On the Second Day of Christmas....

ON THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS, MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME...HALLMARK MOVIES.

Right around Thanksgiving, there is an onslaught of romantic Holiday movies (most of which were made popular on the Hallmark Channel).  Almost every woman I know (and some guys too) will binge-watch these movies,  maybe until their eyes bleed, like an addict phening for Love and Hope.

The premises and character archetypes are almost always the same, almost as if the creators were pulling plotlines from some Holiday Movie Generator:  Plucky young women, often bakers or workaholics or single moms with a precocious kid, who may not believe in love or are in the wrong relationship or down on their luck romantically;  Hot, single men, often carmudgeons who don’t believe in Christmas (or love), but who have hearts of gold—and sometimes a precocious child.  Sometimes they are old friends who have history…or maybe they are strangers shoved together due to dire circumstances.  My favorites films also tend to have a mystical element (a magic calendar, an angel, a ghost, the real Santa!), because how else will these stories be more believable?   Oh, and there is almost always someone who either teaches (often a toothy little rube or an elderly gentleman) or learns (our main characters) about the true meaning of Christmas.  And a happy ending.  OF COURSE, there is a happy ending.   

Predictable or schlocky these movies may be, however, we gobble these movies up like  platefuls of baked goods.  Their syrupy content is like a complete sugar rush, but without the caloric intake.  A fact which brings us back to them, over and over.  I’ve had numerous conversations this season alone about the intrinsic value of these films and how much we enjoy them.  Easy to digest, they offer repast from the stresses of our own Holiday reality.  And that is hardly a bad thing.

It is only when we actually do return to our reality, of course, that we are challenged.  My love life is no Hallmark Holiday Movie, that is for sure.  Too bad, I think a sassy single mom (of a teenaged goth daughter)/divorcee in her 40s who finds love in spite of financial troubles, a messy apartment and a fat, grumpy cat would make for a wonderful plot.  Guess I’d better go write it now.  Watch for it soon, will you?

Until next time, my Lovelies….