned for this year. The company also confirmed that those films will include queer characters and storylines.
“Yesterday we announced 18 movies of the estimated 40 holiday movies we will produce by year-end,” Crown Media spokesperson George Zaralidis told PinkNews. “Of those 40, I can confirm that we will include LGBT+ storylines, characters and actors. We are in active negotiations and look forward to announcing more details when we can.”
Related: Hallmark says it’s “open” to making gay holiday movies and conservatives are freaking out
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“We are committed to creating a Hallmark experience where everyone feels welcome,” Zaralidis added.
Hallmark Christmas movies have become a staple of the holiday season, with the network’s reputation for producing fast, formulaic and inexpensive films becoming something of a joke in Hollywood. Nevertheless, despite their often trite sentiments, the films have earned a devoted fanbase that will tune in to watch during the channel’s “Countdown to Christmas,” which runs from October to January. Critics contend that the films also often push a subtle conservative agenda, generally focusing on white, Christian and wealthy characters.
The announcement by Crown Media follows a controversy in January of last year, in which Hallmark CEO Bill Abbott responded to criticism over the channel’s lack of LGBTQ inclusion saying the network was open to adding queer characters to its films. The remarks coincided with the Hallmark Channel also pulling a commercial for online wedding registry Zola.com which featured a same-sex couple, citing pressure from One Million Moms (which still doesn’t have one million members). The network subsequently apologized, and pledged to coordinate with GLAAD for more inclusive programming.
ShowMeGuy
Hallmark movies are the Harlequin Romance novels of television movies.
They are entertaining but VERY cookbook. Ikea probably has an assembly directions pamphlet for how to make a Hallmark movie.
ThinkPlease
Yep. Formula romance/adventure/whatever can be handled cleverly and can be a great movie or book when twisted on its ear and done creatively.
Hallmark movies just…aren’t done that way. They turn maudlin up to 11 and never deviate from the formula.
tominchicago
You can bet the queer characters will be caterers, wedding planners, inn owners….but certainly not the central romance in the story.
Bromancer7
Exactly. Or the gay BFF. Call me when they put out a movie with two gay male leads.
tominchicago
Oh wait…it’s right in the headline, they just left off an “s”:
Hallmark promises to make the yuletide extras gay this year.
Prax07
Just really want them to add a recurring gay character or two to Good Witch. There doesn’t seem to be any gay citizens in the entire town.
Cam
Everybody will move up one step. Black characters will move from people who work at the same place as the star, and barristas with sage life advice, to the sassy best friend. And LGBTQ people will appear as hairdressers and waiters.
ThinkPlease
I tend to pass on these movies just because of the sappiness. I don’t think even gay main characters (which they most likely won’t have) would attract me.
Cam
The basic plot to 90% of Hallmark movies.
A busy busy woman in the city, is busy doing business and being busy, because she’s busy and everybody in the big cities are busy and unhappy. She is dating a guy who wears dark suits and is also busy being busy.
Some plot point requires her to go to a small town, (Death of a relative, wedding of an old friend, an inheritance, a parent got sick, meeting with a customer).
On the way to the town, she either fights with a local man in a coffee shop, or when her car breaks down, or when she takes her family dog to the vet, or because they went to high school together and didn’t like each other. And of course the local man is blandly handsome.
Something happens in the next few days to make her not like the man she is dating back in the big city (Because city people are bad).
She realizes she loves the blandly handsome local and decides to stay because people are only happy in small towns and big cities are bad. ((This also requires her to give up her city job and take on a job that is more of an idealized hobby, because women aren’t happy with real jobs))
(With that type of Republican messaging is it any wonder they have a terrible record with minorities and LGBTQ people in their movies???)
radiooutmike
You know, I used to watch Ancient Aliens to goof on. Do ancient alien astronaut theorists ever say “No”? No.
But now my bf loves these and the Christmas in July thing is happening; the only way I can get through them is by goofing on them.