I googled. I did not put “holiday” into my google search but google gave me holiday results anyway. I scanned page after page and the “why” was pretty fucking thin. Articles made tautologies. People like happy stories! People like escapism! People love Christmas! Basically - people like the movies because they like them! One guy simply asked his friends who like Hallimark movies. That was very lazy but that was the best answer I got.
A mashup off the net vvv
The Hallmark Channel’s target audience is women between ages 18 to 34, though Zammarelli says the average age of viewers lands in the late-40s to early 50s. He adds that people watch these movies because they love love — no matter how unrealistic the depiction. The films also allow for escapism as people take an hour and a half away from the busy and stressful holiday season.
I absolutely love Hallmark movies because they’re aspirational (who doesn’t want to believe that, after everything goes wrong for the lead characters, it’s possible for everything to work out perfectly for them!?), they’re immersive, they’re comfy and safe but still exciting to watch, they’re filmed in gorgeous locations, and they’re familiar but still interesting.
The reasoning behind Hallmark’s fanatical devotion to the holidays is simple: their Christmas movies typically cost less than 800,000 dollars to make, and each movie’s entire production cycle usually only takes around three months. Not only are Hallmark movies quick and cheap to make, but they are also extremely profitable and are practically guaranteed to rack up millions of views.
According to a press release, the Hallmark Channel ended 2020 as the most-watched entertainment cable network in the fourth quarter of the year and ranked second for the whole year.
“I don’t think they’re actually ‘good’ by regular movie or story standards, but they’re fun enough to watch that it doesn’t really matter,” Khado Tsephel ’23 said. “The plots are pretty simple and entertaining, plus they have a nostalgic feel that makes them fun to watch.”
In another comment I said that Hallmark-type movies are basically the movie version of a soap opera. I’m tooting my own horn but I like my answer best - so far.
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Rant
The first result I got was a Reddit thread - yay. But then I saw this - boo!..
Good investigation, even if it was “lazy” it was still more effort than I put in. I suppose it makes sense they have a niche, cheap movies with a generic “feel good” sort of vibe are probably popular with a particular sort of person who hates being challenged. Plus they are probably a very non-controversial choice for a movie to watch during the holidays, which is why they have so many christmas movies I guess.
Wonder if they’ll increase as material conditions deteriorate (for all but the rich) and people who don’t take drugs look for the barest hint of dopamine.
I googled. I did not put “holiday” into my google search but google gave me holiday results anyway. I scanned page after page and the “why” was pretty fucking thin. Articles made tautologies. People like happy stories! People like escapism! People love Christmas! Basically - people like the movies because they like them! One guy simply asked his friends who like Hallimark movies. That was very lazy but that was the best answer I got.
A mashup off the net vvv
In another comment I said that Hallmark-type movies are basically the movie version of a soap opera. I’m tooting my own horn but I like my answer best - so far.
-–
Rant
The first result I got was a Reddit thread - yay. But then I saw this - boo!..
Good investigation, even if it was “lazy” it was still more effort than I put in. I suppose it makes sense they have a niche, cheap movies with a generic “feel good” sort of vibe are probably popular with a particular sort of person who hates being challenged. Plus they are probably a very non-controversial choice for a movie to watch during the holidays, which is why they have so many christmas movies I guess.
Wonder if they’ll increase as material conditions deteriorate (for all but the rich) and people who don’t take drugs look for the barest hint of dopamine.