Maybe if Cats had been more Christmassy, it would have actually worked-though those motion-capture felines would test even the holiday film’s boundaries. (These movies are also, essentially, non-religious they worship at the altar of Santa Claus, not the baby in the manger. That isn't to say they're universal-plenty of people don't celebrate Christmas even in its most secular sense-or that all Christmas movies choose to skip over the holiday's Christian elements Dolly Parton's certainly don't.)īut on top of the achievements of Elf and The Grinch, it was the addition of another strain of festive entertainment that paved the way for three Vanessa Hudgenses to convene on Christmas Eve: the Hallmark holiday movie. (As Sarah Larson reports in the New Yorker, the films follow a strict nine-act structure, and are held to high brand standards: “We’re not afraid to look at the dailies and call them up and say, ‘Not enough Christmas,’” an executive explains.)Įvery year, a new batch of freshly-baked content-featuring largely lily-white casts and almost exclusively straight characters-adds to an existing pile of small "C" conservative Christmas confections, to be indulged in 24/7 during a months-long block of airtime.ĭrawing on the self-consciously nostalgic appeal of hits like Home Alone and A Christmas Story, as well as the heartfelt rom-com feel of The Holiday and Love, Actually, the channel has crafted an apparently irresistible recipe for yuletide fare over the past decade, pumping out formulaic, tinsel-lined plots with a speed and precision to rival that of Santa’s elves. The whole enterprise has become wildly successful, building a fanbase passionate enough to fill a convention-named, what else, Christmas Con-and broad enough to spur a dizzying rise in ratings. Rival network Lifetime has tried to replicate Hallmark’s coup, tweaking the recipe to add an extra sprinkle of adult themes. (The streaming service also has the unique ability to pump out unlimited content while recommending only what its algorithm thinks you’ll like-making it easy to overlook its subpar, more Hallmark-aligned fare, and focus on Dolly floating on a cloud.) But it’s Netflix, with its deep pockets and access to star actors, that was uniquely positioned to combine Hallmark’s heartwarming, so-bad-it's-good blueprint with the excesses of Hollywood’s biggest Christmas hits.
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