#Hallmarksostraight

graphic by Cayla Israel

The camera opens on your typical sorority blonde: Emma. She’s petite and fun and is all about chicks before dicks…until she runs into Matt. He’s the typical Whitman finance bro who is blood bound to his brothers, as they wait in line to get into Harry’s. She’s not looking for love, but the way he looks in his business casual suit might just change her mind. The movie closes as they reach for each other’s hands on the kissing bench as the first snow of the season begins to fall. 

Hallmark, we better get some royalties when this movie gets made. 

The truth is, as it temperature starts to drop we are all reaching for the remotes to binge some Hallmark movies. And although it is such a guilty please, aren’t we getting tired of the repetitive script of straight people falling hopelessly in love?

In recent years there’s been a noticeable transition in Hallmark’s advertising, as they have began to make the occasional Hanukkah movie or maybe even one with a POC. We would make a sarcastic comment about this being so groundbreaking *eyeroll* but unfortunately it kind of is #oscarssowhite.

It’s hard to deny the fact that Hallmark movies are lacking diversity, big time. There is of course barely any representation of religion. Hallmark barely acknowledges that anyone is not a Christian *gasp*. And usually any racial representation is shown through a side character. It’s a goddamn miracle if Hallmark casts a person of color as the lead. But, to everyone’s surprise, Hallmark is actually taking a step in the right direction this year. There’s an ad for a movie where the leads are gay! 

Now LGBTQ movies and TV have been getting more and more popular in recent years (thank god), but one or two big movies a year doesn’t really reflect the increasingly visible LGBTQ community. And until LGBTQ is as middle America as a Costco apple pie, we’re not there yet. 

Of course any rise in support for these diverse communities is a good thing, so is it wrong to expect a little bit more?

So, thanks Hallmark for the movie this year, maybe shoot for two in 2023?