I’m told it’s “not normal” to watch whatever happens to be on the channel that’s playing when you turn on the TV. It might well be true that most people don’t do that, so I like to think that makes me easy to please, which sounds a lot better than being too lazy to find something else to watch.
I liken the situation to an incumbent candidate who has the upper hand because they’re already in office, but one who might not get my vote if they don’t continue to keep me entertained. I might not stick it out for the entirety of the show I find upon turning on the TV, but rest assured I’m going to be around at least long enough to see if the 'Dragons’ are going to invest in the couple’s furniture business.
I turned on the TV the other day and one of those Christmas movies was on, which I guess isn’t terribly surprising because they seem to be playing 24/7 during a holiday season that Hallmark now starts in mid-October.
I think this one was about an hour in when I came upon it, but I settled in nonetheless, which prompted my wife to ask: “How can you possibly know what’s going on?” Given it wasn’t my first Hallmark rodeo, I told her that although I didn’t know any of the characters’ names or backgrounds, I had a pretty good idea what had already unfolded and what was still to come.
You see, by the 60-minute mark, the two love interests, who always begin the movie in opposite camps, are now starting to break down the walls that had them at odds, gradually coming to the conclusion that the other isn’t as bad as originally thought, which is when the sparks really begin to fly.
If you know this simple premise, you can pretty much pick up any one of these movies at any point and ride it out to the expected conclusion, which, spoiler alert, has them in a romantic embrace under either a light snowfall or strategically-placed mistletoe. Before that happens, however, the principals overcome some sort of conflict or misunderstanding after circumstances – or should that be fate – have brought them together.
The plot is most certainly formulaic, but that formula has proven wildly successful as not only is Hallmark now pumping out 40 of these holiday flicks every year but other movie companies are jumping on the bandwagon, anxious to get a piece of the holiday pie.
I suspect the appetite for such programming has a lot to do with the way these movies make viewers feel, how incorporating iconic holiday elements, everything from falling snow to over-the-top decorations to comforting mugs of hot chocolate, can’t help but put people in the spirit of the season.
There's even something endearing about those oh-so-orchestrated endings, how they provide reassurance that it will all work out in the end if we’re willing to see the good in other people.
It might be a well-worn script, but it’s one that’s sure to get you in the spirit -- even if you only catch the last half of the movie.