Amanda Hess
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
subject today yes how do you justify that I wasn't always this way I think I was always I was always interested in Hallmark Christmas movies on a meta level but I was not interested in sitting down and watching them for an hour and a half or talking about them on the daily yeah right but that changed this year and now I still think they're bad but I really like watching them
subject today yes how do you justify that I wasn't always this way I think I was always I was always interested in Hallmark Christmas movies on a meta level but I was not interested in sitting down and watching them for an hour and a half or talking about them on the daily yeah right but that changed this year and now I still think they're bad but I really like watching them
Well, like you said, we're really talking about a category that was pioneered by the Hallmark Channel and is still dominated by that channel. Hallmark produces dozens of these made-for-TV Christmas movies every year. In 2024, they released 32. Wow. Of them. And one can imagine that they're not putting a huge amount of production into these movies.
Well, like you said, we're really talking about a category that was pioneered by the Hallmark Channel and is still dominated by that channel. Hallmark produces dozens of these made-for-TV Christmas movies every year. In 2024, they released 32. Wow. Of them. And one can imagine that they're not putting a huge amount of production into these movies.
They kind of seem like they each have the budget for like one snow flurry a movie.
They kind of seem like they each have the budget for like one snow flurry a movie.
Let me pull up a list of them. Lucky Christmas. The Case for Christmas. A Christmas Wedding Tale. That one's about dogs. A Christmas Wish. Holiday Engagement. The Christmas Patch. Christmas Magic. Christmas Song. Matchmaker Santa. It's Christmas Carol.
Let me pull up a list of them. Lucky Christmas. The Case for Christmas. A Christmas Wedding Tale. That one's about dogs. A Christmas Wish. Holiday Engagement. The Christmas Patch. Christmas Magic. Christmas Song. Matchmaker Santa. It's Christmas Carol.
No, these movies are very similar to each other.
No, these movies are very similar to each other.
When I first became aware of them, I thought they were very stupid. They seemed anti-feminist to me and really, really sentimental. Had you watched a lot of them? I had seen maybe a combined five minutes of these movies, but it was enough to understand what was happening. And the women always seemed to exist only to fall in love.
When I first became aware of them, I thought they were very stupid. They seemed anti-feminist to me and really, really sentimental. Had you watched a lot of them? I had seen maybe a combined five minutes of these movies, but it was enough to understand what was happening. And the women always seemed to exist only to fall in love.
Like, they would throw away their entire lives, like, as soon as they were touched by the magic of Christmas.
Like, they would throw away their entire lives, like, as soon as they were touched by the magic of Christmas.
So a couple of months ago, I learned that someone I know who's an actor in New York appeared in a Hallmark Christmas movie. And the next time I saw him, I was, like, interrogating him about it. I was like, did you wear a scarf? Did you wear a flannel shirt? Like, how many costume changes did you have? What colors were you wearing?
So a couple of months ago, I learned that someone I know who's an actor in New York appeared in a Hallmark Christmas movie. And the next time I saw him, I was, like, interrogating him about it. I was like, did you wear a scarf? Did you wear a flannel shirt? Like, how many costume changes did you have? What colors were you wearing?
Did they use the same set for every Christmas movie and just, like, turn it over? And as I was asking him this, he said, do you like Hallmark Christmas movies? And I said... No, even though clearly I was very interested in them. And so I decided that this year maybe I would actually watch a few of them.
Did they use the same set for every Christmas movie and just, like, turn it over? And as I was asking him this, he said, do you like Hallmark Christmas movies? And I said... No, even though clearly I was very interested in them. And so I decided that this year maybe I would actually watch a few of them.