Amanda Hess

And I think like at this point, if I watched a Hallmark Christmas movie and they went back to the man's house and it was not decorated for Christmas, I would be pissed. And I would be like, this woman needs to get out of there because he's a psycho. Like, she needs to leave right now. And so I think I just became so versed in the cliches of the world that, like, I began to find them comforting.

And I think like at this point, if I watched a Hallmark Christmas movie and they went back to the man's house and it was not decorated for Christmas, I would be pissed. And I would be like, this woman needs to get out of there because he's a psycho. Like, she needs to leave right now. And so I think I just became so versed in the cliches of the world that, like, I began to find them comforting.

I didn't want anything dramatic to happen. I didn't want anything surprising to happen or stressful. I was already feeling enough of that.

I didn't want anything dramatic to happen. I didn't want anything surprising to happen or stressful. I was already feeling enough of that.

Yeah. I wanted everything to be firmly predictable, and it was.

Yeah. I wanted everything to be firmly predictable, and it was.

Um... I think I've been beaten down enough by life at this point to be more open to sentimental things. I think when I first learned about these movies maybe 15 years ago, my career was my identity. I was not unlike one of these Hallmark heroines.

Um... I think I've been beaten down enough by life at this point to be more open to sentimental things. I think when I first learned about these movies maybe 15 years ago, my career was my identity. I was not unlike one of these Hallmark heroines.

Yeah, exactly. Now, like, I can see the appeal of, you know, moving to Christmastown, USA and giving it all up. But also I realized once I actually watched the movies that typically it's not that the woman just quits her job in order to do nothing and to be barefoot and pregnant with her new woodworking husband's baby. She is quitting her big city job for this idealized form of work that

Yeah, exactly. Now, like, I can see the appeal of, you know, moving to Christmastown, USA and giving it all up. But also I realized once I actually watched the movies that typically it's not that the woman just quits her job in order to do nothing and to be barefoot and pregnant with her new woodworking husband's baby. She is quitting her big city job for this idealized form of work that

That's inherently creative and meaningful. You know, she's running a candy cane shop or she's taking over a small town diner. And so she's still working, but she has a job that, you know.

That's inherently creative and meaningful. You know, she's running a candy cane shop or she's taking over a small town diner. And so she's still working, but she has a job that, you know.

Yeah.

Yeah.

A kind of job that maybe is less and less likely to exist.

A kind of job that maybe is less and less likely to exist.

Yeah, I mean, I definitely know now more than I did before that, like, work is not going to love you back. I don't think that means that necessarily a small-town air traffic controller is going to love you back or a small-town groundskeeper is going to love you back, but I'm more open to watching a movie where that is the case.

Yeah, I mean, I definitely know now more than I did before that, like, work is not going to love you back. I don't think that means that necessarily a small-town air traffic controller is going to love you back or a small-town groundskeeper is going to love you back, but I'm more open to watching a movie where that is the case.

I mean, it's also true that, like, when I first became aware of these movies, the actors seemed really old. But now I am old. And so they're usually a little bit younger than me now. And so I've definitely just aged into the category.

I mean, it's also true that, like, when I first became aware of these movies, the actors seemed really old. But now I am old. And so they're usually a little bit younger than me now. And so I've definitely just aged into the category.