I love Hallmark movies, especially at Christmas, and I'm not afraid to admit it. This unabashed attitude draws both appreciation and derision from the people in my life, depending on their assessment of Hallmark's cinematic value. I'll be the first to admit that the plot of Hallmark movies is often the same, the outcome generally predictable, and the dramatic elements sometimes laughable. And yet we watch. Why?
It's quite simple, actually. Hallmark highlights human elements in a world that seems determined to separate us from our humanity. Recent studies have explored the effect of social media on our psyche, and it's not good. Despite claims that social media brings people together, we are lonelier than ever before. Despite tech giants attempting to unite people, we are more divided by the day. And despite our love of phones and gadgets that allow us to "talk" to one another, we find ourselves feeling unloved and isolated. Hallmark's movies show us an alternative, and their silly, corny storylines about kindness, family, and togetherness remind us of the world that we hope to create for our kids.
Recently, my family spent a Sunday afternoon on an outing that took much longer than we intended. Wanting nothing more than to return home, we stopped at the grocery store to get ready for the week ahead. Frustrated, tired, and exasperated, we found ourselves in the parking lot with a dead battery and a car full of groceries that needed to be refrigerated. Thankfully, the woman parked directly across from us had just come out, and I sheepishly asked her about a jump start. She was more than happy to help but admitted she didn't know how to open the hood to her car. While I helped her find the right button, two men approached to see if they could help. One offered a longer set of jumper cables, the other asked if he could help hook them up, and the woman pulled her car up a foot so we could make it work. As our engine revved and started, five adults and two kids cheered. My husband disconnected the cables and shook hands, and the woman across from us pulled away with a wave. On the way home, my kids started talking about our bad luck. "No," I said. "It was good luck. Those strangers showed us real kindness today."
And that's really the lesson of Hallmark. We tune in to tune out the ugliness, but mostly to remind ourselves that much of the world is not ugly at all. It's beautiful, and kind, and loving, and festive, and silly, and funny, and touching, and emotional, and so very, very human.
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